“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” will opening next weekend in the U.S. with over $100 million already in the bank.
The highly-anticipated sequel for Disney and Marvel opened in 37 territories, or 58% of international markets this weekend to a grand total of $101.2 million. Next weekend the film opens in key locations including Korea, Russia and China. Japan will commence screenings on May 12.
The U.K. brought in the most earnings with $15.5 million. “Guardians 2” boasts the second biggest day in the country behind the studio’s own “Beauty and the Beast.” The rest of the top five territories were Australia ($11.6 million), Germany ($8.3 million), France ($7.9 million) and Mexico ($7.6 million).
The first “Guardians of the Galaxy” was a relatively unknown property when it was released in 2014, but still raked in $440 million overseas and $773 million worldwide. James Gunn returned to write and direct the sequel, which stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper.
Elsewhere at the foreign box office, Universal’s “Fate of the Furious” crossed the $1 billion mark globally, mostly thanks to overseas earnings. In China alone (where the studio only collects 25% of ticket sales) the film has made $361 million. Its global sales now total $867.6 million, which surpass the first six films in the franchise, but lag behind “Furious 7” which made nearly $1.2 billion in international markets alone.