Stellar box office debut for ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
This image released by Disney – Marvel shows, from left, Zoe Saldana, the character Rocket Racoon, voiced by Bradley Cooper, Chris Pratt, the character Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel and Dave Bautista in a scene from “Guardians Of The Galaxy.” (AP Photo/Disney – Marvel)
WASHINGTON – “Guardians of the Galaxy,” the Marvel comics superhero flick, stormed the top of the box office, taking in $94 million over the weekend, industry estimates showed Sunday.
With an ensemble cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and Chris Pratt, “Guardians” bested last week’s number one earner, sci-fi thriller “Lucy,” which sank to second place with a weekend gross of nearly $18.3 million, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
“Get on Up,” also in its first weekend out, piled up $14 million, putting the biopic about the life of US soul singer James Brown in third place.
In fourth place with weekend results of $10.7 million was “Hercules,” starring Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson. It dropped two places from last week.
Number five was “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” a critically praised sequel that pits apes against humans in a collapsed civilization. It drew $8.7 million in its fourth weekend in theaters.
Disney’s “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” the computer-animated movie about a talking plane that helps firefighters save a national park, made $6.4 million, leaving it in sixth place.
Horror flick “The Purge: Anarchy,” meanwhile, dropped two notches to seventh place with a weekend box office total of $5.5 million.
“Sex Tape,” a comedy starring Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel as parents frantic to keep their sex tape off the Internet, was number eight, pulling in $3.5 million.
Not far behind in ninth with $3.3 million in receipts was “And So It Goes,” a romantic comedy with Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton.
“A Most Wanted Man,” a spy thriller with the late Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his last performances, held to 10th place in its second week in theaters, earning $3.3 million.
