‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2’ scores a perfect 100 in test screening
By Sean Gerber on February 10, 2017 | @MrSeanGerber
Marvel Studios got some really good news about Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The film has tested higher than any film in the studio’s history. Its perfect 100 score in a test screening is better than any of Marvel’s previous 14 releases, besting Marvel’s The Avengers and Iron Man 3, both of which tested in the high 90s.
That’s really good news for Marvel Studios, as The Avengers and Iron Man 3 are Marvel’s highest and third highest grossing films, respectively. Iron Man 3 may have its share of critics, but audiences liked it enough to make it the highest grossing non-Avengers superhero movie of all time. Now it seems Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 could do just as well, or better.
As great as this news is, it may not be all that much of a surprise to Marvel Studios and director James Gunn. They’ve been very confident about the project all along with Gunn even saying publicly that he’s aiming to make the greatest spectacle film of all time. Star Chris Pratt (Peter Quill/Star-Lord) thinks Gunn might have done it.
I was at a press event for the Avengers: Age of Ultron Blu-ray in September 2015 and when the subject of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 came up, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige couldn’t help but smile as he told the assembled reporters that the film was shaping up nicely. That was a month before Gunn even headed to Atlanta for pre-production.
It’s important to note that test screenings are not always accurate at predicting how a movie will be received once its available to all moviegoers. There are several examples of films that have tested poorly only to experience massive success as well as films that tested very well before ultimately failing to do much at the box office.
Marvel’s test screenings are a little different compared to those of other studios. In an effort to prevent any spoilers from leaking, Marvel opts for “friends and family” test screenings. This is often leads to Marvel recruiting Disney/Marvel employees from other, non-film-related departments (along with other people who can be trusted to keep any and all spoilers secret) to serve as audience members.
This method Marvel a large enough pool from which to draw its test audiences. The “friends and family” nature of the screenings should not be taken as Marvel automatically getting positive feedback from people who do not wish to have their relationship with the studio adversely impacted. Marvel requires honest feedback from its test audiences and recruits those who are willing to give it.
It’s not like every Marvel movie has scored a perfect 100. This is the first time it’s happened in 15 tries, so this is absolutely great news for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Combining the perfect test screening score with the overwhelmingly positive response to the teaser trailers and big game spot that have been released thus far, and it looks very much like this second adventure with a bunch of a-holes will be even more successful than the first.
