“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” surprises and breaks record in its second weekend

“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” set an unexpected record in its second weekend of exhibition, registering the smallest audience drop of any MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) sequel to date in the North American market. Marvel’s James Gunn farewell grossed $60.5 million in the US and Canada, down just 49% from its debut.

With that, the film crossed the $ 200 million mark at the domestic box office and ended Sunday (14/5) with a cumulative total of $ 213.2 million.

Overseas, “Guardians 3” grossed an additional $91.9 million from 52 markets, taking its overseas box office to $315.6 million – including a staggering $58.4 million from China. Putting it all together, the film made half a billion in 11 days: $528.8 million globally.

Marvel movies have seen bigger-than-usual dips lately, so “Guardians 3″‘s performance is seen as unexpected and a big exception. Remember that “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” dropped nearly 70% last February. Detail: with only two weekends in theaters, “Guardians 3” has already surpassed the total global box office of “Ant-Man 3”, which was US$ 475.8 million.

Before “Guardians 3”, only three MCU films, out of a total of more than 30 titles, had less than 50% drop in their second weekends – and none of them were sequels. The list is topped by “Black Panther” (45%) and includes “Thor” (47%) and “Doctor Strange” (49%). The previous two Guardians films dropped by 55% each.

Another blockbuster that has impressed at the box office secured the 2nd place in the North American market. “Super Mario Bros. – The Movie” took in an additional $13 million in its sixth weekend, taking a domestic total of $536 million and $1.21 billion globally.

With that performance, “Super Mario Bros.” broke a new record, surpassing “Minions” (2015) to become Universal’s highest-grossing animated film of all time. In the fight with Disney, it became the fourth highest grossing animation of all time.

Newcomer of the week, the senior female comedy “The Way They Want – The Next Chapter” was in 3rd place, with US$ 6.5 million, well below the US$ 13.6 million opening of the first What They Want” in 2018.

The production, which stars Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen, expected to earn more due to its release on Mother’s Day weekend. But it didn’t pan out with audiences (a CinemaScore B rating) and critics (45% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes).

The 4th place went to “Death of the Demon – The Ascension” with US$ 3.7 million. The horror already totals $60.2 million in North America and $131.8 million globally, high figures for the genre and for any R-rated film (rated “R” in the US).

Comedy “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” rounds out the Top 5 with $2.5 million, taking it to $16.5 million in its third weekend in theaters. The Lionsgate production won some of the most flattering reviews of the year, reaching a 99% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an A rating on CinemaScore, but it still does not have a release date in Brazil.

With that, the second debut of the week, the thriller “Hypnotic”, did not go beyond the 6th place. Directed by Robert Rodriguez (“Alita: Battle Angel”) and starring Ben Affleck (“Justice League”), the sci-fi action flick flopped with $2.4 million and marked the worst wide opening of his career. Affleck, besting “Ghosts” ($3.1 million in 1998) and “Contact de Leak” ($3.8 million in 2003). Considered a bomb, with only 38% critical approval, the feature will only reach Brazilian theaters in February – if it does not go straight to streaming after this performance.

More importantly for Affleck, his other film, “Air,” in which he stars and directs, has already grossed $86 million, a very promising result for Amazon’s movie debut.

See trailers for the top five movies in theaters across the US and Canada this weekend below.

1 | GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 3 |

two | SUPER MARIO BROS – THE MOVIE |

3 | THE WAY THEY WANT – THE NEXT CHAPTER |

4 | THE DEATH OF THE DEMON – THE ASCENSION |

5 | ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT’S ME, MARGARET |