‘Guardians’ on top as North America box office slumps
September 02, 2014
The critically acclaimed intergalactic romp based on a Marvel comic added another $16.3 million to its five-week haul, taking its earnings to $274 million since its release, box office tracker Exhibitor Relations said.
With the United States enjoying a four-day holiday weekend with Monday´s Labor Day, the final figures will not be confirmed until Tuesday.
However the movie industry is grimly expecting this year´s summer season, the period between early May and the end of August when studios roll out their big-budget spectaculars, to be the worst since 2006.
According to the box office statistics website boxofficemojo.com, earnings have slumped this year to $3.77 billion, down 22.2 percent from the 2013 figure of $4.85 billion.
Analysts have blamed the slump on the failure of a sequel-heavy slate of films that have largely failed to capture the imagination.
Although "Guardians of the Galaxy" proved to be a hit, it is unlikely to break the $300 million barrier -- the first time a summer film has failed to reach that mark since 2001.
In second place as the summer season wound down was "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", which added another $11.75 million to its take.
Third place was occupied by the teen melodrama "If I Stay," based on a young adult novel about a girl who surveys her life from an out-of-body experience after a car accident, which took $9.3 million.
Fourth spot went to "As Above/So Below" a thriller set in the catacombs beneath Paris, which took $8.3 million on debut.
Raunchy comedy "Let´s Be Cops," starring Damon Wayans Jr, about two friends who become entangled in criminal intrigue when they dress up as police officers for a costume party was in fifth.
It took in $8.2 million in its third weekend, boosting earnings to a healthy $58.3 in defiance of savagely critical reviews.
It was a disappointing return to the box office for former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan however.
The veteran actor´s "The November Man" was sixth with $7.6 million. The thriller stars Brosnan as a former CIA agent lured out of retirement for one last dangerous mission.
"When the Game Stands Tall," based on the true story of a US high school coach who leads his team on a 151-game winning streak, fell to seventh place with $5.6 million.
In eighth spot was dystopian drama "The Giver" based on Lois Lowry´s 1993 novel, starring Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep and Brenton Thwaites, which took $5.2 million.
"The Hundred Foot Journey," a romantic comedy with Helen Mirren and Om Puri as culture-clashing restaurateurs was ninth with $4.6 million.
Rounding out the top 10 were the veteran action heroes of Sylvester Stallone´s geriatric "The Expendables 3," which took $3.5 million in its third week in theaters. (AFP)
