‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3’ opens with a promising $48 million

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3′ is the third and final installment of the trilogy and the newest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

After Friday screenings, the film brought in around $48.2 million, which includes $17.5 million in Thursday previews.

While these numbers place it above the first ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, which earned $11.2 million in Thursday previews and $94 million on opening weekend, it falls behind ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2′, which brought in $17 million in Thursday previews and $146 million during opening weekend.

Still, the third ‘Guardians’ movie is expected to gross between $110 million and $120 million in its opening weekend.

Favorable reviews

The MCU’s phase four received mixed reviews from both fans and critics alike. Phase five kicked off earlier this year with ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’, which garnered less than favorable reviews.

However, ‘Guardians 3′ seems to be a step in the right direction as it currently sits at 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and an A on CinemaScore from fans.

“James Gunn sticks the landing with the third and final Guardians movie,” said reviewer Erik Kain. “It’s an emotionally powerful, wildly incentive, often hilarious tour de france farewell for our ragtag band of intergalactic space heroes.”

What is ‘Guardians 3′ about?

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3′ follows the Guardians on a mission to save one of their own. If they fail, the Guardians will be no more.

The film marks director James Gunn’s last Marvel film as he’s since moved to DC as co-CEO. The film stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel, Will Poulter, Sylvester Stallone, Chukwudi Iwuji, Maria Bakalova, Daniela Melchior, Elizabeth Debicki and Sean Gunn among others.

‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3′ is currently playing in theaters.