Marvel’s ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ easily rules the Labor Day holiday, taking in $22.2 million for a domestic total of $280.5 million and global haul of $553.6 million.
Closing out one of the most disappointing summers in recent box office history, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy easily ruled the Labor Day holiday, taking in $22.2 million in its fifth weekend for a domestic total of $280.5 million. Overseas, Guardians of the Galaxy made $19.7 million, pushing the film’s foreign total to $273.1 million with Japan, Italy and China still on the way. Globally, the Marvel Studios and Disney tentpole has earned $553.6 million.
Guardians is now the top-grossing film of 2014 to date domestically, eclipsing the $259.8 million earned by fellow Marvel and Disney feature Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
North American revenue for the season came in at an estimated $4.05 billion, marking an eight-year low, according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter. Accounting for inflation, those numbers translate to a 17-year low. Revenue is down 15 percent from last year's take of $4.75 billion.
Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies holdover Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came in second place with $15.7 million in its fourth week at the box office for a domestic total of $166.4 million. Overseas, the Michael Bay produced reboot added $13 million for a very early total of $112.1 million with openings in Australia, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the U.K. still on the way.
In third place, YA adaptation If I Stay, from Warner Bros., New Line and MGM, made $111.6 million in its sophomore weekend for a domestic total of $32.2 million.
Buddy action comedy Let's Be Cops, starring Damon Wayans Jr. and Jake Johnson, came in fourth place for the second weekend in a row with $10.6 million. Now in its third week at the box office, the Fox comedy, made for $17 million, has brought in a total of $59.7 million.
New entry As Above, So Below came in fifth place with a $10.3 million debut. From Legendary Entertainment, the found footage horror film cost $5 million to make. Directed by John Erick Dowdle, the film is being distributed by Universal.
The weekend’s other new entry, Relativity’s The November Man, came in sixth place at the domestic box office with $10.2 million. Including its Wednesday and Thursday grosses, the film has now made $11.9 million.
Sony’s high school football drama When the Game Stands Tall brought in $8 million for its sophomore weekend for a domestic total of $18.7 million and a seventh place finish.
DreamWorks and Participant Media's dramedy The Hundred-Foot Journey, about dueling French and Indian chefs in a small French town, again came in ninth place with $6.3 million, pushing the film’s domestic total to $41.1 million.
Rounding out the list at number 10 in its fourth week at the box office was Expendables 3. From Lionsgate and Millennium, the film made $4.6 million for a total of $34.2 million.
Sony celebrated the 30th anniversary of Ivan Reitman's Ghostbusters by releasing the classic supernatural comedy in 784 theaters before the anniversary edition comes out on Blu-ray. The film took in $1.65 million, nearly identical to the Raiders of the Lost Ark re-release ($1.67 million) in 2012.
Box office numbers were obtained on boxofficemojo.com.
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
