• by Wayne Friedman , May 7, 2023

As the theatrical movie business continues to show steady improvement, Walt Disney/Marvel Studios' latest edition of its franchise “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3” posted an expected $114 million in box-office receipts, according to Comscore.

This is the second-highest box-office total for a release of this year so far -- after Universal Pictures’ “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which took in $146.4 million at its start in April over a three-day period.

“Super Mario” -- now in its fifth week -- took in another $18.6 million for the most recent weekend.

Year-to-date, North American box-office revenue is now 32% higher than the total for 2022 -- at $2.84 billion. The business is still down 25% year-to-date from the pre-pandemic year 2019.

National TV ad spend so far for “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3" is estimated at $21.1 million, according to iSpot.tv -- taking in a total of 1.3 billion impressions from 4,692 airings.

The summer movie season is now in full swing with heavy summer TV marketing. Universal’s “Fast X” (to start May 19) has already spent $24.5 million from 960 airings, garnering 711.6 million impressions for viewers 18 years and older.

Late summer starts include Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” (May 26) has spent $9.3 million for 1,163 airings, and 529.6 impressions for viewers 18 years and older; Warner Bros. “The Flash” (June 16) has spent $5.4 million from 271 airings taking in 232.9 million impressions from viewers 18 years and older.

“Paramount Pictures’ “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” has spent $7.0 million so far from 234 commercials, with viewer 18 and older impressions at 219.3 million. It starts up June 9.