‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3’ Opening Weekend Box Office Falls Short Of Initial Projections
John F. Trent
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The latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe directed by James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, saw its domestic opening weekend box office haul do worse than projections.
(L-R): Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and Karen Gillan as Nebula in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo by Jessica Miglio. © 2023 MARVEL.
According to The-Numbers, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 brought in $118.4 million in its opening weekend at the domestic box office.
This number is lower than Variety’s prediction of $120 million. It is also lower than Box Office Pro’s initial long-range prediction of between $120 million and $155 million.
However, Box Office Pro significantly lowered their projections the closer the film got to its opening weekend and eventually predicted it would make $115 million.
(L-R): Will Poulter as Adam Warlock and Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo by Jessica Miglio. © 2023 MARVEL.
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The film brought in another $169.9 million at the international box office for a global gross of $288.3 million.
The Chinese box office led the way internationally with a gross of $27.7 million. The United Kingdom’s gross was $15.2 million with Mexico bringing in $13.5 million and South Korea grossing $13.2.
(L-R): Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper), Dave Bautista as Drax, and Pom Klementieff as Mantis in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
Not only did Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 not beat projections for its opening weekend, but it also had the lowest opening weekend of all of the Guardians of the Galaxy films when adjusted for inflation.
The original Guardians of the Galaxy film grossed $94.3 million in its opening weekend back in 2014. When you adjust that for inflation it comes in at $120.6 million.
The film didn’t even outperform 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 opening weekend of $146.5 million. Adjusting for inflation it looks even worse as the film grossed $170.6 million.
Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Dave Bautista as Drax, and Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and Karen Gillan as Nebula in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
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Even looking at the most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe releases it only outperformed Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, a film that more than likely lost Marvel Studios $40 million+, after it only had an opening weekend of $106.1 million.
It didn’t come anywhere close to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever that earned $181.3 million at the domestic box office and Thor: Love and Thunder, which earned $144.1 million.
Sean Gunn as Kraglin in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
Box office analyst OMB Reviews shared his analysis based off early box office returns that claimed the film only grossed $114 million in its opening weekend.
Despite the poor opening weekend, OMB Reviews believes the film might have some longer legs and be able to surpass Thor: Love and Thunder’s box office. That film finished its run with $343.2 million at the domestic box office and a worldwide gross of $760 million.
OMB Reviews explained, “I think and would not be surprised that if Guardians 3 was able to match and then exceed the domestic runs and even international runs for Thor: Love and Thunder. And so that’s why I think overall if the numbers hold, if it ends up performing well, if that word of mouth is indeed as positive as it seems right now then I think we could this film making more than the $750 million of Thor: Love and Thunder, but maybe not as much as the $850 million of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
“Right now my range early on, and this can obviously change, is right now I think somewhere between $650 [million] and $850 [million] total when all is said and done,” he opined.
(L-R): Dave Bautista as Drax, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord, and Karen Gillan as Nebula in Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Photo by Jessica Miglio. © 2022 MARVEL.
As for the word of mouth, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has a solid 8.4 average rating on IMDb with the majority of users rating it between 8 and 10.
Interestingly, this rating is higher than the other two Guardians of the Galaxy films, The first one has an 8.0 out of 10. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 has a 7.6 out of 10.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 IMDb User scores
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an astounding 94% All Audience Score with an average rating of 4.7 out of 5.
This score is also higher than the first two films as well. The first film received a 92% with an average rating of 4.4 out of 5. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 received an 87% with an average rating of 4.1 out 5.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 Rotten Tomatoes All Audience Score
What do you make of these box office returns for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3? How do you think the movie will fare for its entire theatrical run?
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