August off to a very strong start after a weak July.
Weekend Report: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Obliterates August Record
by Ray Subers --- August 3, 2014
Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ruled the box office this weekend with a fantastic $94 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 $14 million debut.
This weekend reversed the box office slump in a big way: the top 12 earned $172.6 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.
More broadly, the movie consistently managed to look like a fun and (mostly) fresh adventure. Add in an aggressive late marketing push and some very positive reviews (over 90 percent on Rotten Tomatoes), and a new Marvel franchise was born this weekend.
Guardians of the Galaxy wound up having a ton of appeal with women: exit polling indicated that the audience was 44 percent female, which is the biggest share ever for a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie (the previous high was 40 percent for The Avengers). Meanwhile, the audience was 55 percent over the age of 25.
3D shows accounted for 45 percent of ticket sales. Included within that was $11.7 million from IMAX showings, which is easily a new record for the month of August (the previous high was $4.7 million from last year's Elysium).
With strong word-of-mouth ("A" CinemaScore) and great reviews, Guardians of the Galaxy could hold up well for the remainder of the Summer. If it plays like Captain America: The Winter Soldier—possible, though far from guaranteed—it will wind up being the highest-grossing movie of the season in the U.S. with over $250 million.
In second place, Lucy fell 58 percent to an estimated $18.3 million. That's a rough drop, though it's not horrible given the movie's mixed word-of-mouth and tough competition from Guardians. To date, Lucy has earned $79.6 million, and remains on track for over $110 million total.
James Brown biopic Get On Up opened to an estimated $14 million this weekend. That's a bit above Jersey Boys ($13.3 million), but is around half of the opening of star Chadwick Boseman's last biopic (42, $27.5 million). It's also significantly lower than director Tate Taylor's last movie, The Help ($35.9 million in five days).
With good reviews and strong word-of-mouth ("A" CinemaScore), Get on Up should hold up well in the next month: a final total north of $50 million is likely.
Hercules plummeted 64 percent to $10.7 million this weekend. To date, the movie has earned $52.3 million, and is on pace to wrap up somewhere between $70 and $80 million.
Rounding out the Top Five, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes fell 48 percent to $8.7 million. The Apes sequel has now grossed $189.3 million.
A Most Wanted Man doubled its theater count to 729 and held on to the 10th spot with $3.3 million. Meanwhile, Boyhood expanded to 311 theaters and earned $2.5 million. With $7.6 million total, its already the third-highest-grossing movie ever from IFC Films behind My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Y Tu Mama Tambien. Next weekend, it's expected to expand to around 500 locations.
Around-the-World Roundup
Coinciding with its domestic debut, Guardians of the Galaxy opened in 42 foreign territories where it earned $66.4 million. Major markets included Russia ($13 million), the U.K. ($10.8 million), Mexico ($6.5 million), Brazil ($5.4 million) and South Korea ($4.7 million). On average, it opened lower than Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier.
Guardians has many more markets left to open, including Australia (next weekend), France, Germany, Japan, Italy and China. A total north of $300 million seems likely, while $400 million is possible as well (depending mostly on how well it performs in China).
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes added $47.5 million this weekend, which brings its total to $258.2 million. It opened to a massive $14.1 million in France, which is the biggest debut of the year there so far. The movie still has China, Japan and Germany on the way, and a final total above $400 million seems very likely.
How to Train Your Dragon 2 earned $20 million from 36 markets; that includes a solid $3.1 million debut in Spain. The DreamWorks Animation sequel has now grossed $295 million overseas, which is more than its predecessor earned in its entire run. With China and Italy on the way this month, Dragon should ultimately soar north of $400 million.
Transformers: Age of Extinction joined the $1 billion club this weekend. Most of that has come outside of the U.S.; the fourth installment in the franchise has now earned $763.8 million overseas, which ranks 10th all-time. With Spain and Japan opening next weekend, it could wind up with over $1.1 billion total by the end of its run.
