Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is coming in on the lower end of projections in its debut weekend. The third film in the beloved space opera superhero series is eyeing a $110 million opening weekend after a $48.2 million Friday. The film delivered a series-best $17.5 million in Thursday previews, and it’s currently on track to finish between the first and second Guardians movies in terms of weekend numbers.
Initial projections put the film’s three-day debut in the $130 million range, which would’ve been solid, but lower than the $146 million that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 generated in its opening weekend back in 2017. The second Guardians movie ended up grossing $389 million domestically and $863 million worldwide, outperforming the first Guardians of the Galaxy’s $333 million domestic and $773 million worldwide hauls in 2014. The first Guardians of the Galaxy defied expectations to deliver a $94 million opening weekend, cementing the trust that audiences had in the Marvel Studios brand. The Guardians were, after all, an unknown quantity as compared to some of the more popular Marvel Cinematic Universe characters.
Despite delivering a slightly better Thursday haul, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is pacing behind the second film, which grossed $56 million on its opening day. In fact, the third film’s $48 million Friday haul is only slightly higher than the first film’s $42 million gross nearly a decade ago. Does this reflect a growing disinterest in the MCU? Maybe. The reviews have been positive enough, although the third film isn’t as well-liked as either of the previous movies, at least according to review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. Although opening day audiences awarded it an excellent A CinemaScore, which bodes well for its future.
However, rather worryingly, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is currently performing like Marvel’s last release, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Like Guardians of the Galaxy 3, Ant-Man 3 also generated $37 million in advance sales, and grossed $46 million on its opening day. It ultimately ended its run with $212 million domestically and an underwhelming $474 million worldwide — lower than both previous Ant-Man movies. With both Thor: Love and Thunder and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever falling short of their immediate predecessors’ worldwide hauls, Marvel would like for Guardians of the Galaxy 3 to buck this trend.
Holdovers and One Newcomer Claimed the Other Four Spots
It was a one-two finish at the top of the box office chart for Chris Pratt, who, in addition to starring in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, also voices the title character in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Now in its fifth weekend — after topping the previous four — the animated video game adaptation is eyeing an $18.5 million after grossing $$4.2 million on Friday. The film’s running domestic total now stands at a tremendous $503 million, and it remains to be seen if it has enough juice in its tank to overtake Incredibles 2’s $602 million lifetime domestic haul to claim the title for the highest-grossing animated film of all time.
Slipping to number three after a couple of weeks at number two, the horror hit Evil Dead Rise grossed $1.6 million on its third Friday, and is eyeing a $5.6 million weekend. This will take the film’s running domestic haul to $56 million; it’s currently sitting at exactly $50 million. Coming in at number four with an estimated $3.3 million second weekend is the comedy-drama Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. The well-reviewed adaptation of Judy Blume’s children’s novel hasn’t quite been able to capitalize on its excellent reviews, and is stalling with $12.6 million domestically. The top five was rounded out by Sony’s romantic drama Love Again — starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan. The film is also expected to gross $2.4 million over the weekend, after $850,000 on Friday.
You can watch our interview with Guardians of the Galaxy 3 director James Gunn here, and stay tuned to Collider for more box office coverage over the weekend.