Marvel and Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 rocketed to $17 million Thursday night for the highest preview gross of 2017.
When the original film hit theaters in August 2014, it earned $11.2 million in preview screenings for the biggest pre-opening total of the year at that time. It went on to earn $94.3 million in its domestic debut, on its way to grossing $773 million globally.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, now a familiar property unlike when the original hit theaters, will easily surpass those numbers, and is tracking to earn $150 million or more in North America this weekend. It will easily land on top of the domestic box office this weekend.
Guardians Vol. 2, directed by James Gunn, sees the return of Chris Pratt as Star Lord/Peter Quill, who brings his team back together to fight off evil forces while he seeks to unravel the mystery of his parentage. Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and Karen Gillan star along with Vin Diesel as the voice of baby Groot and Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket. Elizabeth Debicki, Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone join the cast for the new installment.
Guardians Vol. 2 opened last weekend in several foreign territories representing 58 percent of the marketplace. The film has earned nearly $150 million to date offshore. It debuts in a number of other major territories this weekend, including Russia (Thursday) and China (Friday).
The film debuted in Korea on May 3 with a $3.3 million opening day ($4.4 million including previews) for the biggest opening day of 2017, the biggest May opening day, and the No. 3 opening day ever for an MCU release there. Thursday brought another $1.9M, which brings the cume to date to $6.3M with today being Children’s Day holiday.
It opened on May 4 in Russia with an estimated $2.8 million, 41 percent ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy.
This article originally appeared on Hollywood Reporter
