While China isn’t quite the box office behemoth it once was for Hollywood releases (just ask Warner Bros. and DC with Shazam! Fury of the Gods this past weekend), Disney and Marvel Studios will be glad to hear that its Phase Five threequel Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 has secured a theatrical release in the country.
Marvel Studios – and much of Hollywood – had been shut out of China over the past few years; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was the first MCU movie to receive a release in the market since 2019’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, but only managed to earn $15.6 million when it was released in the country last month, while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania fared better with $39 million to date.
SEE ALSO: Disney’s Bob Iger promises “a whole set of different Avengers” in the MCU
The first Guardians movie earned $86 million in China back in 2014, with Guardians Vol. 2 earning $101 million. Whether Chinese audiences will still have that same kind of appetite for the misfit heroes in their third outing, or if Marvel fatigue really is setting in in the Middle Kingdom, we shall see in May.
“In Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 our beloved band of misfits are settling into life on Knowhere,” reads the synopsis. “But it isn’t long before their lives are upended by the echoes of Rocket’s turbulent past. Peter Quill, still reeling from the loss of Gamora, must rally his team around him on a dangerous mission to save Rocket’s life-a mission that, if not completed successfully, could quite possibly lead to the end of the Guardians as we know them.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will see the return of Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Zoe Saldana (Gamora), Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), Bradley Cooper (Rocket Raccoon), Vin Diesel (Groot), Karen Gillan (Nebula), Pom Klementieff (Mantis), Sean Gunn (Kraglin), Sylvester Stallone (Stakar Ogord), Elizabeth Debecki (Ayesha) and Michael Rosenbaum (Martinex), alongside MCU newcomers Will Poulter (Dopesick) as Adam Warlock, Chukwudi Iwuji (Peacemaker) as the High Evolutionary, Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) as Cosmo the Spacedog, and Daniela Melchior (The Suicide Squad) and Nico Santos (Crazy Rich Asians) in as-yet-unrevealed roles.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 is set for release on May 5th 2022.
