Guardians Of The Galaxy 3 Projected To Make Less Money Than Predecessor In First Weekend

[UPDATE] New box office tracking estimates from Variety suggest that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 should make $120 million in the US this weekend for its opening. That would be well above the first-weekend results of the original movie ($94 million) but significantly under 2017's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5 million). The report said Vol. 3 might fall even shorter than expectations and make $110 million-$118 million.

The initial box office estimates from April said Vol. 3 might make $130 million over its first three days stateside and that those predictions might be conservative because the marketing campaign hadn't fully ramped up. But now that the marketing machine is in full gear, Vol. 3 is tracking even lower.

"That points to either mounting indifference to the newest phase in the Marvel Cinematic Universe or a sign that Disney waited too long to conclude the Guardians story, which began nearly a decade ago..." Variety reported.

For more, check out GameSpot's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 review and what other critics are saying.

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The first box office tracking estimates for Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 have arrived, and they point to the possibility that the superhero film won't match its predecessor for its first weekend.

Deadline reports that Vol. 3 is tracking toward $130 million over its first three days from May 5-7 in the United States. That would be a bit below the $146.5 million that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 earned during its opening weekend in 2017, years prior to the onset of the pandemic.

Importantly, though, Deadline points out that Marvel's big marketing push for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has not yet kicked into high gear. When that happens, box office tracking estimates could push upward. The 2014 original Guardians of the Galaxy made $94.3 million during its opening weekend in the US.

The Guardians of the Galaxy series is a juggernaut for Marvel, earning $1.6 billion at the box office across its first two installments. The third movie should help the series pass $2 billion.

In the post-pandemic market, the biggest stateside opening weekend for a Marvel movie belongs to Spider-Man: No Way Home ($260.1 million) followed by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187.4 million).

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will debut a couple days early for people who attend a marathon event on May 3 that includes all three films.

The movie 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.

Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, has spoken about wrapping up his time with the series. He said he's relieved, in a way, to be done with the franchise.

"I love him," he said about Drax. "But there's a relief [that it's over]. It wasn't all pleasant. It was hard playing that role. The makeup process was beating me down. And I just don't know if I want Drax to be my legacy--it's a silly performance, and I want to do more dramatic stuff."