On the fourth weekend of their release, those a-holes known as the Guardians of the Galaxy jumped back to the top of the box office with $17.6 million, shoving aside a lot of newer competition to get there. Who saw this coming?
\n<\/p>\n
Marvel’s misfit intergalactic superheroes also crossed another landmark this weekend. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy<\/strong>‘ became the #1 movie of summer, earning a total of $251.8 million domestically. By next weekend, it will be the #1 movie of 2014, passing the $259.8 million earned by ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. <\/p>\n For the second weekend in a row, three new wide releases were unable to defeat the Top 2: ‘Guardians’ and ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles<\/strong>‘. ‘Guardians’ was able to re-claim the top spot by slipping only 30% in attendance. ‘Ninja Turtles’ didn’t have quite the same success. It slid 41%, but still did well with $16.8 million. To date, the reboot has earned $145.6 million domestically.<\/p>\n The strongest of the three wide releases was Chloe Moretz’s teen melodrama ‘If I Stay<\/strong>‘. The sappy YA adaptation grossed $16.3 million. Teen girls fueled its decent earnings this weekend, but ‘Stay’ will likely go<\/em> sooner rather than later. Movies like this have a limited, front-loaded appeal for a small demographic.<\/p>\n Fourth place went to ‘Let’s Be Cops<\/strong>‘, which dropped only 38% in attendance with another $11 million. Since its mid-week debut nearly two weeks ago, the $17 million R-rated comedy has earned a solid $45.2 million.<\/p>\n Rounding out the Top 5 was the barely advertised sports drama ‘When the Game Stands Tall<\/strong>‘. The based-on-a-true-story football tale scored $9 million, which is about par for the genre these days.<\/p>\n