There is nothing like the promise of a chapter closing to draw people to the movie theatre, especially when tied to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This weekend, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 3, which says goodbye to this iteration of the space misfits and its driving creative voice, director James Gunn, earned US$114 million in ticket sales from 4,450 locations in North America, according to studio estimates on Sunday .
Domestically, it’s both an impressive sum for any movie and slightly less than what we’ve come to expect from a Marvel opening. Last year on the same weekend, Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness, riding on the success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, raked in US$187.4 million in its first three days in North America. And in November, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever also opened to over US$181.3 million.
Guardians Vol 3 bumped The Super Mario Bros Movie out of first place after four weekends atop the charts and kicked off the summer movie season, a vital and usually profitable corridor for Hollywood that runs through Labor Day and often accounts for 40 per cent of a year’s box office.