Box Office: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ Rockets at $48 Million on Opening Day

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” officially kicked off the summer blockbuster season on Friday. While Disney’s domestic numbers aren’t yet known, analysts say the film pulled in around $48 million on its premiere day. opening, a figure that includes $17.5 million in Thursday previews.

The trilogy capper is on track to meet its expectations ahead of the weekend, which had set Disney’s release to take root with a $110-120 million start through Sunday. That would be enough to land the second-highest opening of the year, behind only the $146 million “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” made up over a three-day span. However, that would still be around a quarter less than the $146.5 million debut earned by “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” in 2017.

The James Gunn-directed alien adventure has garnered favorable approvals, with a 67% approval rating from top reviewers on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Variety Chief film critic Peter Debruge was particularly supportive, naming the film a Critics’ Pick.

“Gunn also plays with the mortality of his ensemble, but he does so responsibly, honoring the bonds we’ve forged with these characters over the years and recognizing that Guardians can and will evolve,” Debruge wrote.

But what’s even more encouraging for Marvel Studios is the remarkable response among early ticket buyers, as indicated by the film’s “A” rating by research firm Cinema Score. This good result matches “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and is a step ahead of the B-level ratings achieved by other recent studio fare, like “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” and “Doctor Strange. in the Multiverse of Madness.” Some disappointed murmurs have steadily grown among Marvel audiences in the years since 2019’s team climax “Avengers: Endgame,” which was enthusiastically received (and superlatively commercial), but “Guardians Vol. 3” seems to be popular with fans.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ bids farewell to Chris Pratt’s Star Lord and his crew of interstellar heroes, played by Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Pom Klementieff and Karen Gillan, plus the voices of Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper. The new film provides insight into Rocket Raccoon’s tragic past, as the team takes on the evil High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji).

It’s certainly a good weekend to be Chris Pratt, as audiences continue to flock to see his turn in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” After four weekends as the national box office leader, the animated adventure from Universal, Nintendo and Illumination finally drops to second place this weekend, projecting an all-time gross of $18.5 million. long weekend.

This would be around 55% less than its previous release. “Mario Brothers.” hasn’t faced a weekly drop above 37% so far. It shows how “Guardians Vol. 3” is taking a bite out of ticket sales for the video game adaptation, but it also demonstrates the impressive staying power of “Mario Bros.” lasted a month in theaters. Total domestic gross is expected to be $518 million through Sunday, easily the highest of the year so far.

“Evil Dead Rise” appears to take third place, earning $1.6 million on Friday. The release of Warner Bros. has now surpassed $50 million at the domestic box office, exceeding its $19 million production budget. The goofy horror entry was originally ordered for an exclusive HBO Max release.

“Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret” heads for fourth place, projecting a haul of $3.2 million for her second weekend. That’s a pretty modest hold (-51%) for the coming-of-age comedy, though its $10 million domestic gross now has little hope of maturing to match a $30 production budget. millions of dollars. Lionsgate hopes the film will find play during the Mother’s Day holiday next weekend.

“Love Again,” a romantic comedy starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan, and Celine Dion opening Sony, battles “John Wick: Chapter 4” for fifth place. The film is forecasting $2.6 million for the weekend.