James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 topped the Friday box office chart with $48.2 million for a projected domestic opening of $110 million, on the very low end of expectations and well behind the last film in the standalone Marvel Studios franchise.
The movie’s initial performance isn’t welcome news for Marvel or Gunn, who now runs rival DC Studios, and is sparking further concern that superhero fatigue has settled in at the box office.
Guardians 3 certainly doesn’t lack for audience love; it earned an A CinemaScore and strong exit scores on PostTrak. Marvel and Disney hope this translates into a long run at the box office, regardless of the opening weekend. Reviewers feel differently than do consumers, with the movie sporting the lowest Rotten Tomatoes critics score of the three films.
2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 started off with roughly $47 million on its first Friday but went on to open to $146.2 million for the weekend. (The first Guardians opened to $94.2 million domestically in 2014, not adjusted for inflation.)
It’s unusual for a title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to open behind the previous installment in a respective series but not unheard of. Sequels that didn’t open as high include Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which was released as the COVID-19 pandemic still raged, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
If projections hold, Guardians 3 will open on par with recent Marvel pic Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which posted a three-day domestic opening of $106 million (comparisons are complicated by the fact that Ant-Man 3 opened over Presidents’ Day weekend for a four-day debut of $120 million). That movie, however, was ultimately considered a disappointment after topping out at less than $500 million, a franchise low.
The Guardians threequel continues a long tradition of Marvel movies kicking off the summer season at the box office.
Heading into the weekend, most recent tracking showed Guardians 3 opening in the $110 million to $120 million range domestically. Initial tracking showed it launching to $130 million, so the drop no doubt concerned Marvel and Disney.
Overseas, the movie has earned a promising $71.5 million in its first three days from 52 markets for a global total of $119.7 million through Friday. It continues rolling out across the world today. Disney sources say they are encouraged by early returns, although China is a major question mark.
Guardians 3 reunites Gunn with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel. Newcomers include Chukwudi Iwuji as villain the High Evolutionary and Will Poulter, who plays classic Marvel character Adam Warlock.
After ruling the roost for four weekends, Universal and Illumination’s billion-dollar blockbuster The Super Mario Bros. Movie — voiced by Pratt — will finally fall to No. 2 with an estimated $18.5 million for a hefty domestic total of $518 million-plus and well north of $1 billion globally.
Elsewhere, Screen Gems and Sony’s romantic comedy Love Again dared to open opposite Guardians 3 since it’s going after a difference audience. The movie appears to be DOA with a projected opening of $2.6 million after earning $955,000 on Friday, only good enough for a fifth-place finish.
Written and directed by Jim Strouse, the film stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan and Celine Dion (who provided multiple new songs for the female-skewing pic).
More to come.
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