Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 had another strong weekend at the box office, despite facing direct competition from this week’s new release Fast X. In its third weekend of release, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 added around $33 million domestically, easing just 47% from weekend two. This takes its running domestic total to $266 million, and just under $660 million worldwide.
The superhero threequel, written and directed by James Gunn, was touted as an emotional last ride for the ragtag team of misfits. But it delivered a relatively underwhelming $118 million domestic debut, prompting reams of doomsday analysis of the state of superhero cinema. But perhaps because of positive word-of-mouth or just general audience interest in watching the beloved characters together on one final adventure, the film held remarkably in its second weekend, delivering one of the lowest sophomore drops in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The film’s $660 million worldwide haul means that it is trailing the first Guardians of the Galaxy by around $100 million. Released in 2014, the first movie was a surprise hit for Marvel, mainly because the characters weren’t as well-known as Iron Man or Captain America. The film finished with $333 million domestically and $770 million worldwide, cementing the Marvel brand. Three years later, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 delivered a $389 million domestic haul and an $863 million global finish, further establishing the Guardians as among the most adored characters in the MCU — their popularity only increased after appearances in other Marvel projects such as Avengers: Endgame and Thor: Love and Thunder.
Speaking of the MCU, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 has now overtaken the lifetime worldwide hauls of all three Ant-Man movies, the first two Iron Man films, the first two Thor adventures, and also pandemic era Marvel releases such as Eternals, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Black Widow (which also had a day-and-date debut on Disney+ for a premium access fee). Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will soon overtake the first Doctor Strange ($676 million) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($714 million).
Has Superhero Cinema Been Saved?
This year has been objectively difficult for superhero movies, with both Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($475 million worldwide) and DC’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods ($132 million) delivering disappointing box office grosses. Combined with the drops observed in the worldwide hauls of Thor 4 and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever last year as compared to their immediate predecessors, not to mention the disastrous performance of DC’s Black Adam, discourse about interest in superhero movies having plateaued hit an all-time high. And it’s still too early to tell whether Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will be the movie to relieve pressure on the genre. The situation should hopefully improve with Sony’s upcoming Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which will be released in the first week of June, and then The Flash, which Warner Bros. is banking heavily on.
Guardians of the Galaxy 3 stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Chukwudi Iwuji, and Will Poulter. You can watch our interview with Gunn and Pratt here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.