‘Guardians’ opens with $114 million weekend
There is nothing like the promise of a chapter closing to draw people to the movie theater, especially when tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This weekend, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” which says goodbye to this iteration of the space misfits and its driving creative voice, director James Gunn, earned $114 million in ticket sales from 4,450 locations
in North America, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Internationally, where the film opened in 52 territories including China, “Guardians” earned $168 million, giving it a $282 million global debut.
Domestically, it's both an impressive sum for any movie and slightly less than what analysts have come to expect from a Marvel opening. Last year on the same weekend, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” riding on the success of “Spider-Man: No Way
Home,” raked in $187.4 million in its first three days in North America. And in November, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” also opened over $181.3 million.
But things have come back to earth this year, at least by high-flying superhero standards.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” debuted at just over $106 million on its way to $474 million worldwide.
At rival studio DC/Warner Bros., “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” made only $133.4 million total.
The question on some analysts' minds this weekend is whether it's because of the specific character or a bigger issue of “superhero fatigue.”
“Guardians Vol. 3” bumped “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” out of first place after four weekends atop the charts and kicked off the summer movie season, a vital and usually profitable corridor for Hollywood that runs through Labor Day and often accounts for 40 percent of a year's box office.
The next major superhero movie on the schedule is DC's “The Flash,” set for June 16, which has its own flurry of intrigue around it because of star Ezra Miller's legal and personal troubles.
The latest installment of “Guardians of the Galaxy” sees the return of actors Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel.
“Vol. 3” is Gunn's last Guardians/Marvel movie as he turns his focus to leading DC Studios.
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” added $18.6 million in its fifth weekend to take second place, bringing its domestic total to $518.1 million. Globally, it has now surpassed $1.1 billion.
Third place went to “Evil Dead Rise” with $5.7 million, and in fourth place was “Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret,” with $3.4 million — both were holdovers.