GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Surpasses IRON MAN Box Office Total


Its official! Guardians of the Galaxy has become the third highest grossing movie in the Marvel Studios stable. During the film’s nine week domestic run, it has managed to run up a domestic gross of $319.2 million dollars at the box office. Meaning that the Guardians have now usurped Iron Man in the list and are now hot on the heels of chasing down the top two grossing movies released by Marvel, Iron Man 3 and The Avengers.

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Although it not only passed the gross for Iron Man $318.3 million at the weekend, it has now also beaten fellow franchise starter movies Transformers $319.1 million, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone $317.6 million and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring $314.2 million

However, the chances that Peter Quill and his band of misfit buddies will actually catch, let alone overtake Iron Man 3, which is at number two in the list with a domestic gross of $409 million, are pretty slim. In fact, it’s increasingly unlikely that GOTG will come close to that figure. It’s still an impressive box office haul for a movie that was based on a little known comic book title in Marvel’s locker.

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Especially as it was seen in some quarters as one that may well be a high risk gamble for the studio in releasing a film with a limited fan-base, although that fan-base, as well as the profile of the characters within the movie, has surely grown.

Given that Guardians of The Galaxy director James Gunn, along with Peter Quill himself (Chris Pratt), announced at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con on July 28th that a sequel for Guardians of The Galaxy had already been green lit for a 2017 release shows just how much confidence that the studio had in the movie before it had even been released.

It would also appear to show that the any perceived gamble Marvel Studios was taking has paid off, and in spades as the current worldwide box office gross so far for the Guardians has pulled $644.3 million, and should easily surpass the fourth highest grossing Marvel film World Wide Thor:The Dark World, whose box office was $644.8 million.

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It should be noted that Guardians of the Galaxy could already be fourth in the worldwide list for Marvel by the time the movie opens in the Chinese market on October 10th 2014. It should also ensure that the movie breaks the $700 million worldwide box office figure which has already been accomplished by the other superhero franchises that have been released this year, including Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and X-Men: Days of Future Past

So it would seem that the run-away success that GOTG has enjoyed this year shows no signs of slowing down any time soon, and as we fast approach the holiday seasons, who can bet against having visits from ‘Rocket Racoon’ or ‘Groot’ this Halloween?

Additionally with the recent news that the GOTG DVD is set for a 9th December release, (Oh look, just in time for Christmas….), then the combined sales of cinema tickets sales and DVD units sold may well see GOTG get close to that magical figure of a combined total of $1 Billion, meaning the record breaking may not just be done for the Guardians, after all.

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Has the success of GOTG surprised you? Did you scoff when a GOTG film was announced? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. If you like this article, then why not check out my other thoughts here on UTF. Additionally should you wish to contact me to discuss or debate that option is available by following me on Twitter @telfirth.

Well, I’m gone. A Chitauri is looking through my window.

SOURCES: IGN, Flickering Myth