Box Office: ‘Guardians’ Soars Over $300M; ‘No Good Deed’ Solid No. 1, ‘Dolphin Tale’ Swims To No. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy is going to become the first $300M grosser of 2014 this weekend after powering up August, soaring through Labor Day and resting at No. x after its seventh weekend in release to sit nicely at an expected $305M and will cross $600M worldwide for Disney/Marvel. After the weekend after Labor Day lull, audiences are slowly coming back into theaters to see Screen Gems’ smaller budgeted thriller No Good Deed which stars Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson; it will easily take the No. 1 spot for director Sam Miller and producer Will Packer with about $22M to $24M. Audiences in search of fresh product are also coming out for Dolphin Tale 2, which is very kid-friendly family film from Alcon Entertainment. Its core audience comes out on Saturday and Sunday. In fact, it could experience a nice boost tomorrow, but at the moment looks to take under the first installment’s $19M from 2011 with about $17M for the three-day weekend. More estimates will be arriving shortly and I will update again soon. Overall, its another tepid Top 10 weekend, down about 20% from last year.

That’s a quick snapshot so far and will be updating numbers again later when more estimates arrive. Here’s the Top Ten chart as it looks now.

1). No Good Deed (SONY), 2,175 theaters / $8.5M Fri. / 3-day est. cume: $22M to $24M / Wk 1

2). Dolphin Tale 2 (WB), 3,656 theaters / $4.6M Fri. / 3-day est. cume: $17M / Wk 1

3). Guardians of the Galaxy (DIS), 3,104 theaters (-117) / $2.19M / 3-day cume: $7.5M to $8M / Total cume: $305M / Wk 7

4). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (PAR), 3,273 theaters (-270) / $1.24M Friday / 3-day est. cume: $5.3M / Total cume: $181M / Wk 6

5). Let’s Be Cops (FOX), 2,755 theaters (-177) /$1.26M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.59M / Total cume: $73.3M /Wk 5

6). The Drop (FSL), 809 theaters / $1.4M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4.2M / Per screen average: $5,218 / Wk 1

7). If I Stay (WB), 3,040 theaters (-117) / $1.1M Fri. / 3-day cume: $4M / Total cume: $44.9M/ Wk 4

8). The November Man (REL), 2,702 theaters (-74) / $825K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.87M / Total cume: $22.6M / Wk 3

9). When the Game Stands Tall (SONY), 2,435 theaters (-331) / $724K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.62M / Total cume: $26.8M / Wk 4

10/11). The Giver (TWC), 2,253 theaters (-323)/ $728K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.58M / Total cume: $41.3M/ Wk 5

The Hundred-Foot Journey (DIS), 1,943 theaters (-224) / $696K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.48 / Total cume: $49M / Wk 6

NOTEWORTHY: The second weekend of The Identical barely made it into the Top 20; the last installment of Atlas Shrugged, based on the seminal Ayn Rand book, opened this weekend.

19). The Identical (FREE), 1,274 theaters (-682) / $138K Fri. / 3-day cume: 526K / Total cume: $2.7M / Wk 2

17). Atlas Shrugged (Atlas 3), 242 theaters / 190K Fri. / 3-day cume: 570K / Per screen average: $2,355 / Wk 1

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