“Guardians of the Galaxy” becomes highest grossing film of year

PanARMENIAN.Net - “Guardians of the Galaxy” has edged out newcomers “The November Man” and “As Above, So Below” to once again top the domestic box office, earning $3.8 million on Friday, August 29 in its fifth frame. The intergalactic pic has beat out fellow Marvel superhero film “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” to become the highest grossing film of the year to date Stateside, Variety reported.

The Marvel-Disney blockbuster is headed for a $20.5 million weekend, which would mark a 9% spike and raise its impressive cume to $278.8 million.

“As Above, So Below” surprised with a second-place finish on Friday, but will likely end up in fourth place behind “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “If I Stay” by Monday — a repeat of last weekend.

This is the third win for “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which recently crossed the $500 million mark worldwide and passed “Transformers: Age of Extinction” as the highest-grossing movie of the summer in the U.S. The pic helped salvage the late summer box office, which is down an overall 15% from last season’s record-breaking performance.

Pierce Brosnan’s “November Man” came in a distant fifth on Friday with $2.2 million and is headed for sixth place by weekend’s end. Relativity’s actioner, which opened to a soft $862,000 million on Wednesday, stands to earn an estimated $9.8 million this holiday weekend, behind “As Above, So Below” and “Let’s Be Cops.”

Brosnan stars as an ex-CIA agent who returns from retirement for one final mission: to protect a witness, played by Olga Kurylenko. The espionage thriller targets — but failed to draw — the same older audience that flocked to Liam Neeson’s “Taken” films.

Relativity paid $3 million for the $20 million production as part of its model for low-risk films.

This weekend’s other new wide release, “As Above, So Below,” grossed $3.2 million on Friday. The first film from Universal’s distribution pact with Legendary, “As Above, So Below” will likely earn around $11.3 million this long weekend. The thriller about archaeologists in search of a lost treasure in the Paris catacombs cost a mere $5 million to produce.

Meanwhile, Paramount’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” is still kicking in its fourth frame. The anthropomorphic, crime-fighting reptiles made an estimated $2.7 million on Friday. It’s en route for $14.8 million (raising its total domestic haul to $165.5 million), which would mark a 19% drop.

YA tearjerker “If I Stay” was in fourth place on Friday with $2.6 million, but will reclaim last weekend’s third place finish by Labor Day. The Warner Bros. drama is headed for $11.8 million this weekend, which would barely edge out “As Above, So Below.”

“Let’s Be Cops” rounded out the top five with $2 million. The Fox comedy will likely make north of $10 million by Monday.