Guardians Vol. 2 blasts off bigger than original

NEW YORK — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 rocketed to an estimated $145 million US debut in North America, kicking off Hollywood’s summer movie season with something the movie business has been craving: a sequel more successful than the original.

Director James Gunn’s second Guardians film opened 54 per cent higher than the 2014 runaway hit, according to studio estimates.

That release, which introduced the intergalactic band of misfits played by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, debuted with $94 million in its first weekend.

Once a little-known, oddball property in Marvel’s vault, Guardians of the Galaxy has grown into one of the comic-book factory’s biggest brands.

The Walt Disney Co. validated the rise of Guardians, too, by moving it from August (when the original opened) to the first weekend in May. Marvel has used the same weekend to effectively launch the summer season for the last decade.

The opening for Guardians Vol. 2, made for about $200 million, is the second largest of the year, following Disney’s Beauty and the Beast ($174.8 million).

But it also turns back the tide of underperforming sequels, a developing scourge to Hollywood. Last summer saw a litany of sequels that failed to live up to earlier instalments.

But whether Guardians can turn the tide for summer sequels will be a much-followed story as the season progresses. The bottom line of just about every studio depends on it.

On the horizon are big-budget sequels such as Alien: Covenant, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, Cars 3, Transformers: The Last Knight, Despicable Me 3 and War for the Planet of the Apes.

Fearing the might of Guardians, no other major studio releases debuted over the weekend.