“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” had a strong social media presence leading up to its release on Friday, having a stronger positive to negative mention ratio than several previous Marvel films.
According to data obtained by BoxOffice.com, in the week of April 26 to May 3, “Guardians 2” had an average sentiment ratio of 67 positive mentions for every one negative. In comparison, “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Logan” and “Doctor Strange” all registered an average of 30 positives to one negative, whereas “Captain America: Civil War” averaged 24 positive mentions per one negative.
Currently, Twitter activity for “Guardians 2” is 14 percent higher than that of “Guardians 1” during the same time frame, but that data could be skewed given that “Vol. 2” in the title of the film causes some problems to track. Moreover, many social media users post about the movie differently — some use the words “Guardians 2,” while others post with “GOTG2,” “Guardians of the Galaxy 2” or “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”
However, the Facebook growth of “Guardians 2” was about 41 percent ahead of “Guardians 1” during the same period.
“If the coming weekend can be summed up in a few short words, it would be ‘another summer kickoff, another Marvel blockbuster,” Shawn Robbins, chief analyst at BoxOffice.com, told TheWrap. “‘Guardians Vol. 2’ has picked up where its predecessor left off with a pitch perfect ad campaign and strong social media buzz from fans and casual viewers alike. What was once a cast of obscure comic book characters exploded onto the scene three years ago under the guidance of Marvel head Kevin Feige and writer/director James Gunn. The sequel is now poised to reap the rewards with an even bigger box office run — and this time around, everyone knows the name Star-Lord.”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.” stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista. It was directed by James Gunn, and is already poised to rival the studio’s crown jewels — the “Avengers” movies.
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is a lock to at least hit the $150-170 million range set by independent trackers, but ticket presale data hints that the film might get an opening that could even reach “Age of Ultron” territory. According to Fandango, ticket presales for “Guardians 2” are outpacing that of the “Avengers” sequel released two years ago. We saw Disney enjoy a similar trend earlier this year, when “Beauty and the Beast” passed “Finding Dory” to become the top family film preseller in the history of the site.