Movie

The Marvel movie is the third-biggest movie opening of the year and the highest August debut of all time in North America.

• Aug 4, 2014

AceShowbiz - Box Office analyst initially predicted "Guardians of the Galaxy" would earn between $60 million and $75 million in North America, but the comic book adaptation easily surpassed the numbers over the weekend. It racked up a staggering $94 million, becoming top August debut of all time in North America.

It was another big victory for Marvel that won the box office for the seventh time in 19 weeks. "Guardians of the Galaxy" became the third-highest movie opening of the year behind "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Transformers: Age of Extinction". It also easily surpassed the $69.3 million August bow of 2007's "The Bourne Ultimatum".

With an A CinemaScore, the film starring Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana among others, showed the signs of winning the box office early by earning 2.5 times weekend multiplier. Walt Disney Studios' executive vice president of theatrical distribution Dave Hollis credited the right timing to promote the film. "It's a testament to the momentum of the brand overall and all of the pieces just coming together in the right way," Hollis said, adding "We were able to heat things up to white hot levels and use those final days as a call to arms."

"Guardians of the Galaxy" also performed well overseas by taking $66.4 million from 42 territories such as U.K., Russia and Mexico. It has earned $160.4 million worldwide and still has major markets left to open such as China, Australia, and France. "Thank you everyone watching #GuardiansOfTheGalaxy this weekend! We're all so happy that people are loving it," Pratt wrote on his Facebook page.

Elsewhere on the weekend box office, last week's champion "Lucy" stepped down to the second position with $18.2 million. New entry "Get on Up" debuted to $14 million and landed at number 3 while "Hercules" added $10.7 million and sat at the fourth position. Rounding up the top 5 was "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" with $8.7 million.

1. "Guardians of the Galaxy" - $94 million
2. "Lucy" - $18.2 million
3. "Get on Up" - $14 million
4. "Hercules" - $10.7 million
5. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" - $8.7 million
6. "Planes: Fire & Rescue" - $6.4 million
7. "The Purge: Anarchy" - $5.6 million
8. "Sex Tape" - $3.6 million
9. "And So It Goes" - $ 3.3 million
10. "A Most Wanted Man" - $ 3.3 million