While most of us are out celebrating with our mothers on this fine weekend, clearly, a trilogy capper that might’ve been perceived as a bit too hardcore for the families still remained firm in the realm of the box office. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 took in $60.5 million in its second weekend, a fantastic 49% drop for a recent blockbuster. The signs and moments have been on the wall long enough to yield a gesture screaming “Marvel fatigue.” Still, perhaps James Gunn made some righteous comments about how the post-Endgame strand of superhero movies is not fatiguing unless you make them as torpid as possible regarding structure and storytelling.
Recent MCU beasts such as Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania dropped nearly 70% in their sophomore outings. These brutal falls subtly told audiences that superheroes are no longer immune to falling back on planet Earth. But, Vol. 3 brought about a (relatively) more cohesive structure with our favorite band of misfits and an emotional sendoff for the team. With a drop on the lines of Phantom Menace and Thor, Guardians 3 has an excellent chance to reach $800 million now worldwide. For the gracious moment, it’s at $213 million domestically and $528 million worldwide (surpassing Ant-Man 3‘s clunky earnings of $475 million). With some tough competition within Fast X and The Little Mermaid later this month, this is a noteworthy statement.
Elsewhere, The Super Mario Bros. Movie dipped 30% in its sixth weekend, pulling spectacular legs along the lines of Top Gun: Maverick. The feature has now passed $1.21 billion worldwide, meaning it should be topping Incredibles 2‘s total gross by next weekend to be the fourth-highest-earning animated film ever. Could it stretch past Frozen’s $1.29 million? Possibly, assuming it doesn’t get annihilated by Fast X next weekend. It’ll also pass Iron Man 3 to become the 23rd-highest-earning film ever sometime tomorrow. Start announcing some sequels in the meantime, Universal.
Unfortunately, Book Club: The Next Chapter took in less traffic with a measly $6.5 million. It opened to almost half of what its predecessor did five years ago and will need some staying power to be profitable. That sentiment is rather generous, as it’ll have an uphill climb against blockbuster sequels and nostalgic reboots for the summer month.
Evil Dead Rise took fourth place in its fourth weekend with $3.728 million, putting its domestic total at $60.18 million, and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret took fifth with $2.5 million. Newcomer Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck, bombed with $2.3 million and middling reviews; unlike Air, this will not be making its profit back in the theaters or when it approaches PVOD.
Next weekend sees the release of Fast X alongside Master Gardener, Sanctuary, and Robots (the latter two distributed by Neon).
