Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3″ has dominated the box office with a $114 million domestic opening weekend from 4,450 locations in North America, and an additional $168 million internationally.
While still an impressive sum, it falls short of recent Marvel releases, such as “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” and “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” This has led some analysts to question whether there is “superhero fatigue” among audiences. However, Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian sees it as a solid opening for the summer season, which is expected to deliver the most robust profits since 2019.
The film’s success marks the beginning of the summer movie season, which is usually a profitable corridor for Hollywood that accounts for 40% of a year’s box office. It bumped “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” out of first place after four weekends atop the charts. The return of actors Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, and Vin Diesel in “Guardians Vol. 3” has been positively reviewed, but a little more divided than previous installments. It is difficult to compare pre-pandemic openings with post-pandemic ones.
While studios left the weekend mostly clear for the superhero blockbuster, Screen Gems and Sony did debut their new Priyanka Chopra Jonas romantic comedy “Love Again” in 2,703 locations, earning a modest $2.4 million and taking fifth place. “The Flash,” DC’s next major superhero movie, is set to release on June 16.
Dergarabedian predicts that this summer will have an “irresistible movie marketplace” with a “killer combination” of appealing films for every audience demographic. Despite concerns about “superhero fatigue,” the summer season is poised to deliver the most robust profits since 2019.
