“Guardians of the Galaxy” became the year’s highest grossing U.S. release this weekend, goosing an otherwise drab Labor Day box office
The Marvel film topped the domestic charts for the third time and benefited from crowds hoping to stretch out the waning days of summer, grossing $16.3 million over the Friday, Saturday and Sunday period and pushing its U.S. total to $274.6 million. It will likely end the four-day holiday with $21.2 million in Stateside ticket sales from 3,462 locations.
That easily tops a pair of new wide releases, “November Man” and “As Above, So Below,” which brought in $7.7 million and $8.3 million respectively — modest numbers for modest to low budgeted films with much to be modest about.
It also bested a trip down memory lane, to a different time, when blockbuster films could be based on — gasp! — an original idea, instead of just comic books, toy lines and the flotsam and jetsam of “brand pre-awareness.” Yes, “Ghostbusters.” A 30th anniversary re-release of the paranormal classic is expected to generate $1.6 million this weekend and $2 million for the four days in 784 locations, helping drum up enthusiasm for its forthcoming Blu-ray release, which slides into stores on September 16.
“November Man” will not fashion Pierce Brosnan into a graying avenging angel in the mode of Liam Neeson’s “Taken” films, but it represents a low-cost and minimal risk investment for Relativity Media, the studio that paid $3 million to release the $20 million production Stateside. “November Man” skewed older, with 83% of its audience over the age of 25, and its opening crowd was 55% male.
The film finds the former James Bond playing a retired CIA agent who finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy when he gets pulled out of a pensioner’s life to protect a witness. The sixth-place film will do a $9.8 million of business across 2,776 locations over the four-day holiday weekend.
The economics also favor “As Above, So Below,” despite its fourth place opening. Universal backed the low-budget horror film about treasure hunters in the Paris catacombs for a mere $5 million. It should draw $10.1 million over the four-day holiday in 2,640 venues. Its played equally well to women and men, with Hispanics making up the largest share of its audience with 34%. Sixty four percent of ticket buyers were under 25 years old.
Another holdover came in for a second place finish. Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies’ “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” scored an estimated $11.7 million from 3,543 locations and is projected to finish the four day weekend with $15.5 million. That brings its total after four weeks to $166.2 million.
Two other veteran titles, teen weepy “If I Stay” and R-rated comedy “Let’s Be Cops,” captured the third and fifth slots on the U.S. charts with $9.2 million and $8.2 million.
In limited release, Samuel Goldwyn Films and Lifetime Films’ “The Last Days of Robin Hood,” a sort of Errol Flynn-in-winter biopic with Kevin Kline, earned $9,577 in two theaters for a per screen average of $4,788. Sony Pictures Classics’ World War II drama “The Notebook” picked up $3,154 on two screens, with a per screen average of $1,577.
The end of summer can’t come soon enough for a business that’s been mired in the doldrums, down 15% from last year’s record-breaking popcorn season. There were simply too many blockbuster pretenders and too few “Guardians of the Galaxies” to go around this year.
I heard it has made more money than Winter Soldier. So, I guess the company that made the Winter Soldier must be pretty sad right now. :)
As Above So Below, is a pretty good movie, now read the book it was based off of. LEGION OF DWELLERS: http://theplaintivepoet.blogspot.com/2014/08/i-dont-believe-in-coincidences.html
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I could’ve done without the snarky commentary on the state of moviemaking, but this was a good article.
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Especially since Guardians of the Galaxy is a brand new film (not based on existing films) with a fresh tone and a sense of humour and campness that’s been missing from superhero movies for a long time.
no mention of CANTINFLAS? WHY?
because as previously reported by other Box Office outlet, the info was not available
I’m pretty amazed by the success of TMNT. Before it came out, people thought it might be a total dud. It was called a dated property and of course everyone ragged on and on about the Michael Bay connection. But now this thing has a shot at 200 million in the US and the international will probably be even bigger. It hasn’t even opened in most markets around the world yet. This year has definitely belonged to Marvel and Michael Bay.
Michael Bay may be a kind of weak film version P.T. Barnum who never flagged in finding ways to take people’s $. As P.T. said-“Nobody ever lost a dollar by underestimating the taste of the American public.”