'Guardians of the Galaxy' Obliterates August Box Office Record
'Guardians of the Galaxy' opens to $94 million... >
by Ray Subers
August 3, 2014
"We Are Groot."
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ruled the box office this weekend with a fantastic $94.3 million. That's easily the biggest debut ever for an August release; the previous record holder, The Bourne Ultimatum, opened to $69.3 million in 2007.
Meanwhile, James Brown biopic Get On Up took third place with a modest $13.6 million debut.
This weekend reversed the box office slump in a big way: the top 12 earned $172.4 million, which is up a whopping 40 percent from the same frame last year. With a packed line-up of major releases coming up, this August is almost certainly going to be the biggest one ever.
Among recent Marvel movies, Guardians of the Galaxy's opening is nearly on par with Captain America: The Winter Soldier's $95 million, and is noticeably higher than Thor: The Dark World's $85.7 million. That's pretty remarkable considering the Guardians were unknown to most moviegoers a year ago, and have few obvious connections to the Avengers at the moment.
Guardians of the Galaxy also opened above recent superhero sequels The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Among 2014 releases, it only trails Transformers: Age of Extinction ($100 million) and the previously-mentioned Captain America sequel.
How to explain this huge opening? To begin with, the Marvel Studios brand is about as popular as it gets right now. This feels equivalent in some ways to Pixar Animation circa 2008, when moviegoers had such trust in the brand that they turned up in big numbers to see a movie about a lonely, vocally-challenged robot.
Similarly, Guardians of the Galaxy
looked like a tough sell on paper. The current iteration of the team
has only been around since 2008, and they don't have anywhere near the
built-in recognition of Thor or Captain America. Disney's stellar
marketing campaign addressed that issue early and often: from the teaser
trailer on, the focus was squarely on building a connection between the
audience and this bizarre group. Characters that initially seemed like
liabilities—Rocket Raccoon and Groot, specifically—wound up being a
major draw, particularly with A-list actors Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel providing vocal support.
by Ray Subers
| |||
"We Are Groot."
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ruled the box office this weekend with a fantastic $94.3 million. That's easily the biggest debut ever for an August release; the previous record holder, The Bourne Ultimatum, opened to $69.3 million in 2007.
Meanwhile, James Brown biopic Get On Up took third place with a modest $13.6 million debut.
This weekend reversed the box office slump in a big way: the top 12 earned $172.4 million, which is up a whopping 40 percent from the same frame last year. With a packed line-up of major releases coming up, this August is almost certainly going to be the biggest one ever.
Among recent Marvel movies, Guardians of the Galaxy's opening is nearly on par with Captain America: The Winter Soldier's $95 million, and is noticeably higher than Thor: The Dark World's $85.7 million. That's pretty remarkable considering the Guardians were unknown to most moviegoers a year ago, and have few obvious connections to the Avengers at the moment.
Guardians of the Galaxy also opened above recent superhero sequels The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Among 2014 releases, it only trails Transformers: Age of Extinction ($100 million) and the previously-mentioned Captain America sequel.
How to explain this huge opening? To begin with, the Marvel Studios brand is about as popular as it gets right now. This feels equivalent in some ways to Pixar Animation circa 2008, when moviegoers had such trust in the brand that they turned up in big numbers to see a movie about a lonely, vocally-challenged robot.
Similarly, Guardians of the Galaxy
looked like a tough sell on paper. The current iteration of the team
has only been around since 2008, and they don't have anywhere near the
built-in recognition of Thor or Captain America. Disney's stellar
marketing campaign addressed that issue early and often: from the teaser
trailer on, the focus was squarely on building a connection between the
audience and this bizarre group. Characters that initially seemed like
liabilities—Rocket Raccoon and Groot, specifically—wound up being a
major draw, particularly with A-list actors Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel providing vocal support. 
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