August is usually the lame second cousin of the summer blockbuster season. All the really major entries get released in May through July. Maybe Buena Vista was a little hesitant about how well received Guardians of the Galaxy would be when they chose to launch it in August, but the comic blockbuster saw a massive opening, shattering the current August opening record.
At $94 million, the debut is only the third highest opening of the year so far (behind Transformers: Age of Extinction's $100 million and Captain America: The Winter Soldier's $95 million) but it topped the previous August record of $69 million set by The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007.
James Brown biopic Get On Up opened under Guardian's huge shadow, settling in at number three with $14 million. That's a modest debut compared to the similar Ray Charles bio flick Ray which opened a decade ago in October but still managed a $20 million opening weekend.
For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:
Guardians of the Galaxy *
$94,000,000Total: $94,000,000LW: N
THTRS: 4,080
Lucy
$18,283,000Total: $79,571,000LW: 1
THTRS: 3,202
Get On Up *
$14,031,000Total: $14,031,000LW: N
THTRS: 2,468
Hercules (2014)
$10,700,000Total: $52,348,000LW: 2
THTRS: 3,595
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
$8,700,000Total: $189,330,000LW: 3
THTRS: 3,283
Planes: Fire & Rescue
$6,424,000Total: $47,596,000LW: 5
THTRS: 3,241
The Purge: Anarchy
$5,551,000Total: $62,962,000LW: 4
THTRS: 2,656
Sex Tape
$3,550,000Total: $33,908,000LW: 6
THTRS: 2,500
And So It Goes
$3,344,000Total: $10,473,000LW: 8
THTRS: 1,816
| 10. | A Most Wanted Man | $3,324,000 | Total: $7,059,000 | LW: 10THTRS: 729 |
