'Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3' Dominates Weekend Box Office, Totals $289 Million Worldwide

Marvel Studios was back on top of the box office this weekend with the new sequel, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." Per figures from Box Office Mojo, the Marvel Cinematic Universe threequel earned $118 million domestically for its opening weekend, and it's currently sitting at a worldwide total of $289 million.

Back in mid-April, the film was tracking for an opening weekend of an estimated $130 million. So, the opening weekend was lower than some of the earlier projections, but there are good and bad factors to take away from the latest Marvel Studios opener.

The bad news is that the opening weekend was significantly lower than the opening weekend for "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2," which opened during a similar timeframe six years ago in May 2017. That film had an opening weekend of $146 million and finished with $389 million domestically and $863 million worldwide. Also, at a budget in the range of $250 million, the film was not a cheap spend for Marvel's parent company Walt Disney Studios.

The good news is that even with a lower than expected, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" does have quite a few things working in its favor. The film was generally well-liked and received good reviews from critics at 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. There is also a high verified audience rating of 95%, which is also a good sign for the film. Also, while the opening weekend was lower than the second movie, it's still higher than the 2014 original film.

Also, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" won't have much in the way of significant competition at the box office until Universal's "Fast X" sequel arrives in theaters on May 19. With that in mind, "Vol. 3" will have most of next weekend to itself and will likely dominate the charts again. If the audience reception appears to be good, and if the film picks up good word of mouth, that raises its chances for an impressive second weekend and raising its final box office take.

"The Super Mario Bros. Movie" had another good weekend, bringing another $18.5 million. Its domestic total now stands at $518 million. It should easily surpass $550 million in the coming weeks, and it has an excellent chance of reaching $575 million domestically, if not higher before it leaves theaters. Based on the iconic Nintendo video game franchise, the film has made $1.155 billion globally.

"Evil Dead Rise" came in No. 3 with $5.8 million, bringing its domestic take to $54.2 million. The film is now the highest-grossing installment of the franchise to date at $115 million worldwide.

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" marks the conclusion of James Gunn's "Guardians" trilogy and his run at Marvel Studios. With the film's release, he now departs Marvel to focus on his recently installed position as Co-Head of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran. Next on his plate is the "Superman: Legacy" project for Warner Bros. and DC.

This was also the last time fans saw the original "Guardians" movie cast. However, the characters may appear again in future Marvel Studios stories. The film also served as an introduction to Will Poulter as Adam Warlock. Actor Dave Bautista recently bid farewell to his role as Drax the Destroyer in a message on social media.

https://twitter.com/DaveBautista/status/1654410436404563970

"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is in theaters now. The film stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, and Chukwudi Iwuji.