Update: “Guardians of the Galaxy” dominated the Friday box office with $37.8 million in receipts. That keeps it on a trajectory to set the August opening weekend record and score one of the three biggest opening weekend takes of the year.
The current August record for an opening weekend, which is held by “The Bourne Ultimatum,” is $69.3 million. To deliver one of the year’s three biggest opening totals, “Guardians” would need to best the $93.2 million earned by “Godzilla.”
Other top 5 films on Friday: “Lucy” (#2, $5.5 million), “Get on Up” (#3, $5.0 million), “Hercules” (#4, $3.2 million) and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (#5, $2.4 million).
===============
It is far too early to make a precise projection about how much “Guardians of the Galaxy” will have grossed by the time its opening weekend comes to a close Sunday night.
One can, however, bank on the fact that “Guardians of the Galaxy” will score the largest opening weekend gross ever for an August release. One should also expect the well-reviewed film to score one of 2014’s three largest opening weekends.
As of press time, indications are that “Guardians of the Galaxy” grossed between $36 and $42 million over the course of its debut Friday. Assuming those forecasts hold, the film will be on track to score more than $95 million in receipts by the end of the weekend.
To set the August record, “Guardians” would only need to earn more than the $69.3 million grossed by “The Bourne Ultimatum” between August 3 and August 5 in 2007. Based on current tracking, it should have no trouble whatsoever obliterating that record.
To score one of the year’s top three openings, “Guardians” would need to best the $93.2 million earned by “Godzilla” in May. The year’s best and second-best opening marks are the $100.0 million earned by “Transformers: Age of Extinction” in June and the $95.0 million posted by “Captain America” in April, respectively.
