After a few films that have fallen below expectations recently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) seems to be about to have a new victory when the blockbuster “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” (Guardians of the Milky Way). Ha Part 3) is receiving very positive box office forecasts.
Director James Gun once again returned to a Marvel movie before putting all his heart into DC. Not only that, but “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” will be the last leg of the journey for at least one other important member when actor Dave Bautista, who plays Drax, also announced his departure from the MCU. As the last adventure of a beloved team of MCU characters, this movie must be a resounding success to live up to the expectations of the Disney/Marvel producer.
Recently, the Box Office Pro site shared its long-distance box office forecast for “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”, and this early forecast is a positive signal for the future of the MCU. Specifically, the third part of the Guardians of the Galaxy is expected to have a first weekend revenue in the North American market of about $ 120 – 155 million. That would put it ahead of the MCU’s Phase 5 opening film, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which grossed $106 million in its opening weekend. Overall, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” is expected to gross around $288-403 million in North America alone.
“Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” must be a success for Marvel
The expected box office performance of “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3” is pointing the MCU in the right direction. The Marvel world has had big changes in the latest movie “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”. The movie released in February 2023 not only introduced the new main villain, Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), to the MCU in Phases 5 and 6, but also carried the responsibility of reorienting Marvel after Phase 4 caused disappointed.
Before “Ant-Man 3” opened Phase 5, the MCU had had a rough couple of years, with box office and critical reviews averaging worse than the previous period. “Quantumania” should have changed that when it promised to be the biggest adventure of the “Ant-Man” trilogy. However, it ultimately received the worst average review score in MCU history, and achieved the lowest worldwide box office of the “Ant-Man” franchise, currently earning only $474 million after nearly 2 months.
Simply put, Phase 5 of the MCU has started off with a “bomb”, but things are getting brighter with “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” directed by James Gunn. The trailers for this movie all look very attractive with carefully crafted visuals, helping to regain the trust of fans after several Phase 4 projects have lacked CGI visual effects. Even “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” did not really satisfy everyone in terms of VFX as promised.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” needs to be an undisputed success for Marvel in terms of both box office and critical reviews. More importantly, it needs to convince mainstream audiences and die-hard fans that the MCU is still an unparalleled cinematic universe. On the other hand, if “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” doesn’t turn out as expected, Disney/Marvel could be in a situation of real alarm, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to return to the glory days of the Infinity Saga.