Tate Taylor's James Brown biopic "Get On Up" got bumped to 3rd place by Luc Besson's actioner Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson
Pamela McClintock of THR:
Rousing the ailing summer box office to life, James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy opened to a record-breaking $94 million in North America, the top August debut of all time and besting every other summer tentpole save for Transformers: Age of Extinction in another sizeable victory for Marvel Studios.
Overseas, Guardians also dazzled, debuting to $66.4 million in 42 markets for a global opening of $160.4 million. It's only playing in 50 percent of the foreign marketplace, and saw big numbers in Russia ($13 million), the U.K. ($10.8 million), Mexico ($6.5 million) and Brazil ($5.4 million).
The Marvel and Disney tentpole did far more business than expected after receiving glowing reviews for its originality and an A CinemaScore from audiences. The movie, launching only the second in-house Marvel franchise after the Avengers series, received the widest release ever for an August title (4,080 theaters), and easily surpassed the debut of previous August record-holder, The Bourne Ultimatum ($69.3 million).
"Having a great movie that's original is such a rare thing anymore. This film and its reception around the world proves Marvel can break new ground with unique characters," said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis, giving a shout-out to Alan Fine, head of Marvel's creative committee.
Guardians secured the best showing of the year so far for an original property, as well as coming in ahead of high-profile summer franchise installments Godzilla ($93.2 million), The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($91.6 million) and X-Men: Days of Future Past ($90.8 million). And it's the third best debut of the year so far after Age of Extinction ($100 million) and fellow Marvel movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($95 million).
(Paramount's Age of Extinction also made headlines Sunday in becoming the first movie of 2014 to hit $1 billion in global ticket sales, thanks to earning more than $300 million in China.)
Heading into the weekend, Guardians was projected to gross $65 million to $70 million in its domestic debut. Males made up the majority of the audience (56 percent), and especially older teens and young adult men, a coveted demo that is getting harder and harder for Hollywood to please (46 percent of the audience was between the ages of 17 and 34). Fittingly, Imax theaters delivered $17 million globally, an August best.
Still, Guardians of the Galaxy won't be able to rescue the ailing summer overall in North America. Domestic revenue was up nearly 35 percent from the same frame last year -- the first time it has been up in weeks -- but the summer is still down by a large margin.
Featuring a rag-tag group of unlikely galactic heroes, Guardians stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace and Bradley Cooper, who voices the role of Rocket the raccoon. Vin Diesel, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio del Toro also star.
Guardians wasn't a cheap proposition and cost $170 million to produce. That doesn't include Disney and Marvel's pricey and well-waged marketing campaign.
Hype around Guardians has been so high that Marvel and Disney have already announced plans for a July 28, 2017 sequel, with Gunn returning to direct.
The movie's tone is much different than the Avengers franchise, and is laced with humor. "It's much more of a space opera than a superhero movie," Gunn said in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
This weekend's other new wide offering, James Brown biopic Get On Up, placed No. 3 with an OK $14 million after likewise earning an A CinemaScore. The movie was directed by The Help director Tate Taylor, and stars Chadwick Boseman as the legendary godfather of soul. Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment produced the $30 million film with Mick Jagger.
Universal is handling the release of Get On Up, and opened the biopic in the same corridor as The Help, which debuted to $26 million, and Lee Daniels' The Butler, which opened to just north of $24 million. Black moviegoers made up 70 percent of the audience; women, 63 percent.
Get on Up came in No. 3 after Guardians and fellow Universal title Lucy, which fell to No. 2 on its second Friday, falling a respectable 58 percent to $18.2 million for a pleasing domestic total of $79.6 million.
Paramount and MGM's Hercules continued to lag behind Lucy, falling to No. 4 in its second outing with $10.7 million for a domestic total of $52.3 million. The action epic tumbled a steep 63 percent, but is making up ground overseas.
Fox's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes rounded out the top five, grossing $8.7 million for a domestic total of $189.3 million).
At the specialty box office, Anton Corbijn's spy thriller A Most Wanted Man, starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, stayed at No. 10 in its second weekend as it expanded into a total of 729 theaters, grossing $3.3 million for a domestic total of $7.1 million for Roadside Attractions.
Richard Linklater and IFC Films' acclaimed indie drama Boyhood rocketed up to No. 11 as it upped its location count to 311 theaters, earning $2.5 million for a domestic total of $7.6 million
Here are the top 10 films for the weekend of Aug. 1-Aug. 3 at the domestic box office:
1. Guardians of the Galaxy, 1/4,080, Disney/Marvel, $94 million.
2. Lucy, 2/3,202, Universal/EuropaCorp, $18.2 million, -58%, $79.6
3. Get On Up, 1/2,468, Universal, $14 million.
4. Hercules, 2/3,595, Paramount/MGM, $10.7 million, -64%, $52.3 million.
5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, 4/3,283, Fox, $8.7 million, -48%, $189.3 million.
6. Planes: Fire & Rescue, 3/3,241, Disney, $6.4 million, -33%, $47.6 million.
7. The Purge: Anarchy, 3/2,656, Universal, $5.6 million, -47%, $63 million.
8. Sex Tape, 3/2,500, Sony, $3.6 million, -41%, $33.9 million.
9. And So It Goes, 2/1,816, Clarius Entertainment, $3.34 million, -28%, $10.5 million.
10. A Most Wanted Man, 2/729, Roadside Attractions, $3.32 million, +24%, $7.1 million.unt to 311
Next Up: Paramount Pictures brings back the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" to the big screen. Jeremy Howard will play Donatello Noel Fisher will play Michelangelo and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire co-star Alan Ritchson plays Raphael Johnny Knoxville will voice the role of Leonardo. William Fichtner (The Dark Knight, Drive Angry) is TMNT nemesis Shredder Tony Shalhoub is voicing the role of wise rat Master Splinter. Will Arnett is tapped to play Casey Jones opposite fellow live action actor Megan Fox as Journalist April O'Neil.
Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema's found-footage natural disaster thriller once called Category Six and then "Black Sky," before settling on "Into the Storm" blows in. The script by John Swetnam follows multiple characters who are brought together in small-town Oklahoma who must confront intense tornado activity.
It's a a dance film sequel Avengers-style Summit Entertainment/Lionsgate bring together characters from the sturdy dance film series for Step Up All In.
Lasse Hallstrom directs the film adaptation of author Richard C. Morais' book "The Hundred-Foot Journey"--starring Helen Mirren.
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