Marvel finally unveiledGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2during Thursday night preview screenings, and if the numbers are any indication, this Phase 3 sequel will kick off the summer movie season in a huge way. The intergalactic superhero adventure took in a whopping $17 million from these Thursday sneak peeks, which is by no means a record, but it is the highest Thursday preview this year. However, this could indicate that theGuardians 2 opening weekendwill come in a bit lower than initially expected.
Deadlinereports thatVol. 2’s $17 million Thursday tally is the fourth highest among Marvel movies, behindAvengers: Age of Ultron($27.6 million),Captain America: Civil War($25 million) andThe Avengers($18.7 million). All three of those movies were May releases, withAvengers: Age of UltronandCaptain America: Civil Warboth earning $84.4 million and $75.5 million respectively on their first full day of release. While early projections were putting thisGuardians sequelat $160 million for its opening weekend, after these Thursday figures, it is believed thatGuardians 2will pull in between $55 million and $60 million on Friday, for an opening weekend between $125 million and $130 million.
Thecritically-acclaimed Guardians 2, which is currently at 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, opens in 4,347 theaters today, the 10th-widest release of all time, just two theaters behindThe Avengers, which opened in 4,349 theaters almost exactly five years ago today.Guardians 2’s $17 million Thursday tally also bests its predecessor’s $11.2 million Thursday tally, and it will certainly have no trouble surpassing the originalGuardians' $94.3 million opening weekend, with the sequel expected to out-gross the original by at least 33%. The movie was produced with a whopping $200 million budget, before publicity and advertising, but Marvel has already almost earned that back in its international debut.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2opened in several international territories last weekend, earning an impressive $167 million from 31 market. The movie opened in a number of other international markets last night, but aside from the domestic box office, many are looking to see how this superhero sequel fares in its China debut today. The originalGuardians of the Galaxyearned an impressive $96 million in China, the highest of any international territory and more than double its closest competitor, the United Kingdom ($47.3 million). The Chinese market has grown by leaps and bounds since then, so it will be intriguing to see how theseintergalactic Guardiansfares in the Middle Kingdom.
It seems likely thatGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which has a whopping5 post-credit scenes, could easily dominate for at least one more weekend, depending on how big it opens. Opening next weekend is Warner Bros.King Arthur: The Legend of the Swordand 20th Century Fox’sSnatched, both of which shouldn’t giveGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2a run for its money, but it may run into trouble the following weekend, with the highly-anticipated release of 20th Century Fox’sAlien: Covenant. AlthoughAlien: Covenantis an R-rated movie, it will be facing theGuardiansin its third frame, and if it builds enough buzz and hype throughout the next few weeks it should be able to put theseGuardiansdown, but we’ll have to wait and see.
