This summer has been a disappointment at the American box office, down 15% from last year’s record breaker. But there remain some bright spots, including Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, which saw off new competition from a horror movie and Pierce Brosnan back in action, with Rocket Raccoon and the rest handily spending another weekend at the top of the charts.
Guardians, which is now officially the top-grossing film of the year in the US domestic charts, added $16.3 million this four-day Labor Day weekend for a $274.6 million running total. It’s also among the top movies worldwide, currently sitting in second after Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes for films still currently on release (Transformers: Age Of Extinction still rules the roost for the year so far.)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles clung to second place, earning $11.7 million this weekend, with YA romance If I Stay sticking around in third for $9.2 million and a $29.82 million total in the States to date. They forced the first of the week’s new arrivals, subterranean thriller As Above, So Below to launch in a disappointing fourth place, with middling reviews not helping its chances. It made $8.3 million. Jake Johnson/Damon Wayans Jr. comedy Let’s Be Cops continues to be a surprising success, slipping just one place to fifth and adding $8.2 million for a running total of $57.3 million from a $17 million budget.
Pierce Brosnan couldn’t drum up much excitement with his Bourne-style new action thriller The November Man. Despite the production company already talking up a sequel, the film arrived sixth for $7.6 million. Inspirational drama** When The Game Stands Tall **fell to seventh with $5.6 million, while The Giver was eighth, taking in $5.2 million. Finally, we have The Hundred-Foot Journey at ninth cooking up $4.6 million and **The Expendables 3 **sliding rapidly down the charts to 10th for $3.5 million. Sly and co. have earned $33.1 million so far in the US.
To see a group of space-going misfits take on all challengers in the full chart listings, head to Box Office Mojo.