As expected, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 take the box office lead in its debut weekend bumping Super Mario Bros Movie to second place. It did millions better than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which opened Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, it falls tens of millions from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s opening weekend.
Some experts are saying that finally superhero movie fatigue is taking its toll and Marvel Studios is possibly riding the last waves. However, the increase in the box office turn out from Ant-Man to Guardians would give the impression that it is still a strong genre.
However, the rising sun that is video-game-adaptations could be a welcome competition. Prior to Super Mario Bros Movie, Sonic the Hedgehog did pretty well in the box office. Thus, it has become a movie franchise in itself. Now, people are expecting Nintendo and Universal to be on the drawing board for either a spin off or a sequel to the Brooklyn plumbers movie.
Notwithstanding what people are saying, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 proved everyone wrong about superhero movies. They can be heartwarming. They can be action and adventure packed as well. And with this third instalment, the final one at that, writer-director James Gunn wrapped up a good story for people to watch and rewatch innumerable times.
But how well has the movie fared so far? Box Office data are in for the first weekend sales and we look at how GOTG Vol 3 matches up with the movie it dethroned, the movie it followed within the MCU Phase 5, it’s predecessor and the movie that ended Phase 4.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3 Box Office Performance
READ MORE: James Gunn Could Bring Guardians Of The Galaxy Actors To DC
In a report from Variety, the third movie that closes the story of the intergalactic band of misfits kicked off the summer movie season with $118 Million. Indeed, with the numbers that the previous movies are also bringing it, it indicates that the public can now better enjoy cinema and other entertainment activities outside their homes.
Still, comparing the opening weekend ticket sales between the latest MCU movie from its predecessor Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, then fellow MCU movies Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, it could paint a different story.
Finally, comparing it to last week’s box office champ The Super Mario Bros Movie, it can be opening a different ball game for the movie industry.
GOTG Vol 2 opened its run at $146.5M back in 2017. With the review aggregate Rotten Tomato score of 85% at the Tomatometer and 87% Audience Score. It was a worth successor to the first movie. Some may say that the higher turn out for Volume 2 could be attributed to the fact that some moviegoers are still apprehensive on going to theatres.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Meanwhile, some are saying that many audiences would rather wait for the movie to stream instead. The pandemic has utterly changed the behavior of fans towards the movies. However, given the right timing, it could also affect how people will be influenced into buying a ticket.
It was much demonstrated with Black Panther 2 which opened with $181M last year. It was the movie that ended Marvel’s Phase 4 and delivered tribute to the late Chadwick Boseman. But even that movie fell behind its first instalment back in 2018 by about twenty million during the opening weekend. But again, the first movie was prior to the CoViD19 safety protocols.
After Black Panther 2, even fans of the MCU have begun to doubt if the studio could bring back the Avengers: Endgame glory days. So much so that the Ant-Man 3 opened Phase 5 in a less festive turn out of $106M. That movie was only able to double its budget of $200M to a worldwide performance of $465M which may be just considered a breakeven margin for a movie.
Finally, GOTG Vol 3 could not even begin to catch up with the Mario Bros first weekend record of $146M. The Guardians are tens of millions behind the brothers on that particular weekend.
Promising Numbers for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 Box Office
Credit: Marvel Studios
READ MORE: Super Mario Bros Movie Has Made Over $1 Billion Worldwide
There is, however, the fact that GOTG Vol 3 is still entering its second week in theatres. People who have seen it are raving about the movie’s story. Although, some feedback points out that the movie could use an “emotional trigger warning” at the beginning of the film. Yet people I know who have seen it have everything good to say about it.
This can encourage more people to watch it and possibly rewatch it on the big screen. Studios always love the idea that people will buy a ticket more than once of course. And hopefully with more people to watch it with. That is how Mario steadily gained and kept its lead until the Guardians came along.
Credit: Marvel Studios
With a Rotten Tomato rating of 81% at the Tomatometer and 95% Audience Score, there is high possibility that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 could usher in better numbers for a comic book or superhero movie. Many are saying Marvel needs a ‘win’ now, after all the disappointments they have been having.
Hopefully, Marvel’s intention to focus less on quantity for future projects would positively affect their upcoming titles. I’d very much like a well written and delivered story in a movie than so many things to watch with less ‘meat’ in the narrative.
Starring Chris Pratt as Peter Quill aka Star-Lord, Bradley Cooper as Rocket’s voice, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Vin Diesel as Groot’s voice and Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is now in a cinema near you.
What do you make of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 leading in the box office? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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