Disney and Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” has been set for a Chinese day-and-date release on May 5th. The James Gunn-directed finale of the series opens in North American cinemas that same day and its international rollout begins May 3rd.
It marks the third Marvel title to secure a theatrical release in China following a three-and-a-half year void during which no Marvel Studios film scored a release in that market since June 2019 when “Spider-Man: Far From Home” hit screens.
All ‘Phase 4’ films from “Shang-Chi” to “Black Widow” were subsequently locked out. That changed last month as both “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” were allowed to open.
Neither performed well – the late opening of “Wakanda Forever” took $15.6 million whilst the poorly reviewed ‘Quantumania’ is up to $39 million – not helped by Chinese New Year celebrations likely impacting audience attendance.
Short of “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Chinese audiences don’t seem that interested in Hollywood films these days. The ‘Guardians’ films though have historically done well there with the sequel scoring around $100 million in 2017.
China is also getting back into day-and-date releases again with “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” and “The Super Mario Bros Movie” are all opening day-and-date with the United States.
Source: Deadline