Box Office Weekend: Guardians and Turtles Work Hardest Over Labor Day

With a four-day weekend afoot, things might have seemed a boon at the box office; however, besides low returns, it was a weak time for newcomers. Guardians of the Galaxy led easily with an estimated $22.2 million, remaining king of the summer (and of 2014 in domestic earnings), while Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles remains thoroughly critic-proof with an estimated $15.7 million adding to a strong $166.4 million domestic total. If I Stay remained stubbornly in third place with an estimated $11.6 million, as did Let’s Be Cops, its estimated $10.6 million ensuring all four films remained steadily profitable in the face of weak competition.

The newest draws, the found footage As Above/So Below and the Pierce Brosnan spy thriller The November Man debuted with an estimated $10.3 million and $10.2 million, respectively. While neither film feels like giving out budget information, if As Above/So Below follows the low budget approach of its predecessors it could easily be monstrously profitable this weekend alone, while The November Man likely has some distance to make up. While the rest of the pack are familiar faces, most of them have grossed over their budgets, if not by wide margins. When the Game Stands Tall’s estimated $8 million gave it the boost it needed, while The Giver (estimated $6.9 million) and The Hundred-Foot Journey (estimated $6.3 million) are modestly successful considering somewhat middling and mediocre reviews.

In fact, the only apparently bomb at the box office is The Expendables 3. While boasting more stars than the previous films, even with an estimated $4.6 million it trails the previous films in both critical acclaim and earnings, unlikely to even earn $50 million before hitting the video rental shelves. With no budget numbers to compare, it is also unlikely that a fourth movie will be in the works any time soon.

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Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."

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