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Guardians of the Galaxy 3 Early Box Office Projections Are A Good Sign For The MCU
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is looking at healthy early box office projections — a good sign for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. James Gunn returns for one more Marvel movie before he crosses over to DC for good. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set to be the end of the journey for at least one member of the team, with Drax actor Dave Bautista leaving the MCU along with Gunn. With the film presenting the final adventure of this iteration of the beloved MCU team, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has to succeed.
Box Office Pro shared the long-range box office forecast for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and the early projections are great for the MCU's future. According to the projections, the trilogy finale for this Guardians of the Galaxy cast is looking at a $120 - $155 million domestic opening weekend. That sum would put the movie ahead of the MCU's Phase 5 debut film — Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — which debuted with $106 million. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is early tracking for a $288 – $403 million domestic total.
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3 Has To Be A Success For Marvel
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3's healthy box office projections point the MCU in the right direction. Marvel had a lot going on with its latest film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The movie needed to not only introduce the MCU's new main villain, Jonathan Majors' Kang the Conqueror, but also course-correct Marvel after an uneven Phase 4. Before Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opened up Phase 5, the MCU had gone through a rough few years, with overall diminished box office returns and poor reviews. The latest Ant-Man was meant to change that, with the movie presenting what was promised to be the trilogy's biggest adventure.
However, the movie ended up receiving some of the harshest critic scores in MCU history, which contributed to its box office ending up as the lowest of the Ant-Man franchise. The MCU's Phase 5 started with a whimper, but it appears things are finally getting better with Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The movie's trailers look extremely polished, positioning Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 to escape the recent surge of bad VFX in MCU projects that plagued Phase 4 and was a major point of discussion surrounding Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 needs to be a success for Marvel, with the possible positive word-of-mouth lending itself to a return to form narrative for the MCU. Alternately, if Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is not a hit, Marvel may dig itself into a bigger role, as the thought of even one of the MCU's most beloved franchises failing at the box office, especially with Gunn at the helm, would indicate Marvel's problems run at a deeper level than the public can see. With the positive box office projections for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the MCU appears to be ready to regain the audiences' trust.
