"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" achieved the best advance box office in the series in North America

On May 5, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opened simultaneously in China and the U.S., and the box office performance was very different. The first-day box office in mainland China was 41.5 million RMB, the worst start for the series. The North American advance screening on Thursday grossed 17.5 million U.S. dollars, the best result in the series.

Due to the time difference, mainland Chinese audiences saw the film earlier than North American audiences, but since Saturday was a workday, the movie market on Friday was relatively quiet. In 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy earned 46.08 million yuan on its first day in mainland China, and in 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 earned more than 98 million yuan on its first day. In 2023, when there were more screens, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 earned only 41.5 million yuan on its first day.

The cumulative box office of "Guardians of the Galaxy" in China is 596 million yuan, and that of "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" is 686 million yuan. Unless "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" has a big hit in the subsequent domestic box office, it will be difficult to catch up with the results of the first two films. In terms of ratings, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" scored 8.1 on Time.com, temporarily ahead of "Guardians of the Galaxy" with 7.8 points and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" with 7.9 points.

In the North American market, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 performed much better, with a Thursday advance showing of $17.5 million, surpassing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1's $11.2 million and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2's $17 million. Among all Marvel Cinematic Universe films, this advance showing ranked 12th, on par with Ant-Man 3. Foreign media predicts that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's North American opening weekend box office will be between $135 million and $145 million.