The summer blockbuster season has begun, and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is off to a big start with a $56.2 million Friday.
That puts the film on pace to hit Disney’s pre-weekend target of $140 million. The Friday total includes $17 million from Thursday previews, the highest for any film in 2017 so far.
“Vol. 2” is also on pace to have the fifth largest opening for a MCU film and will crack the top 5 openings for all Marvel movies if it can pass the $151 million set by “Spider-Man 3” in 2007.
Even if it doesn’t, a $140 million opening will still be a nearly 50 percent increase over the $94.3 million opening made by the first “Guardians” film in August 2014 and will be good for the second-biggest opening of 2017 behind only the $174 million earned by “Beauty and the Beast.”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” brings returning star Chris Pratt together with series newcomer Kurt Russell as his long-lost father in a space adventure written and directed by James Gunn, who’s also signed on for a third installment. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige is producing.
Critics mostly praised the film, though their consensus was that it is not as good as the first movie. The sequel currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 81 percent, but fans were effusive in their praise, giving it a 90 percent audience RT rating and making it the seventh straight MCU film to get an A on CinemaScore.
“Vol. 2” made up a stunning 85 percent of total box office revenue on Friday, which puts the rest of the top 5 below $2.5 million for their Friday totals. “The Fate of the Furious” took second place with $2.2 million on its fourth Friday, giving it a domestic total of over $200 million and a global total of $1.1 billion.
The rest of the top 5 is filled out with “The Boss Baby,” “How to Be a Latin Lover,” and “Beauty and the Beast,” all of which made around $1.3 million.
Of that trio, “The Boss Baby” deserves special note, since the DreamWorks Animation release crossed the $150 million mark domestically after hitting $400 million globally earlier this week.