It wasn’t even close.
OK, so it wasn’t exactly a surprise that Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 found a wormhole to the top of the box office. Everyone knew that Chris Pratt’s newest flick was going to be big. But the fact that they made every other movie look like a space-cruising Yugo operating on impulse power? That might’ve raised a few eyebrows.
Marvel’s motley band of do-gooders collected $145 million in its first weekend. It made for the year’s second-biggest domestic debut (behind Beauty and the Beast’s $174.8 million) and put it light years ahead of what the original Guardians managed ($94.3 million in its first weekend in 2014). But that doesn’t tell the full story of Vol. 2′s box office dominance: For every five dollars spent on movie tickets this weekend, nearly four went to Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, et al., leaving the rest to squabble over around, say, $1.10 or so. Yeah, that kind of dominance has gotta be good for the ol’ Ego.
Not wanting their own films to be trounced by the superhero behemoth, studios kept the weekend clear of any big releases, making space for Vol. 2′s utter galactic dominance. As such, a bunch of holdovers fill out the rest of the Top Five.
Three-time box-office champ The Fate of the Furious finished second, banking $8.5 million. That brings Fate’s total North American haul to $207.1 million, good enough for third place for the year (behind Beauty and the Beast and Logan). ‘Course, the movie has made most of its money overseas: Its global gross now stands a little below $1.2 billion.
The Boss Baby continues to thrive in a changing marketplace, earning $6.2 million in its sixth weekend of work for a third-place finish. How to be a Latin Lover landed in fourth place with $5.3. million.
Speaking of Beauty and the Beast, Disney’s now long-in-the-tooth monster continues to pack on the pounds—and dollars, and euros, and yen, and galactic credits (probably). It earned another $4.9 million this weekend, giving it $487.6 million for the year. (It’s also closing in on $1.2 billion globally.) And in the strangely burgeoning genre of “classic Disney animated movies remade into live-action flicks,” Beauty is the most successful yet—besting last year’s The Jungle Book. Sorry, Mowgli. But at least you know how to make fire now!
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