"Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" launched Friday in North America with $56.3 million, propelling the Marvel Studios sequel to a projected opening weekend of between $138 million and $140 million. That Friday figure includes the $17 million from Thursday previews.

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As of Thursday, director James Gunn's film had already banked $167 million overseas, where it rolled out last weekend in about 53 percent of international markets. It debuted Friday in China, the world's second-largest film market.

By comparison, the first “Guardians of the Galaxy” opened domestically in August 2014 with $94 million, on its way to a total of $333 million in North America and $440 million internationally. Since then, of course, Marvel's rag-tag group of cosmic heroes has grown from an obscure comic-book property to a virtual household name.

Written and directed by James Gunn, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” stars Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer, Vin Diesel as Baby Groot, Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon, Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Elizabeth Debicki as Ayesha, Chris Sullivan as Taserface, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Glenn Close as Irani Rael and Kurt Russell as Ego.

(via The Hollywood Reporter)