Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Blasts Off With Franchise-Best $17.5 Million In Thursday Previews

[UPDATE] Newer numbers have come in from Variety, and they state that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 actually earned $17.5 million for its Thursday showings in the US. That’s a franchise best, ahead of the $17 million that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 earned in 2017 from its Thursday showing. The original Guardians earned $11.2 million from its Thursday showings.

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Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 had its opening on Thursday night with early previews, but how did the box office results stack up against 2017’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? The movie earned about $14 million in Thursday screenings in the US, Deadline reported.

This is an unverified number from the site’s sources and not a figure that came from Disney itself, for what it’s worth. In any event, it compares to $17 million for Thursday night box office revenue for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 in the US.

For the first full weekend, Vol. 3 is expected to make $110 million, which compares to $146.5 million for its predecessor. One reason for the expected downturn is how audiences may have “indifference” to this newest MCU phase. The first Phase 5 movie, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, is one of the worst-performing MCU movies in the past decade.

In any event, the Guardians of the Galaxy series is a juggernaut. It’s already made $1.6 billion at the box office across its first two installments, and Vol. 3 should push the franchise beyond $2 billion.

Vol. 3 is expected to bring about an end to the current iteration of the Guardians of the Galaxy, but of course Marvel could continue the series with a new cast later on if it chose to. Chris Pratt, who plays Peter Quill/Star-Lord, has said he would come back for a new movie without writer-director James Gunn, while other cast members have said they are finished entirely.

For more, check out GameSpot’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 review.