‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ beating ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ in advance ticket sales

Already having bagged a huge $106 million in its overseas opening this past weekend, Disney/Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2 is looking to shake up the box office business in the U.S. and Canada this coming weekend. Tracking for a while indicated a $150M bow, but given the Marvel sequel’s momentum overseas, one stateside exhibition chief told us recently, “I’d bet well over that mark.”

Since April 24 on Fandango, Guardians 2 has been the No. 1 ticket seller every day and already is outstripping at this point advance sales of Marvel’s 2015 sequel Avengers: Age Of Ultron. That Marvel sequel stands as the fourth-best domestic opening of all-time with $191.3M, after Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247.9M, 2015), Jurassic World ($208.8M, 2015), and Marvel’s The Avengers ($207.4M, 2012). The first Guardians opened to $94.3M in August 2014 and stands as that month’s highest-grossing movie of all time with $333.1M stateside.