"Guardians of the Galaxy" Reclaims No. 1 Box Office Spot, Passes "Transformers" as Summer Champ

CBR

By John Parkin

Published Aug 24, 2014

The latest box office estimates put "Guardians" in the top spot this weekend in North America -- and at the top of the heap for the summer.

UPDATE 8/24/2014 10:40 AM PT: According to the weekend estimates at Box Office Mojo, "Guardians of the Galaxy" -- as expected -- has reclaimed the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend, following two consecutive weeks of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" on top.

"Guardians" looks to end the weekend with $17.6 million, adding to its $251.9 million domestic gross. "Ninja Turtles" netted an estimated $16.8 million, bringing that film's domestic total to $145.6 million. Another comic book-based film further down the chart is the debuting "Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," with an estimated $6.5 million in its opening weekend.

Originally published Aug. 23, 2014 at 10:48am: Marvel Studios' and James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy" is not only aiming to retake the No. 1 spot at the box office this weekend, but has also set its sights on becoming the No. 1 film domestically for the summer.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, estimates predict the film will end today with about $246 million total -- which is enough to bypass the summer's current domestic box office champ, "Transformers: Age of Extinction." By Sunday, "Guardians" is expected to have brought in $17.8 million over the weekend for a total haul of $251 million domestically.

Looking at 2014 in total, "Guardians of the Galaxy" should be sitting in the No. 3 spot domestically for the entire year at the end of today, behind "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" ($259.7 million) and "The LEGO Movie" ($257.7 million).

While it's inevitable that "Guardians" will take the top spot for the summer, its race back to the No. 1 spot at the weekend box office will be a photo finish. "If I Stay," which opened on Friday, is expected to bring in $17.7 million this weekend. The film, based on Gayle Forman's Young Adult novel and starring Chloe Grace Moretz, was initially expecting an $18 million weekend, but opened slower than expected.

Also at the box office this weekend, Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez's "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For" opened to $2.6 million on Friday and is now projected to bring in $8.5 million over the weekend. That's down from the $15 million it was projected to bring in earlier this week and a long way from the $29.1 million the first "Sin City" film made during its open weekend in 2005.