Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 got $17.5M from Thursday previews (which started at 3p.m.).
the exact same amount as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania which opened the weekend with $106M, and on 20 % cheaper than The Batman ($22M).
The first film fetched $11.2M in 2014, Volume Two $17M in 2017 and then opened the weekend with $147M. Volume 3 is expected to open the weekend with $105-115M.
On the other hand, the first data from Comscore/Screen Engine PostTrak are very good: 5 stars, 94% positive and it is recommended by 80% of the public.
International
In Latin America it opened in first place in all territories, in Brazil it recorded the second best collection in the first day of 2023. In Argentina, as tickets on the opening day it is +58% compared to Volume 2.
Japan: ¥230M ($1.7M/$1.75M) according to initial estimates but seems to be around $2.5M, second best opening day for any Disney film since the start of the pandemic, +143% compared to Volume 2 (OP: $718k ). Today in China it opened with $7/7.5M, the figure is not calculated yet.
The film grossed $35M from 47 territories between Wednesday and Thursday. The main markets are: UK $3.6M (2 days), Mexico $3.2M (1 day), South Korea $2.9M (2 days).
France ($2.5M), Germany ($1.7M), Australia ($1.6M), Italy ($1.5M), Indonesia ($1.4M), Brazil ($1.3M), others ($15.3M).
Ant-Man 3 had grossed $23.8M, Thor 4 ($48.6M), Doctor Strange 2 ($85.7M) (2-days).