The summer season got off to a rousing start at the box office with the triumphant return of Marvel's cosmic heroes.
Easily coming in first place this weekend is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (read our review), which brought in $145 million during its first three days domestically. The film was already a massive hit overseas before it opened in America, and it's only found more success. Its debut figure was good enough to be the second highest opening of 2017 (behind fellow Disney release Beauty and the Beast) and the fifth best in the history of the MCU. Vol. 2 performed in line with the expectations going into the weekend, which had it pegged for anywhere between $145 million and $160 million. Since the reception wasn't as enthusiastic as the original (but still strong), that may have played into it not reaching the high end of the estimates, but the fans still turned out in droves to see Star-Lord and friends come back.
Guardians 2 should prove to have decent legs commercially, but it will be interesting to see how it holds up. Next week sees the release of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (which sold out advanced screenings), and Alien: Covenant premieres in a couple of weeks. Unlike the first Guardians, this sequel is going to face stiff competition early into its run, so it may not be able to dominate the marketplace like its predecessor did back in 2014. Nevertheless, Vol. 2 is another winner for Marvel Studios and will go down as one of the biggest films of the year when it's all said and done.
In a very distant second is The Fate of the Furious with $8.5 million. Obviously, the action sequel could not contend with the fresh arrival of Guardians and lost a considerable amount of business. It's now made $207.1 million domestically.
The #3 film is The Boss Baby. DreamWorks Animation's latest grossed $6.1 million in its sixth weekend to raise its Stateside total to $156.7 million.
Coming in fourth is How to be a Latin Lover. The comedy earned $5.2 million and is now at $20.6 million in the U.S.
Rounding out the top five is Beauty and the Beast with $4.9 million. Disney's live-action remake continues to hang around the top of the charts two months into its run, increasing its domestic haul to a whopping $487.5 million. Beauty also moved past Finding Dory on the all-time charts and is now the eighth highest-grossing film ever. It will likely have to settle for that position, since the $532.1 million of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is probably out of reach.
Tech thriller The Circle is in sixth with $4 million. The film now stands at $15.7 million in North America.
At #7 is Baahubali 2: The Conclusion. It earned $3.2 million in its second weekend to raise its domestic total to $16.1 million.
In eighth is Gifted with $2 million. The film has now made $19.2 million domestically.
Comedy Going in Style came in ninth this weekend with $1.9 million to raise its total to $40.6 million.
Capping off the top 10 is Smurfs: The Lost Village with $1.8 million. The animated film has made just $40.5 million during its domestic run.
[NOTE: These are only weekend box office estimates -- based on Friday and Saturday ticket sales coupled with adjusted expectations for Sunday. Official weekend box office results will be released on Monday, May 1 -- at which time we'll update this post with any changes.]
Source: Box Office Mojo