Guardians of the Galaxy Sets August Box-Office Record

Having a sense of humor pays off for superhero movies too.

The Marvel sci-fi comedy Guardians of the Galaxy had the biggest August opening of all time with a $94 million domestic weekend gross, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The previous August record holder, The Bourne Ultimatum, earned only $69.3 million in 2007.

The widest August release ever with more than 4,000 theaters showing the film, Guardians is also the second biggest blockbuster of the relatively weak 2014 summer season, behind Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Guardians also performed well overseas, pulling in $66.4 million internationally. The film earned more than expected, which bodes well for the previously announced sequel Marvel and Disney already have planned for July 2017.

Lucy, the Luc Besson film starring Scarlett Johansson, fell to the No. 2 spot after winning box offices last weekend, while the James Brown biopic Get On Up came in third with a $14 million domestic gross.

[THR]