Cartoons at the box office: “Rocky” and his friends are the guardians of the box office

iPad and newspaper

Updated on December 10, 2021

As expected, “Guardians of the Galaxy” dominated the box office this weekend, with a $94 million domestic debut. Overseas, the film starring Rocket Raccoon and friends has earned $66.4 million, for a global total of $160.4 million. Forbes notes that its success might indicate that August could be more than just a late-summer film dumping ground. I saw “Guardians” yesterday and enjoyed it, along with the audience in the crowded theater. “Guardians” will probably fall off next weekend, though, given stiff competition/a sizable number of other films opening.

Elsewhere, “Lucy” earned 100% of its second-place earnings of $18.3 million, for a total of $79.6 million domestic and $5.1 million overseas, for a global total of $84.7 million. Again, no Black Widow film?

The James Brown biopic “Get On Up” has earned $14 million in third place on its opening weekend.

“Hercules” came in fourth place, earning $10.7 million, for a total to date of $52.3 million domestically and $56.5 million overseas, or a global total of $108.8 million. Again, it’ll probably do better overseas.

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” starring the talking apes, came in fifth place, earning $8.7 million. Its domestic total stands at $189.3 million and overseas total at $258.2 million, for a global total of $447.5 million.

“Planes: Fire & Rescue” came in sixth place, earning $6.4 million. Its domestic total is at $47.6 million and overseas total at $30 million, for a global total of $77.6 million.

“Transformers: Age of Extinction” finally fell out of the top 10, but its $1 billion+ global total now puts it as the 18th top earning film of all time (non-inflation-adjusted), surpassing “The Dark Knight.” If curious, three-fourths of “Extinction”‘s earnings came from outside North America, just like the much-lower-grossing film “Pacific Rim.” “Rim” made $101.8 million here and was considered a flop (per its $190 million budget), but made $309.2 million overseas, for a global total of $411 million…enough to earn it a sequel (and other media spinoffs). Guess non-North Americans really like giant fighting robots?

Next week sees various films opening, including thriller “Into the Storm,” drama “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” and another “Step Up” film (“Step Up All In”) that’ll surely do better overseas than in North America. “All In”‘s already earned $26 million overseas. The biggest opening next weekend, however, poses the most competition to the talking raccoon and talking apes: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” starring the hideous-looking (in my opinion) CGI-rendered talking turtles.

Anthony Dean

Anthony Dean is the owner of Diverse Tech Geek and Diverse Media Notes.

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