'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' Makes $114M in Opening Weekend

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 just hit theaters and brought in a whopping $114 million in its first weekend domestically! While that's not quite as much as its predecessor Vol. 2, which made $146 million in its first weekend, it still blasted the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which opened with a measly $94 million.

And this intergalactic epic isn't just a hit at home. The film brought in an additional $168 million internationally from 52 markets, making the global total a hefty $282 million! Even China, which hasn't been very welcoming to Hollywood blockbusters recently, showed some love, contributing $28 million to the global tally. A lot of this success can be attributed to premium large formats, like Imax and Dolby. These formats accounted for 40% of ticket sales bringing in $10.7 million in North America and $25 million globally just from Imax alone. Not too shabby, eh? According to Rich Gelfond, the CEO of Imax, the film is guaranteed to enjoy a long, successful run at the box office thanks to its solid audience response.

But the Guardians aren't out of the woods yet! They still have to face off against some serious competition in the coming weeks with Fast X hitting cinemas on May 19th and The Little Mermaid making waves on May 26. In order to stay on top, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 must maintain its momentum and avoid the fate of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which flopped hard earlier this year. But there's reason to hope as the film has received high praise, scoring an "A" CinemaScore and 81% on Rotten Tomatoes. To put it in perspective, one movie expert said, "For superheroes, average is in the stratosphere." And let's not forget that director James Gunn, in his final Marvel movie before moving over to DC Studios, returned to write and direct Vol. 3.

Universal, Illumination, and Nintendo's The Super Mario Bros. Movie finally fell to second place after a four-week reign with $18.6 million. Meanwhile, other films like Sony’s romantic comedy Love Again and Warner Bros. and New Line's supernatural horror sequel Evil Dead Rise could only manage to bring in $2.4 million and $5.7 million respectively. Ouch! All in all, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 might not have quite reached the heights predicted before its release, but it's still a major win for Marvel and a fantastic kick-off to the summer movie season.