The emotional conclusion to writer-director James Gunn’s deeply personal Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy of superhero movies — Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 — might have underwhelmed in its opening weekend at the box office, but the film quietly passed an important commercial milestone recently. After just under a week in theaters worldwide, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is nearing the $350 million mark.

The film has made $138 million domestically, and another $205 million from overseas markets, for a combined global gross of $344 million. Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was produced on a reported budget of $250 million, which is massive, and grossed $118 million in its opening weekend at the domestic box office. This was seen as a bit of a disappointment, although it came in line with updated projections. But Disney and Marvel Studios would have ideally liked for it to have matched, if not outperformed, the second film’s $146 million debut in 2017.
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That said, Guardians of the Galaxy 3 fared much better than the first film, Guardians of the Galaxy, which grossed $94 million in its opening weekend at the domestic box office. But that was nearly a decade ago, in 2014. The moviegoing landscape, as well as the audiences’ appreciation for these characters, has changed vastly in the past few years. While the Guardians were considered something of a niche property within the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe when they were first introduced, they have since established themselves firmly in the hearts of fans across the globe.

Image via Marvel Studios

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Guardians of the Galaxy 3 was marketed as the final film in the trilogy, and promotional material focused on the character of Rocket Raccoon. Voiced by Bradley Cooper and performed on set by Sean Gunn via motion capture, Rocket was always the wildcard of the group, but Gunn had been hinting all this while at a troubled past. The Guardians of the Galaxy movies follow the adventures of a group of misfits, led by Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill, and are acclaimed for their quirky humor and heartfelt storytelling. Both previous installments were also beloved and performed exceedingly well at the box office.

How Does Guardians of the Galaxy 3’s Box Office Compare to the Previous Chapters?
By comparison, the first Guardians of the Galaxy film grossed $333 million domestically and $770 million worldwide, and the second film grossed $398 million domestically and $863 million worldwide. However, there’s no doubt that Marvel, as a franchise, is having some difficulty recently. The once-unbeatable studio’s last theatrical release, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania earned some of the worst reviews in the franchise’s history and also underperformed with less than $500 million worldwide.

It’s too early to tell, but Guardians of the Galaxy 3 will have to make up for its slow start by hoping that positive reviews keep pulling crowds to theaters over the next few weeks. Collider’s Ross Bonaime called it “a funny, exciting, and emotional conclusion” to the trilogy in his review, and opening day audiences awarded it an A CinemaScore. Hopefully, this will translate to long legs at the box office, because the film has a clear road for another week or so before Fast X screeches into theaters. The film also stars Zoe Saldaña, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel, Chukwudi Iwuji, and Will Poulter. You can watch our interview with Gunn here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.