Weekend Box Office Report: May 12-14, 2017

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 orbits #1!

Marvel's mischievous band of cosmic travelers held strong this weekend, keeping GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 in first place with an estimated $63 million!

The latest adventure of Chris Pratt's Star-Lord and his adopted alien family dropped by 57% from its opening last week, which is about average for the second weekend of a summer Marvel Cinematic Universe entry (the first GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY lost 55% on its second week after its surprise $94 million start in August 2014).

Writer-director James Gunn's vibrant space sequel has a ten-day domestic total of $246 million, making it the second-biggest release of 2017 behind BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. The planet-sized exploration of father issues has also collected $630.5 million worldwide so far, nudging past the global totals of ANT-MAN ($519 million), IRON MAN ($585 million) and IRON MAN 2 ($623 million).

The new R-rated kidnapping comedy SNATCHED opened in second place with $17.5 million.

The Amy Schumer/Goldie Hawn mother-daughter pairing, directed by Jonathan Levine (WARM BODIES), started with a little over half of the $30 million debut of Schumer's TRAINWRECK in 2015. That R-rated comedy ultimately legged it to a domestic total of $110 million.

SNATCHED (the first screen appearance by Hawn since THE BANGER SISTERS in 2002) cost a reported $42 million. Critics weren't kind to the vacation mishap with a 36% average on Rotten Tomatoes (the JoBlo review is HERE).

Opening in third place was the new action-fantasy KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD with $14.7 million.

The latest spin on the classic Round Table tale (also the year's second attempt to make Charlie Hunnam a marquee name after THE LOST CITY OF Z) started with even less than the $15.1 million of the previous big-screen Arthurian version, the Clive Owen-fronted KING ARTHUR in 2004.

The medieval origin story has gathered an additional $29.1 million overseas for a worldwide total of $43.8 million… but at a reported cost of $175 million, Guy Ritchie's PG-13 period epic is looking like it may become the first costly flop of the summer movie season. Critics found Excalibur's blade to be on the dull side, giving it 27% on Rotten Tomatoes (the JoBlo review is HERE).

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS still has some juice in the tank, coasting in fourth place with $5.3 million on its fifth weekend in theaters. While its domestic total may "only" be $215 million, the sequel has nearly a billion dollars from international audiences for a worldwide total of $1.19 billion.

Animated toddler THE BOSS BABY was toddling in fifth with $4.6 million, and Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST followed in sixth with $3.8 million as it dances ever closer to a half-billion domestic (it also sits just outside the Top 10 highest-grossing worldwide releases with $1.2 billion). The comedy HOW TO BE A LATIN LOVER wasn't far behind in seventh with $3.7 million.

The new PG-13 melodrama LOWRIDERS pulled into eighth place with an opening of $2.4 million.

The low-budget release set around Los Angeles car culture (featuring Eva Longoria, Demian Bichir and TV Supergirl Melissa Benoist) bounced into just 295 theaters, giving it a higher per-screen average than every non-Marvel movie in the Top 10.

The Tom Hanks/Emma Watson/John Boyega tech thriller THE CIRCLE and the Hindi action sequel BAAHUBALI 2: THE CONCLUSION closed out the list, each with the same $18.9 million domestic totals after three weeks.

Outside the chart, GOING IN STYLE went with the Chris Evans drama GIFTED and the animated SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE. The Doug Liman-directed war thriller THE WALL was released on 541 screens for a $891k weekend.

Next weekend brings terror back to space with Ridley Scott's prequel ALIEN: COVENANT (which has already grabbed $42 million from its overseas release), and non-facehugging options include the drama EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING and the teen comedy sequel DIARY OF A WIMPY KID: THE LONG HAUL.

What is your favorite movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? VOTE HERE!