Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Last weekend, the Disney and Marvel Studios superhero sequel debuted with $118.4M. While that was +25% above 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy ($94.3M), it started -19% below 2017’s sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5M).
Now in its sophomore frame and without facing significant competition, the third installment easily repeats in first place, with a -49% decline to $60.5M. That’s the mildest percentage drop in the franchise, as both the original and Vol. 2 fell -55% in their sophomore frames.
In fact, it’s the third-mildest percentage drop among all 32 MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) films, behind only 2018’s Black Panther (-44%) and 2011’s Thor (-47%).
Among the 32 MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) films, it earned the #16 opening weekend, and now improves to the #13 sophomore weekend. Vol. 3 earned the #58 opening weekend of all time, and now improves to the #38 sophomore weekend of all time.
Vol. 3 has earned $315.6M overseas and $528.8M globally, led by $58.4M in China.
For comparison, the first installment earned $770.8M globally, the second installment improved to $869.0M. It’s possible that Vol. 3 might not reach either of those numbers.
In China specifically, the first installment earned $86.3M, then the second installment improved to $99.3M. It’s similarly that Vol. 3 might not reach either of those numbers, either.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Weekend
In its sixth frame, Universal’s animated video game adaptation declines -30% to $13.0M, repeating in second place.
It’s now earned the:
- #32 “traditional” three-day opening weekend of all time ($146.3M)
- #17 five-day start of all time, since it opened on a Wednesday instead of a Friday ($204.6M)
- #7 sophomore weekend of all time ($92.3M)
- #7 third weekend of all time ($59.9M)
- #6 fourth weekend of all time ($40.8M)
- #17 fifth weekend of all time ($18.5M)
- Now, the #28 sixth weekend of all time
Among animated films specifically, it’s now earned the:
- #3 opening weekend of all time, behind 2019’s The Lion King ($191.7M) and 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($182.6M)
- #1 sophomore frame of all time, beating the prior record holder, 2019’s Frozen II with $86.0M
- #1 third frame of all time, beating the prior record holder, 2018’s Incredibles 2 with $46.4M
- #1 fourth frame of all time, beating the prior record holder, 2018’s Incredibles 2 with $28.4M
- #3 fifth frame of all time, behind 2013’s Frozen ($19.6M) and 2016’s Zootopia ($19.3M)
- #6 sixth frame of all time, behind:
- 2013’s Frozen ($28.5M)
- 1995’s Toy Story ($19.3M)
- 2019’s Frozen II ($16.8M)
- 2016’s Zootopia ($14.3M)
- 1994’s The Lion King ($14.0M)
Domestic total
With $535.9M to date domestically, Mario ranks as the #15 biggest film of all time.
Among animated films specifically, it ranks #3 all time domestically, behind only:
- 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($608.5M)
- 2019’s The Lion King ($543.6M)
Among post-pandemic films, it ranks #4 domestically, behind only:
- 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814.1M)
- 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick ($718.7M)
- 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water ($683.8M)
Overseas / global total
With $674.4M overseas and $1.21B globally, Mario ranks as the #24 biggest film of all time globally.
Among animated films specifically, Mario ranks as the #5 film of all time globally, behind only:
- 2019’s The Lion King ($1.66B)
- 2019’s Frozen II ($1.45B)
- 2013’s Frozen ($1.28B)
- 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($1.24B)
Among post-pandemic films, it ranks #4 globally, behind only:
- 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water ($2.31B)
- 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.92B)
- 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick ($1.49B)
Book Club: The Next Chapter
Focus Features’ comedy sequel opened on the lower end of Boxoffice PRO’s pre-release projection, with a $6.5M debut in third place. It’s also far below the openings of some other similar “elderly comedies” of recent years, including its predecessor:
- -52% below 2018’s Book Club ($13.5M)
- -48% below February’s 80 for Brady ($12.7M)
- -60% below 2013’s Last Vegas ($16.3M)
- -45% below 2017’s Going in Style ($11.9M)
- -63% below 2015’s The Intern ($17.7M)
Chapter earned a “B” CinemaScore, lower than the “A-” for the original Book Club.
