‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ adds $60.5M in second weekend

Hello! Welcome to The Box Office Report for the weekend of May 12-14, 2023.

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

Weekend gross: $60.5M
Total domestic gross: $213.2M
Last weekend: 1st
Percent drop: 49

The first two Guardians of the Galaxy movies saw 55 percent drops their second weekend. Marvel Studios obviously wanted Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to match its predecessors, but even more critically, the movie needed to avoid the unprecedented 70 percent drop that Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania suffered its second weekend in February.

The third Guardians movie easily accomplished both those challenges, dropping just 49 percent this weekend, adding $60.5 million to its domestic total.

So much for the superhero fatigue everyone keeps talking about.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is already a rounding error away from matching Quantumania’s entire domestic haul — $213.2 million versus $214.1 million — through just its second weekend in release.

What fueled Vol. 3’s impressive second weekend? I’d imagine it was a combination of the positive word of mouth around the movie along with the fact that this is James Gunn’s final ride in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

2. The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Weekend gross: $13M
Total domestic gross: $536M
Last weekend: 2nd
Percent drop: 30

The Super Mario Bros. Movie continues to add to its impressive box office haul. The film is No. 2 on the all-time domestic animated box office chart (trailing only Incredibles 2’s $608.6 million). It’s the 15th biggest movie in domestic box office history (passing The Dark Knight’s $535,959,000). And it’s creeping up the worldwide box office list, sitting at No. 24 (only a few million away from Iron Man 3’s $1.22 billion).

3. Book Club: The Next Chapter

Weekend gross: $6.5M
Total domestic gross: $6.5M
Last weekend: New release
Percent drop: NA

Seeing the weekly box office chart filled with sequels and adaptions isn’t out of the ordinary, but I never expected one of those sequels to be a follow-up to 2018’s Book Club. I hope they keep making sequels in this franchise, giving them generic titles like Book Club: Another Chapter, Book Club: One More Chapter and Book Club: An Additional Chapter.

4. Evil Dead Rise

Weekend gross: $3.7M
Total domestic gross: $60.2M
Last weekend: 3rd
Percent drop: 37

Evil Dead Rise is now the most successful film in the Evil Dead franchise, capturing the top spot on both the domestic and worldwide box office charts. When does a sequel to Evil Dead Rise get announced?

5. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.

Weekend gross: $2.5M
Total domestic gross: $16.5M
Last weekend: 4th
Percent drop: 23

I’m not sure if God ever answered Margaret, but it’s clear that moviegoers aren’t there for this movie.

Box office numbers via The Numbers based on Sunday estimates.

Next weekend

It’s Fast X weekend. While The Super Mario Bros. Movie had a month of time to dominate the box office, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 hit theaters just as the crowded release season was beginning. The latest and penultimate (or maybe third-to-last?) installment in the Fast and Furious franchise should easily win the box office next weekend.