Rocket would be so pleased.
Guardians of the Galaxy banked a truly cosmic paycheck this weekend, pocketing an estimated $94 million to easily top the box office. Marvel’s ragamuffin star hoppers crushed all comers as if powered by a fiscal Infinity Stone, and managed to obliterate the box office’s August earnings record en route. The previous record holder, 2007’s The Bourne Ultimatum, never stood a chance. Not bad for a heretofore obscure gang of comic-book misfits.
Just how dominant were these Guardians? Their movie earned more than five times what second-place Lucy collected ($18.3 million), and more than six times what Get on Up—the weekend’s other major newcomer—collected. Get on Up, a biopic on Godfather of Soul James Brown, earned $14 million, which had to feel good. But even the hardest working man in show business couldn’t close the gap between he and the galactic superheroes. Owwww!
Still, Get on Up did markedly better than strong-man Hercules, which in its second week lost nearly two-thirds of its audience and dipped, accordingly, to fourth. The $10.7 mil should keep Herc from cleaning stables for a little while, but still. I’m sure the folks at Paramount had hoped for a little, um, stronger performance.
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes earned $8.7 million to close out the Top 5. The simian flick has made $189.3 million domestically now, just a banana peel short of the $200 million mark.
Final figures update: 1. Guardians of the Galaxy, $94.3 million; 2. Lucy, $18.3 million; 3. Get on Up, $13.6 million; 4. Hercules, $11 million; 5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, $8.7 million.
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