It only took three months but we finally have a big Hollywood tentpole to get excited about as Disney/Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” descends upon the box office universe, and with “Ninja Turtles”, “Expendables 3” and last week’s “Lucy”, at least Hollywood’s summer seems poised to go out with a bang. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet.
As for this weekend, “Guardians” will easily take the box office crown as the film has an RT score of 88, positive early user reviews, Comic-Con buzz and multiple enhanced format offerings (Imax, 3D, D-Box, etc) so the stars are aligning well for Chris Pratt and the gang. The film will surely have an effect on holdovers “Lucy” and Hercules”, as it goes after both of those films’ audiences so look for declines of 60% or more, especially with “Lucy” after that C+ Cinemascore and less than stellar user ratings, Only three films have ever grossed north of $60 million in August (“The Bourne Ultimatum” holds the month’s record with a $69.2 million opening back in 2007) but “Guardians” will certainly join that distinguished group and here’s thinking that we have a new record holder.
The other wide opener of the week is “Get On Up”, which has been woefully flat in social media circles. The film will receive strong reviews, especially for star Chadwick Boseman, but I was on the low end of industry projections in my Monday predictions and I’ll stay there.
PROJECTED WEEKEND TOP 10
1) GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY—DISNEY/MARVEL—$73.0 MILLION
2) LUCY—UNIVERSAL—$16.6—DOWN 62%
3) GET ON UP—UNIVERSAL—$14.0 MILLION
4) HERCULES—PARAMOUNT—$11.9 MILLION—DOWN 60%
5) DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES—FOX—$7.3 MILLION—DOWN 56%
6) PLANES: FIRE AND RESCUE—DISNEY—$5.5 MILLION—DOWN 42%
7) THE PURGE: ANARCHY—UNIVERSAL—$3.9 MILLION—DOWN 62%
8) A MOST WANTED MAN—RSA—$3.4 MILLION (Expanded to 725 screens this week)
9) SEX TAPE—SONY—$2.7 MILLION—DOWN 54%
10) BOYHOOD—IFC—$2.4 MILLION (Expanded to 300 screens this week)
AND SO IT GOES—CLARIUS—$2.4 MILLION—DOWN 49%
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