They don’t call the universe the “black void of space” for nothing. Everything we see and can detect out there—stars, planets, galaxies—makes up just 4% of the universe. Sure, there’s some dark matter and energy to consider, scientists tell us. But for the most part, the cosmos we live in is pretty empty.
A lot like movie theaters this weekend, actually.
So with most of North America busy sending their kids back to school and warming up their couches for hours of football watching, it’s somewhat fitting that Guardians of the Galaxy reigned supreme over the black void of the box office. No matter that Guardians earned just an estimated $10.2 million: It still trumped all comers—mainly a battery of holdovers—to win the box office crown for the third straight week.
It was also Guardians‘ fourth overall box office victory, which puts the Marvel superhero movie in some truly galactic company. Only three other movies have topped the domestic box office four times in the last decade: Avatar, The Dark Knight and The Hunger Games. Those films rank first, fourth and 10th in all-time earnings. Guardians hasn’t quite matched those rarified numbers: It ranks 50th. But it obviously continues to climb.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles languished in second place for the third straight week, scooping up $6.5 million in its oversize shell. If I Stay earned $5.8 million and finished third again. In its three-week history, the Chloë Grace Moretz supernatural romance has never known anything but third place. It’s as if the film is stuck between heaven and earth or something.
Let’s Be Cops shook innocent moviegoers down for another $5.4 million to finish fourth, while The November Man collected some September cash, pocketing $4.2 mil for fifth.
There was only one new release this week—the faith-tinged rock ‘n’ roll flick The Identical—and it was all shook up. It collected just $1.9 million to finish 11th. Still, it did better than the IMAX re-release of Forrest Gump. The Oscar-winning flick earned just $400,000, or about one one-thousandth of what Forrest ran away with during its initial release in 1994. Life may be a box of chocolates … but sometimes they’re all gone before you can even open the thing.
Final figures update: 1. Guardians of the Galaxy, $10.4 million; 2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, $6.5 million; 3. Let’s Be Cops, $5.7 million; 4. If I Stay, $5.6 million; The November Man, $4.3 million. The Identical finished with $1.6 million in 11th place, while Forrest Gump earned $400,000 for 24th.
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