When filming was wrapping onGuardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, starChris Prattwas seen in a wrap video emphatically praising the cast and crew, and proclaiming that they’d all made somethingextremelyspecial. Obviously you’re gonna feel good about your own team, but it sounds like Pratt’s word is gold. The test screening process forGuardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2is underway, andTHRreports that the film has garnered an extremely rare—possibly unprecedented—perfect score of 100 out of 100.
To put that into comparison, per Marvel’s internal comps, the studio’s previous highest scorers wereIron Man 3andThe Avengers, both of which tested in the high 90s. Marvel has employed the same internal test screening process since the firstIron Man, which involves culling from a select pool of recruiters for “friends and family screenings” instead of calling upon random people in the general public to see the movie. This helps keep the studio’s secrets under wraps and prevents potential leaks, but it also means that the test screening scores of Marvel movies can’t really be compared to the test screening scores of non-Marvel movies.
And, since these test screenings are done internally, there’s a “grain of salt” that should be taken with the number—presumably the folks seeing the film are either Marvel employees or at least acquaintances of the filmmakers, so there’s a “home team advantage” that could be taken into account despite the fact that one imagines they attempt to be as objective as possible.
Still, when comparing this 100 score to other Marvel movies that were tested under the same process, this is mighty exciting.James Gunnwrote and directed the highly anticipated sequel, and he’s said time and time again that he was given no mandate from Marvel regarding what should and should not be in the movie. Thus, he was able to craft a follow-up directly from the heart, and the story he settled upon is one that involves the search for Peter Quill’s (Pratt) real father, played byKurt Russell.
While the scores aren’t comparable, it should be noted that the test screening process is also sometimes unreliable.Black Swannever scored about a 55 and yet nabbed a number of Oscar nominations and a win forNatalie Portman, andPretty Womantested in the 70s before going on to become a bona fide classic.
So, all that said, we shouldn’t take this reported test score as agolden stamp guaranteethatGuardians 2is going to be amazing, nor should we discount it entirely. It’s an encouraging piece of trivia on the road of anticipation towards the film’s May 5th release date.
For much more onGuardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2, peruse Perri’s set visit coverage in the links below.
