Box Office: ‘Book Club: The Next Chapter’ Skimming $7 Million Opening, Marvel’s ‘Guardians 3’ Staying on Top

The book club cant topple comic books at the books office, as Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 will easily hold off the opening of Book Club: The Next Chapter to retain the top spot on domestic charts.

The Next Chapter earned $2.14 million on its opening day, projecting a debut of $7 million from 3,508 locations for the three-day frame. Thats on the lower end of estimates heading into the weekend. While theres hope that the Focus Features release will be able to earn a boost in ticket sales on the Mothers Day holiday, the sequel wont be able to match its predecessor. Released by Paramount in 2018, the first Book Club debuted to $13.5 million before legging out to a $68 million gross in North America a solid result for an older-skewing comedy.

Numbers across the board are down for The Next Chapter, including in its reception. The film earned a 42% approval rating from top critics on review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes (down from the first films 45%), as well as a lukewarm B grade through research firm Cinema Score (down from an A-).

Starring Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen and Mary Steenburgen, Book Club: The Next Chapter follows four best friends as they trade their immaculately designed kitchens for the streets of Italy, throwing a bachelorette party for Fondas character, Vivian. In his review, Variety chief film critic Owen Gleiberman called it a cookie-cutter sequel, but one thats still sweetly romantic.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 should have no trouble maintaining its top position after earning $15.7 million on Friday. Last weekend, the Marvel entry fired off with a $118 million opening both the second-biggest debut of the year and yet an ever-so-slightly underwhelming figure for the superhero sequel.

Volume 3 looks to benefit from strong word-of-mouth this weekend, with some industry projections pegging the film with an impressive 50% drop for its sophomore outing. Thats a great hold for a summer blockbuster, which usually put up somewhat front-loaded box office performances due to fan anticipation. The films total domestic gross should push beyond $200 million on Saturday.

The Ben Affleck supernatural thriller Hypnotic is bombing in it debut, fending against April holdovers for a top five spot on domestic charts. With only $940,000 in ticket sales from 2,118 theaters on opening day, the Robert Rodriguez-directed film has little hope of recouping its reported $65 million budget. Released by Ketchup Entertainment and Relativity Media, the production was still seeking a distributor as recently as three months ago.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie looks to take second place, projecting a $13.3 million haul for its sixth weekend of release. Thats down a mere 28% from its previous outing just another piece of evidence demonstrating the animated adventures superlative staying power. With total domestic gross at $536 million and a global total of $1.21 billion, the Universal, Illumination and Nintendo production has now surpassed Minions to become the fourth-highest grossing animated film ever.

Evil Dead Rise from Warner Bros. is expected to take fourth after earning $1.1 million on Friday, down only 33% from last weekend. After roughly matching the $17 million opening of the franchises 2013 reboot, this years nutty horror sequel has now out-earned its predecessor, moving beyond a $60 million gross.