"Guardians of the Galaxy" is #1 Labor Day Weekend

[JamesG]

Weekend Report: Guardians Easily Tops Weak Labor Day Releases
by Ray Subers
August 31, 2014


A slow Summer at the domestic box office came to a quiet end this weekend. Guardians of the Galaxy held on to first place, while the two newcomers (As Above/So Below, The November Man fell short of $10 million.

Over the three-day weekend, the Top 12 earned an estimated $85.8 million, which makes this the second-worst weekend of the year so far.






Guardians of the Galaxy added an estimated $16.5 million, which ranks eighth all-time among fifth weekends. It was off just five percent from last weekend, which is a great Labor Day hold.

It's essentially on par with last year's Lee Daniels' The Butler and We're the Millers (down 10 percent and 3 percent, respectively).

The 10th movie from Marvel Studios has now earned $274.6 million at the domestic box office. Even with the Summer season coming to a close, Guardians is still on track for at least $305 million total.







In second place, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles eased 30 percent to $11.8 million.

A surprise late-Summer hit, Turtles has grossed an impressive $162.4 million.







If I Stay held on to third place with $9.3 million. It was off just 41 percent, which is a respectable drop for a movie targeted toward young women.

In comparison, The Fault in our Stars fell 69 percent. Through 10 days, If I Stay has taken in $29.8 million.







Playing at 2,640 theaters, found footage horror movie As Above/So Below opened to an estimated $8.3 million this weekend. It earned 39 percent of that on Friday, which is a very high share for a holiday weekend.

As a result, it wound up a bit lower than past Labor Day horror movies Apollo 18 ($8.7 million) and Shark Night 3D ($8.4 million).



As Above/So Below was clearly cheap to make, and it doesn't seem like Universal spent a ton to market it. Still, big studio movies opening at over 2,500 theaters really ought to be cracking $10 million, especially when they're in a front-loaded genre like this.

With a "C-" CinemaScore and an audience that's 64 percent under the age of 25, As Above/So Below is going to drop like a rock from here; it would be shocking if it closed above $25 million.







Let's Be Cops rounded out the Top Five with $8.2 million (down 24 percent).

To date, the R-rated comedy has earned $57.3 million.







The November Man took sixth place with $7.7 million. That opening is noticeably lower than similar Labor Day releases like The American ($13.2 million), The Debt ($9.9 million) and Lawless ($10 million).

Including its Wednesday and Thursday grosses, The November Man has now earned $9.4 million.

The movie's audience was 55 percent male and 83 percent over the age of 25. They awarded it a solid "B+" CinemaScore. Still, it would be surprising if this ultimately wound up over $25 million.







Lionsgate/Pantelion's Cantinflas opened to $2.63 million at 382 theaters. That's a fraction of the $7.8 million that Instructions Not Included earned on the same weekend last year.

Still, this is an above-average result for a limited release exclusively targeted toward Hispanic moviegoers.







In its second weekend, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For fell 66 percent to $2.2 million.

Through 10 days, its earned just $10.8 million — less than the first Sin City earned on its first day.







The 30th anniversary re-release of Ghostbusters took in $1.65 million from 784 theaters this weekend.

That's nearly identical to the Raiders of the Lost Ark re-release ($1.67 million), though Raiders was only playing at 267 IMAX theaters.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/news/?id=3898&p=.htm









August 29-31, 2014 Weekend 3-Day Studio Estimates:


1. Guardians of the Galaxy $16,313,000 / $274,610,000
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles $11,750,000 / $162,406,000
3. If I Stay $9,260,000 / $29,822,000
4. As Above/So Below $8,342,000
5. Let's Be Cops $8,200,000 / $57,322,000
6. The November Man $7,660,000
7. When the Game Stands Tall $5,650,000 / $16,320,000
8. The Giver $5,253,000 / $31,526,000
9. The Hundred-Foot Journey $4,603,000 / $39,398,000
10. The Expendables 3 $3,500,000 / $33,139,000

[comedyfreak]

It has just surpassed The Winter Soldier for most money made.

[irehtman]

There is a sequel on this movie.

[Tubehead]

I think guardians of the galaxy 2 comes out in 2017.

[irehtman]

There has to a subtitle of this second one on it!