Box Office: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Earns $37.8M Friday Possible to Hit $100M Over the Weekend
Marvel's "Guardians of the Galaxy" surpassed "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" on its opening night, earning $11.2M on Thursday, July 31, 2014, and reaching a net of $37M on Friday, August 1, 2014. Will it be possible for the intergalactic superhero movie to hit $100M over the weekend?
"Guardians of the Galaxy" premiered in over 42 countries. It earned $2.3M in UK and Ireland, $3.5M in Russia, and $1.6M in Central and South America. It is, at present, the largest August opening of all time, debuting in 4, 080 theaters, 3, 200 of which are in 3D.
The estimated earning of $75M was later increased to an estimate of $90M due to its growing popularity through word of mouth and strong reviews.
Despite the somewhat predictable plot, the superhero movie was highly praised by critics due to its humorous and witty approach. It was even able to pull off a 92% approval on Rotten Tomatoes.
The soaring popularity of Disney's latest movie may also be due to its excellent marketing campaigns. Scott Mendelson of Forbes dubbed Disney's marketing strategy as "a textbook example of how to sell an unknown property to the masses."
Coupled with a good marketing strategy, the movie may possibly earn over $100M over the weekend. If this happens, it will snatch Captain America's current position of being the second biggest opening of the year.
Due to the success of the premiere, Marvel has announced plans to release a sequel on 2017.