Weekend Box Office Report: August 22-24, 2014

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

The Guardians return to #1!

After two weekends in the #2 position, Marvel's space heroes reclaimed the top of the box office as GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY made an estimated $17.6 million!

With a $251.8 million domestic total in its fourth weekend, director James Gunn's vibrant sci-fi adventure is also now officially the biggest movie of the summer, defeating the $243.8 million of Michael Bay's TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION.

At this rate, GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY is also guaranteed to beat Marvel's CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER and Chris Pratt's earlier hit THE LEGO MOVIE to become the highest-grossing release of 2014 (so far). GUARDIANS' $489 million global total has also pushed it past Marvel's THOR ($449 million worldwide).

Switching spots for second was TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES with $16.8 million, after the sewer-dwelling crimefighters sat on top for two weeks. The color-coded quartet stayed just ahead of the new young-adult adaptation IF I STAY, opening in third with $16.3 million. The Chloe Moretz coma melodrama (which reportedly cost just $11 million) drew an 'A-' CinemaScore from crowds, but critics left it with a 41% average on Rotten Tomatoes.

Dropping a slot to fourth in its second weekend was LET'S BE COPS with $11 million, down only 38% from its opening. Despite unfavorable reviews, the R-rated Jake Johnson/Damon Wayans Jr. comedy is turning into a minor success with a $45.7 million 12-day total on a reported $17 million budget.

The new biopic WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL opened in fifth with $9 million. The spiritual sports drama, featuring Christ himself Jim Caviezel as a high school football coach, was a touchdown for most moviegoers ('A-' CinemaScore) but fumbled badly for critics (18% on Rotten Tomatoes).

The Jeff Bridges drama THE GIVER dipped to sixth with $6.7 million, a 45% drop from its modest opening weekend. But it was still enough to hold off a small army of elder action actors, as THE EXPENDABLES 3 sagged in seventh with $6.6 million (a 58% plunge). With just $27.5 million so far, it's looking like it might be time for the franchise to get lowered into the grave.

The monochromatic sequel SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR opened way down in eighth with a flat $6.4 million — a fraction of the first SIN CITY's $29.1 million opening nine years ago. Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's comic book noir rounded up much of the first movie's cast and tossed in some new players, but couldn't generate any real excitement from crowds or critics, who shrugged at the stylish crime flick with a 'B-' CinemaScore and a 43% average on Rotten Tomatoes.

THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY and INTO THE STORM closed out the list, while LUCY and STEP UP ALL IN fell off the chart. Richard Linklater's BOYHOOD is still going strong on a few hundred screens, while the new Alfred Molina/John Lithgow drama LOVE IS STRANGE scored a solid $25k per-screen average in limited release.

Next weekend brings the Pierce Brosnan hitman actioner THE NOVEMBER MAN (on Wednesday) and the catacombs thriller AS ABOVE/SO BELOW, and the comedy LIFE OF CRIME opens in limited release.

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