Peter Quill and his band of Guardians are back and better than ever, according to this weekend’s smash box office results. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came in 54 percent ahead of its predecessor, raking in $145 million in the U.S. and $427.6 million globally.
It should come as no surprise. Early reviews of the film were more than favorable, calling it “fun,” “funny,” and “emotional.”
Having already made sizeable waves overseas, the sequel performed optimally in the U.S. According to Forbes, it’s the biggest debut weekend for a comic book-inspired movie that doesn’t feature Batman, Spider-Man, or Iron Man. Sitting nicely between The Twilight Saga: New Moon ($142M) and Furious 7 ($147M), the film managed to grab the 17th biggest weekend debut of all time.
But the real news here seems to be how the film has managed to pull on the audience’s heartstrings, as fans took to Twitter to dish on their reactions.
Baby Groot and the appearance of Peter Quill’s father seemed to be more than most could handle without a little waterworks.
The stories of cinema sobs kept on coming.
Putting the tears aside, the sequel is written and directed by James Gunn, who also helmed the first Guardians installment. Vol. 2 catches up with Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill (or Star-Lord as he wishes to be called) and his crew of misfit Guardians as he’s reunited with the father he’s never known (played by Kurt Russell) and a series of events predictably lead to the Guardians having to save the galaxy yet again. Back for a second round are Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, and Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper as the voices of Groot and Rocket, respectively.
After this weekend’s performance, it looks like Guardians Vol. 2 will keep theaters busy into the coming weeks. You might want to bring a tissue.
