Friday Estimates: Galaxy Doesn’t Shine as Bright, but Still Earns $56.26 million

May 6, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

As expected, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 dominated the box office chart on Friday. However, it didn’t do quite as well as we predicted with $56.26 million. It would have needed north of $60 million to get to $156 million over the weekend. Its reviews are fantastic, the best in the top ten by quite a margin, while it earned an A from CinemaScore, so it should have solid legs over the weekend. On the other hand, it is a sequel and those tend to be more front-loaded, so look for $138 million over the weekend. It is still very early, but the film appears to be on pace for $350 million domestically and close to $900 million worldwide. This is clearly a monster hit, even if it is not quite as large as anticipated. To put it in perspective, it is the sixth best May opening of all time, so there's plenty of reasons to celebrate this debut. On a side note, four of the five films ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 on that list are from the MCU. The lone exception is Spider-Man 3. Marvel owns May.

The second best film on Friday was The Fate of the Furious, which earned $2.23 million, putting it past the $200 million milestone. It should finish the weekend with just over $8 million for a running tally of $207 million. Again, it is a monster hit, even if it can’t live up to its predecessor.

The Boss Baby grabbed third place in Friday with $1.35 million on Friday, putting it on pace for $6 million over the weekend. The film hit $150 million domestically and has no more milestones to aim for, at least not domestically.

How to be a Latin Lover fell faster than expected to $1.34 million on Friday, which is 66% lower than its opening Friday. It will bounce back on Saturday, but a $5 million sophomore stint it still lower than predictions. Clearly it won’t have the same legs that Instructions Not Included had, but it will still become a financial success.

Beauty and the Beast managed fifth place on Friday with $1.23 million. It should also earn about $5 million over the full weekend, putting it in a close race with How to be a Latin Lover for fourth place. At the moment, the film has $483.89 million and remains on pace for $500 million domestically.

The Circle was down 64% from its opening Friday with $1.16 million and will earn just under $4 million over the weekend. It will see its theater count fall over the coming weeks.

Baahubali 2: The Conclusion wasn’t expected to have long legs, but it still fell faster than anticipated down 81% to $889,000 on Friday. On the other hand, it is reportedly the biggest Indian film of all time worldwide, so a drop like this isn’t hardly a big deal.

- Friday Box Office Chart

- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 Comparisons

Filed under: Friday Estimates, The Boss Baby, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2, Beauty and the Beast, The Fate of the Furious, The Circle, How to Be a Latin Lover, Marvel Cinematic Universe