The estimated audience demographics were 77% female, slightly lower than the original film’s 80% female opening. Chapter debuted with $3.1M overseas and $9.6M globally.
Love Again
Last weekend, Sony Pictures’ romantic comedy didn’t sing, with a $2.3M debut in fifth place. That was on the lowest end of Boxoffice PRO’s pre-release projection, which was in the $2M to $5M range. It’s also below virtually every other wide release romantic comedy of the past decade. Most debuted above $10M, though a few started below that – but really, none as low as $2.3M. Now in its sophomore frame, it redeems itself a bit, declining only -35% to $1.5M and eighth place.
That’s one of the mildest romantic comedy sophomore drops in recent memory, milder than:
- 2019’s Long Shot (-36%)
- 2022’s Ticket to Paradise (-40%)
- 2017’s Home Again (-40%)
- 2019’s What Men Want (-41%)
- 2019’s Last Christmas (-43%)
- 2016’s Trainwreck (-43%)
- 2014’s Blended (-43%)
- 2016’s Bridget Jones’s Baby (-46%)
- 2019’s Isn’t It Romantic (-50%)
- 2013’s Don Jon (-52%)
- 2022’s Marry Me (-53%)
- 2016’s How to be Single (-54%)
- 2016’s The Perfect Match (-54%)
- 2013’s Baggage Claim (-55%)
However, it’s slightly steeper than for:
- 2013’s About Time (-30%)
- 2014’s Magic in the Moonlight (-32%)
- 2017’s The Big Sick (-34%)
Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with Love Again writer-director Jim Strouse here:
Elsewhere at the box office
Ketchup Entertainment’s thriller Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck, opened with $2.3M in sixth place. That’s below the openings of even some other Affleck underperformers of recent years: -50% below 2021’s The Last Duel ($4.7M) and -53% below 2015’s Live by Night ($5.1M).
Sony Pictures’ fantasy action adaptation Knights of the Zodiac opened with $535K. The film was only playing in 586 theaters, less than one-seventh the reach of the widest release in the marketplace.
Lionsgate’s John Wick: Chapter 4 has now earned $182.9M total. That’s +7% above the final total of 2019’s John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum ($171.0M), and +11% through the same point in release ($165.1M).
Warner Bros.’ Evil Dead Rise has now earned $60.1M total. That’s +11% above the final total of 2013’s Evil Dead ($54.2M), and +16% through the same point in release ($51.8M).
Weekend comparisons
Total box office this weekend came in around $99.2M, which is:
|
Weekend |
Total |
This weekend is: |
Leader |
|
Last weekend |
$159.8M |
-38% |
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($118.4M) |
|
Same weekend in 2022 |
$91.7M |
+8% |
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, second frame ($61.7M) |
|
Same weekend in 2019 |
$168.2M |
-41% |
Avengers: Endgame, third frame ($63.2M) |
YTD comparisons
Year-to-date box office stands around $2.92B, which is:
|
Year |
YTD total |
2023 YTD now: |
2023 YTD after last weekend: |
Trend |
|
2022 |
$2.25B |
+29.6% |
+35.1% |
Down |
|
2019 |
$3.92B |
-25.4% |
-25.0% |
Down |
Top distributors
Grouped by parent company, the YTD leaders are:
- Universal + Focus Features: $916.8M
- Disney + 20th Century + Searchlight + Star: $744.3M
- Lionsgate: $296.8M
- Paramount: $259.3M
- MGM + United Artists + Amazon Studios: $231.4M
- Sony Pictures + Sony Classics + Crunchyroll: $186.5M
- Warner Bros.: $157.1M
Disney looks poised to likely retake the lead in May or June, thanks to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Little Mermaid.
Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates:
| Title | Estimated weekend | % change | Locations | Location change | Average | Total | Weekend | Distributor |
| Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 | $60,500,000 | -49% | 4,450 | $13,596 | $213,201,000 | 2 | Disney | |
| The Super Mario Bros. Movie | $13,000,000 | -30% | 3,800 | -109 | $3,421 | $535,959,000 | 6 | Universal |
| Book Club: The Next Chapter | $6,500,000 | 3,508 | $1,853 | $6,500,000 | 1 | Focus Features [Universal] | ||
| Evil Dead Rise | $3,728,000 | -37% | 2,821 | -215 | $1,322 | $60,188,000 | 4 | Warner Bros. |
| Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret | $2,500,000 | -23% | 2,365 | -978 | $1,057 | $16,476,954 | 3 | Lionsgate |
| Hypnotic | $2,355,000 | 2,118 | $1,112 | $2,355,000 | 1 | Ketchup Entertainment | ||
| John Wick: Chapter 4 | $1,930,000 | -18% | 1,613 | -45 | $1,197 | $182,964,089 | 8 | Lionsgate |
| Love Again | $1,550,000 | -35% | 2,703 | $573 | $5,007,000 | 2 | Sony Pictures | |
| Air | $875,357 | -37% | 1,210 | -422 | $723 | $51,709,648 | 6 | MGM |
| Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves | $740,000 | -49% | 934 | -817 | $792 | $92,170,000 | 7 | Paramount |
| Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant | $637,376 | -48% | 837 | -970 | $762 | $16,037,441 | 4 | MGM |
| Knights of the Zodiac | $535,000 | 586 | $913 | $535,000 | 1 | Sony Pictures | ||
| Sisu | $511,000 | -54% | 693 | -313 | $737 | $6,659,295 | 3 | Lionsgate |
| Blackberry | $473,000 | 450 | $1,051 | $473,000 | 1 | IFC Films | ||
| Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania | $377,000 | -50% | 135 | -50 | $2,793 | $214,146,000 | 13 | Disney |
| Nefarious | $361,975 | -3% | 393 | 125 | $921 | $4,571,801 | 5 | SDG |
| The Pope’s Exorcist | $340,000 | -21% | 545 | -61 | $624 | $19,505,000 | 5 | Sony Pictures |
| Big George Foreman | $260,000 | -68% | 1,304 | -1,750 | $199 | $5,260,000 | 3 | Sony Pictures |
| Beau is Afraid | $167,302 | -58% | 246 | -264 | $680 | $7,216,457 | 5 | A24 |
| Suzume | $115,000 | -43% | 84 | -32 | $1,369 | $10,478,000 | 5 | Sony Pictures |
| Polite Society | $57,000 | -74% | 76 | -626 | $750 | $1,512,000 | 3 | Focus Features [Universal] |
| Renfield | $51,000 | -71% | 105 | -275 | $486 | $17,117,000 | 5 | Universal |
| Chevalier | $50,000 | -45% | 110 | -45 | $455 | $3,282,000 | 4 | Searchlight [Disney] |
| The Eight Mountains | $30,100 | 92% | 24 | 20 | $1,254 | $93,772 | 3 | Janus Films |
| Showing Up | $28,578 | -44% | 75 | -27 | $381 | $708,854 | 6 | A24 |
| Monica | $26,500 | 2 | $13,250 | $26,500 | 1 | IFC Films | ||
| The Starling Girl | $24,736 | 4 | $6,184 | $24,736 | 1 | Bleecker Street | ||
| Avatar: The Way of Water | $24,000 | -8% | 35 | n/c | $686 | $684,045,000 | 22 | 20th Century Studios [Disney] |
| Joyland | $12,024 | -60% | 23 | -11 | $523 | $209,128 | 6 | Oscilloscope |
| L’immensita | $9,281 | 2 | $4,641 | $9,281 | 1 | Music Box Films |
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