Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 Scores A Massive Opening Weekend At The Box Office

If you’d have told me a couple of years ago that Marvel D-listers the Guardians of the Galaxy would end up as the undisputed kings of the summer box office, I’d have accused you of pulling my leg, and never would have believed it. But hey, here we are in 2017, where Donald J. Trump is now President and America is going absolutely crazy for a loveable tree and his ferocious raccoon buddy. How crazy, you ask? Well, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 took in a wildly impressive $145 million during its debut in North America this weekend.

Overseas, the sequel continued to rake in the cash, too, earning another $124 million, which means that it’s now sitting pretty at a worldwide haul of $428 million. If things keep up at this pace, which we fully expect them to, James Gunn’s blockbuster should have no trouble crossing that all important $1 billion mark.

“It’s all about strategy when it comes to Marvel and with ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2,’ the notion of moving what was an August release for the first film to the key summer kick off spot in May clearly paid huge dividends for Disney,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at comScore. “For this ‘Guardians’ to post the sixth best bow for the month is incredibly impressive given the Cinderella story of the title’s ascension from being a little known question mark of a movie, to a global phenomenon.”

Aside from Guardians, there wasn’t much noteworthy business going on at the box office this weekend – understandably so. The Fate of the Furious took in another $8.5 million, while The Boss Baby generated $6.2 million. Following those two films, How to be a Latin Lover earned $5.3 million and rounding out the top 5, Beauty and the Beast showed that it continues to have legs, bringing in another $5 million.

Circling back to Marvel’s sequel though, and that $145 million opening should certainly have studio execs feeling pretty happy. It didn’t quite reach the same heights as a few of their other properties (The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War and Iron Man 3 all debuted stronger), but given that Star-Lord and co. still don’t have anywhere near the same level of recognition in the public consciousness that those other heroes have, $145 million is incredibly impressive.

Tell us, have you seen Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 yet? If so, what did you think of it? Sound off in the usual place with your thoughts!