Labor Day weekend tends to be slow at the box office, and accordingly, no new film managed to break through to the top of the list of biggest earning films this weekend. Mostly everyone is doing something other than going to the movies, but those that did go to the theatre chose one of the biggest movies of the year.
Disney and Marvel closed off the summer on a high note, with "Guardians Of The Galaxy" returning to number one and earning the title of highest grossing film of 2014 domestically. The superhero flick took $17 million at home, and continues to make serious coin, with the worldwide total now approaching $550 million. And with little competition in the coming weeks —September will be off to a slow start, and one could argue "The Maze Runner" is the only real threat on the horizon— it could mean very good legs for the comic book movie to come.
Right behind Star Lord and his pals were two other August holdovers: the CGI enhanced "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and the teen weepie "If I Stay." Both experienced modest audience drops, and continue to play to their respective audiences. But this weekend’s most compelling box office story belongs to those that feel off the top ten, and those just getting on board.
In the case of the former, "Sin City: A Dame To Kill For" —after tanking on its opening weekend— vanished from the top ten, earning a measly $2.1 million. This is what happens when a sequel arrives long after the franchise’s zeitgeist has passed, particularly when nothing new has been added to the equation except more boobs and bullets.
And speaking of bullets, Pierce Brosnan‘s "The November Man" doesn’t initially look like it’ll be able to justify a sequel. Opening at number five, it earned just over $7 million. Could the aged-movie-star-kicking-butt genre be finally losing steam? We’ll see, because the film’s CinemaScore is a good B+ and so it could still leg out, especially with a unremarkable couple weeks ahead at the box office. Meanwhile, the other new movie on the block, the horror film "As Above, So Below," opened in fourth with $8.3 million. It’s probably about the best Universal could’ve expected on a slow weekend, with a movie featuring zero stars, a terrible title and uh, "careful" promotion. And we’d reckon the low budget flick will probably turn some profit eventually. So probably nothing lost, but not much gained either.
Lastly, "Ghostbusters" rode into just over 750 theaters for some 30th anniversary screenings and will probably close out the weekend with roughly $2 million. Top ten below.
1. Guardians Of The Galaxy – $16.3 million ($274.6 mil)
2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – $11.7 million ($162.4 mil)
3. If I Stay – $9.2 million ($29.8 mil)
4. As Above/So Below – $8.3 million
5. Let’s Be Cops – $8.2 million ($57.3 mil)
6. The November Man – $7.6 million
7. When The Game Stands Tall – $5.6 million ($16.3 mil)
8. The Giver – $5.2 million ($31.5 mil)
9. The Hundred-Foot Journey – $4.6 million ($39.3 mil)
10. The Expendables 3 – $3.5 million ($33.1 mil)