It’s Chris Pratt’s world, we’re all just living in it

We’ve done the math – if you want to guarantee box office success in 2023, cast Chris Pratt. It’s that simple.

At least that’s what the numbers are telling us, after this weekend’s opening of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 grossed $114 million in domestic ticket sales.

The only movie that’s had a bigger opening weekend in the US this year? Mario Bros. Which, as you probably guessed, also starred Pratt, who voiced the role of Mario.

• In other words, Pratt has helmed ~30% of the year’s total box office – and that’s after just one weekend for GOTG 3.

🎬 The end of an era: No slouch to box office success himself is the film’s writer and director, James Gunn, who’s been instrumental to Marvel’s dominance at the box office since writing the first installment of GOTG in 2014. Though this most-recent Guardians marks the end of Gunn’s chapter with Marvel.

In late 2022, Gunn was named the co-chief of rival DC Studios, where he recently shared Chapter One: Gods and Monsters, his vision for the next ten years of the DC Universe.

• First up for Gunn? Writing and directing 2025’s Superman: Legacy – which, as of earlier this year, no longer has its Clark Kent, after Gunn booted Henry Cavill from the role. Might this mean a Chris Pratt-led Superman in our near future? 
• If Gunn had a time-machine, definitely. According to Hollywood insider Jeff Sneider, Gunn is specifically looking for a “young Chris-Pratt type” actor to play Clark Kent.