Weekend Box Office: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 Spins $114M Domestic, $282M Global Opening

Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

The Disney and Marvel Studios superhero sequel debuted with $114.0M. That’s in the middle of Boxoffice PRO’s pre-release projection, which was in the $105M to $125M range.

It’s +20% above 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy ($94.3M), but -22% below 2017’s sequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5M).

Vol. 3 earns the #58 opening weekend of all time.

It’s also the #17 opening of all time in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) – ranking in the bottom half of the MCU on that metric.

The estimated audience demographics were 60% male and 52% ages 25+. Those numbers are both comparable to February’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (61% male and 53% ages 25+).

Overseas

Vol. 3 opened to $168.1M overseas and $282.1M globally, led by $28.1M in China.

A comparison to Vol. 2 wouldn’t be exact, because that film had a staggered opening in international markets starting in late April 2017.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Weekend

After four consecutive frames on top, Universal’s animated video game adaptation finally drops to runner-up, declining -54% to $18.6M and second place.

The performance was strong enough earn it the #17 fifth weekend of all time. Mario also now earns the #3 animated fifth weekend of all time.

Domestic total

With $518.1M to date domestically, Mario ranks as the #17 biggest film of all time.

Among animated films specifically, it ranks #3 all time domestically, behind only:

  1. 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($608.5M)
  2. 2019’s The Lion King ($543.6M)

Among post-pandemic films, it ranks #4 domestically, behind only:

  1. 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($814.1M)
  2. 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick ($718.7M)
  3. 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water ($683.8M)

Overseas / global total

Mario has earned $637.1M overseas and $1.15B globally.

Mario currently ranks as the #25 film of all time globally.

It’s also the #6 animated title of all time globally, behind only:

  1. 2019’s The Lion King ($1.66B)
  2. 2019’s Frozen II ($1.45B)
  3. 2013’s Frozen ($1.28B)
  4. 2018’s Incredibles 2 ($1.24B)
  5. 2015’s Minions ($1.15B)

Among post-pandemic films, it ranks #4 globally, behind only:

  1. 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water ($2.31B)
  2. 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.92B)
  3. 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick ($1.49B)

Evil Dead Rise

Warner Bros.’ horror sequel debuted -5% below 2013’s Evil Dead, but has held better, first exceeding its predecessor through the same point in release starting on their respective sixth days.

Now in its third weekend, the film falls -53% to $5.7M and third place.

With $54.1M, Rise is running +11% ahead of its predecessor through the same point ($48.4M).   

Rise has earned $60.7M overseas and $114.8M globally, exceeding the $99.0M global total of 2013’s Evil Dead.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Last weekend, Lionsgate’s coming-of-age comedy opened to $6.7M in third place.

That was below Boxoffice PRO’s pre-release projection, which was in the $9M to $17M range.

This weekend, it falls -49% to $3.3M and fourth place. 

That’s steeper than the -38% sophomore drop for 2016’s similar adolescence-themed The Edge of Seventeen, also written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig.

Sisu

Last weekend, Lionsgate’s R-rated action thriller debuted with $3.3M in tenth place. Sisu was only playing in 1,006 theaters, less than one-third of the widest releases in the marketplace.

Now in its sophomore frame, it falls a steep -67% to $1.0M.

Compared to some other R-rated action thrillers of the past year or two, that’s steeper than the sophomore drops for:

  • 2022’s Violent Night (-35%)
  • 2021’s The Forever Purge (-43%)
  • 2022’s The Northman (-48%)
  • February’s Cocaine Bear (-52%)
  • 2022’s Bullet Train (-55%)
  • 2022’s Beast (-58%)
  • March’s John Wick: Chapter 4 (-62%)

Big George Foreman

Last weekend, Sony Pictures’ faith-based boxing biopic wasn’t exactly a knockout, with a $2.9M debut in eleventh place.

This weekend, it falls a steep -73% to $800K.

