With arguably strong word-of-mouth, plus almost no additional competition to deal with, Guardians of the Galaxy returned to the box office throne in its fourth weekend. The latest Marvel blockbuster was down a light 30% to $17.6 million, for a huge $251.9 million gross in 24 days. Over the weekend, Galaxy passed Maleficent and Transformers: Age of Extinction to become the biggest movie of the summer. And within the next few days or so, it will pass The LEGO Movie and fellow Marvel movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier to take first place for 2014. With Labor Day Weekend around the corner (and with both openers tracking for debuts only around $10 million, this could very well repeat in first), the movie now seems guaranteed to close over $300 million stateside, putting it in line with Iron Man and Iron Man 2 among other movies in the Marvel Universe. Its not making as impressive numbers overseas, but is still set to finish with around $700 million worldwide.
After topping the box office for two consecutive weeks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles barely lost the race this time, yet it held well in its own right. The Michael Bay adaptation fell 41% to $16.8 million, for a strong 17-day pick-up of $145.6 million. Turtles will hold well (and may even reclaim #1) over Labor Day Weekend, and will continue playing to older kids until Dolphin Tale 2 arrives on September 12.
It was originally expected to wind up on top this weekend (and was actually in first place on Friday), but book adaptation If I Stay ended up a very close third instead. The Chloe Moretz flick did pull in $16.3 million for the weekend, for a per-venue average of a decent $5,626 from 2,907 locations. While on the low-end of expectations and nowhere near recent teen romance The Fault in Our Stars, this debut is still pretty solid given that the budget was only $11 million. Reviews were mixed, while audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore. This type of movie, however, doesn't quite hold well in the long run, so it will only finish as a minor success for distributor Warner Bros.
Following a solid start last weekend, Lets' Be Cops had a solid hold, off just 38% to $11 million, for a fairly strong $45.6 million 12-day gross. The crime comedy should find its way to around $65-70 million by the time its finished in theaters, or over four times its $17 million budget. Not a bad result for a movie that had very little to no starpower involved.
Debuting in fifth place with very solid results was faith-based sports drama When the Game Stands Tall. The numbers panned out like this: $9 million, a mild $3,367 average from 2,673 locations. Essentially, Game matched God's Not Dead's opening (though that movie was released in much less theaters), and was in the same range as Draft Day and Million Dollar Arm from earlier this year, though nowhere near Heaven is for Real. Reviews were negative, though word-of-mouth is positive, as the CinemaScore stands at "A-". If Game can tap into repeat showings from Christian audiences, then it could end up with a solid multiple. Distributor Sony is happy with the opening, as the budget was just $15 million.
Following a disappointing debut last weekend, The Giver was able to surprisingly hold decently in the face of If I Stay, though it didn't really save any face. The YA adaptation fell 45% to $6.7 million, for a $24.1 million gross in 10 days. Labor Day Weekend will give it some extra perk, but don't look for any more than a $40 million out of this one. That is good news, however, considering that this is against a fairly small $25 million budget.
Right behind it is The Expendables 3, which, after its disastrous start, was off an alarming 58% to $6.6 million, for a dismal $27.5 million in 10 days. The threequel, which has not benefited from an online leak a few weeks back, will likely close out its run in the $40-45 million vicinity, with only overseas grosses set to probably help it break even (it hasn't opened in many markets yet).
Perhaps the biggest disappointment for the whole weekend was the shocking underperformance of Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which wound up all the way in eighth place with just $6.5 million. The long-awaited sequel opened to a per-venue average of an abysmal $2,238 from 2,894 locations. So, what happened? Well, the wait was too long (nine years since the first movie was a major success at $85 million stateside). The marketing wasn't enough. And Robert Rodriguez isn't a strong name anymore either. But, considering buzz was actually decent, its' very surprising this didn't end up higher. But, intense fan inflation definitely was in effect here. With a budget of $70 million, this will likely finish as one of the year's most notable disappointments.
Continuing to stabilize, The Hundred-Foot Journey was only off 23% in its third weekend to $5.6 million, for a solid (but unspectacular) $32.8 million gross in 17 days. Journey will continue to play well with older audiences over the next few weeks, and could finish as high as $50 million stateside, or nearly 5 times its opening weekend.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its third weekend was Into the Storm, which was off 52% to $3.8 million. In 17 days, the inexpensive disaster flick has earned $38.3 million, and doesn't have much more to go. It has picked up a decent $70 million worldwide so far, and will likely hit $100 million by the time its' done.
Well, that's it. Next weekend, the summer season concludes with what is sure to be a slow Labor Day Weekend. As Above, So Below and The November Man debut, and will likely be in a close race with Guardians and Turtles for the four-day frame.
