Articles

August 24, 2014
 

EARLY WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: “Guardians” Make “If I Stay” Leave, While “Sin City” Burns

 

There were no miracle turnarounds for any of the weekend’s dim new arrivals on Saturday.  Instead, according to preliminary numbers at Deadline, the expected occurred and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (Marvel/Disney) jumped back to the front of the pack in its 4th weekend with a 55% Friday-to-Saturday increase to $7.5M, down less than 30% from last Saturday.  That should give the newly-crowned #1 hit of the summer (in the US) a weekend around $18M (again down less than 30%) and no competition of note coming its way over Labor Day weekend.

Like many movies aimed at a young female audience, IF I STAY (Warners/MGM) was front-loaded, and dropped about 20% from Friday to $5.5M, giving it a weekend around $16.5M.  That will put it neck-and-neck with the third weekend of TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES (Nickelodeon/Paramount), which grew by 50% on Saturday to roughly $7M and a $17M weekend (down 40%).

WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL (Affirm/TriStar/Sony) had a 15% family matinee bump from Friday to $3.45M, on its way to a $9M weekend.  That will put it behind LET’S BE COPS (20th), which grew by 40% on Saturday to $4.5M and $11M for the weekend, down 38% from last weekend.

Things only got more wretched for SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR (Dimension/Weinstein) on Saturday, as the dud dropped 15% to $2.2M and a $6.5M weekend–less than the openings for Winter’s Tale and I, Frankenstein.



About the Author

Mitch Salem
MITCH SALEM has worked on the business side of the entertainment industry for 20 years, as a senior business affairs executive and attorney for such companies as NBC, ABC, USA, Syfy, Bravo, and BermanBraun Productions, and before that, at the NY law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. During all that, he has more or less constantly been going to the movies and watching TV, and writing about both since the 1980s. His film reviews also currently appear on screened.com and the-burg.com. In addition, he is co-writer of an episode of the television series "Felicity."