That’s steeper than some other post-pandemic faith-based sports titles:

  • 2021’s American Underdog (-33%)
  • 2022’s Father Stu (-38%)
  • 2016’s Bleed for This (-61%)

Read Boxoffice PRO’s interview with Big George Foreman director George Tillman Jr. here:

https://www.boxofficepro.com/heart-of-a-champion-interview-with-big-george-foreman-director-george-tillman-jr/ 

Weekend comparisons

Total box office this weekend came in around $155.2M, which is:

Weekend

Total

This weekend is:

Leader

Last weekend

$100.0M

+55%

The Super Mario Bros. Movie, fourth frame ($40.8M)

Same weekend in 2022

$222.3M

-30%

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187.4M)

Same weekend in 2019

$199.8M

-22%

Avengers: Endgame, second frame ($147.3M)

YTD comparisons

Year-to-date box office stands around $2.77B, which is:

Year

YTD total

2023 YTD now:

2023 YTD after last weekend:

Trend

2022

$2.05B

+35.1%

+37.0%

Down

2019

$3.70B

-25.0%

-23.6%

Down

Top distributors

Grouped by parent company, the YTD leaders are:

  1. Universal + Focus Features: $892.3M
  2. Disney + 20th Century + Searchlight + Star: $644.6M
  3. Lionsgate: $288.9M
  4. Paramount: $258.1M
  5. MGM + United Artists + Amazon Studios: $228.7M
  6. Sony Pictures + Sony Classics + Crunchyroll: $180.4M
  7. Warner Bros.: $151.1M

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 $114,000,000   4,450   $25,618 $114,000,000 1 Disney
The Super Mario Bros. Movie $18,600,000 -54% 3,909 -295 $4,758 $518,128,000 5 Universal
Evil Dead Rise $5,730,000 -53% 3,036 -381 $1,887 $54,101,000 3 Warner Bros.
Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. $3,380,000 -50% 3,343   $1,011 $12,647,414 2 Lionsgate
Love Again $2,425,000   2,703   $897 $2,425,000 1 Sony Pictures
John Wick: Chapter 4 $2,359,000 -52% 1,658 -823 $1,423 $180,056,266 7 Lionsgate
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves $1,515,000 -64% 1,751 -958 $865 $90,937,000 6 Paramount
AIR $1,396,169 -65% 1,632 -770 $855 $50,247,000 5 Amazon Studios
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant $1,222,129 -66% 1,807 -824 $676 $14,780,000 3 MGM [Amazon]
Sisu $1,083,000 -67% 1,006   $1,077 $5,548,199 2 Lionsgate
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania $808,000 6839% 185 145 $4,368 $213,791,187 12 Disney
Big George Foreman $800,000 -73% 3,054   $262 $4,606,000 2 Sony Pictures
The Pope’s Exorcist $425,000 -76% 606 -1,344 $701 $19,001,000 4 Sony Pictures
Nefarious $375,000 -34% 268 -65 $1,399 $4,040,815 4 SDG
Beau is Afraid $333,543 -78% 510 -1,615 $654 $6,743,300 4 A24
Polite Society $216,000 -74% 702 -225 $308 $1,333,000 2 Focus Features [Universal]
Suzume $205,000 -63% 116 -324 $1,767 $10,249,000 4 Sony Pictures
Renfield $170,000 -87% 380 -1,520 $447 $16,976,000 4 Universal
Chevalier $82,000 -87% 155 -1,126 $529 $3,167,774 3 Searchlight [Disney]
Showing Up $44,853 -43% 102 -13 $440 $642,105 5 A24
Joyland $30,421 -13% 34 2 $895 $185,430 5 Oscilloscope
Avatar: The Way of Water $27,000 -67% 35 -75 $771 $684,012,847 21 20th Century Studios [Disney]
Chile ‘76 $16,038   2   $8,019 $16,038 1 Kino Lorber
The Eight Mountains $16,022 -52% 4 2 $4,006 $57,356 2 Janus Films
The Melt Goes on Forever $6,250   1   $6,250 $6,250 1 Greenwich
Other People’s Children $5,323 -65% 8 1 $665 $48,345 3 Music Box Films
Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.

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