Up until the day it opened, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' was a big question mark at the box office. Could Marvel Studios continue its winning streak with a movie based on a practically unknown comic series that only has light connections to the rest of the films in their cinematic universe? Early estimates had the film grossing $60 million over the weekend and that would have been perfectly okay. But then it went and eclipsed that estimate in every way.

FilmWeekendPer Screen
1Guardians of the Galaxy$94,000,000$23,039$94,000,000
2Lucy$18,283,000 (-58.4)$5,710$79,571,000
3Get On Up$14,031,000$5,685$14,031,000
4Hercules$10,700,000 (-64.1)$2,976$52,348,000
5Dawn of the Planet of the Apes$8,700,000 (-48.1)
$2,650$189,330,000
6Planes: Fire and Rescue$6,424,000 (-32.6)$1,982$47,596,000
7The Purge: Anarchy$5,551,000 (-47.0)$2,090$62,962,000
8Sex Tape$3,550,000 (-41.3)$1,420$33,908,000
9And So it Goes$3,444,000 (-28.0)$1,841$10,473,000
10A Most Wanted Man$3,324,000 (+23.7)$4,560$7,059,000

 

With an opening weekend of $94 million, 'Guardians of the Galaxy' set a new record for August openings and is already on track to being one of the highest grossing films of the year. To put it in perspective, it made only $1 million less than 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' in its April opening and that film is still sitting pretty as the highest grossing film of 2014. There's always the question of whether or not the film will have the momentum break $250 million, but $200 million is looking like a sure thing. Heck, with summer just about over and the competition dwindling, it wouldn't be surprising to see the film make a serious run at $300 million. That's huge.

Of course, the massive opening of 'Guardians of the Galaxy' completely eclipsed 'Get On Up,' which opened in third place with $14 million. That's not a terrible number for a movie with a modest budget, but it's also not particularly noteworthy. Since we're in the dregs of summer, there's a chance it could eke out a final gross of $45-$50 million, but don't quote us on that. August was probably not the right time to release a musician biopic like this.

'Lucy,' last week's champion, fell to second place, grossing $18 million for a $79 million total. Despite the hefty drop from last week, the film is already a smash -- it's going to easily clear $100 million on a budget of $40 million. The big question now is whether or not it'll have the juice to clear $150 million.

Speaking of films that had major drops between last weekend and this one, 'Hercules' had a truly disastrous second week, grossing only $10 million for a $52 million total. That's a 62% drop. Considering the film's $100 million budget, this is not good at all.

In fifth place, 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' continued to ride toward $200 million, grossing $8 million for a $189 million total. It should reach that next milestone by next week (give or take a few days) and then it'll start slowing down. $220 feels about right for this one, but we wouldn't be surprised if it ends up a little going a little further.

As for the rest, 'Planes: Fire and Rescue' continued to underwhelm, 'The Purge: Anarchy' continued to be a massive sleeper hit (considering its budget), 'Sex Tape' kept on bombing and 'A Most Wanted Man' took advantage of its theatrical expansion to hold onto the number 10 spot.

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