"Guardians of the Galaxy" continues to rule the box office universe.
The cosmic Marvel adventure arrived in first place at the box office for a fourth weekend with $10.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. The domestic haul for "Guardians," which features Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana as intergalactic do-gooders, now stands at $294.6 million after six weeks of release.
"Guardians" furthered cemented itself as the top grossing film of the year in North America, eclipsing the $259.8 million earned by fellow Marvel movie "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." The sci-fi romp earned an additional $11.5 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $586.2 million.
Despite the continued success of "Guardians," the weekend box office marked the slowest of the year with the total for all films released projected at $65 million, down 23 percent from a year ago, according to Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak.
Paramount's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" sliced off second place in its fifth weekend with $6.5 million, bringing the domestic total of the live-action superhero reboot starring Megan Fox and Will Arnett to $174.6 million.
The Warner Bros. young-adult novel adaptation "If I Stay," starring Chloe Grace Moretz, took third place in its third weekend with $5.7 million.
The weekend's only new release, Freestyle's musical drama "The Identical," dismally debuted in 11th place with $1.9 million. The film starring Ray Liotta and Ashley Judd failed to achieve the successes of similar faith-based films as "Heaven Is for Real," ''God's Not Dead" and "Son of God" released this year.
___
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. "Guardians of the Galaxy," $10.2 million ($11.5 million international).
2. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," $6.5 million ($8.7 million international).
3. "If I Stay," $5.7 million ($4.6 million international).
4. "Let's Be Cops," $5.4 million ($4.1 million international).
5. "The November Man," $4.2 million ($1 million international).
6. "As Above, So Below," $3.7 million ($1.6 million international).
7. "When the Game Stands Tall," $3.7 million.
8. "The Giver," $3.6 million ($1.8 million international).
9. "The Hundred-Foot Journey," $3.2 million.
10. "Lucy," $1.9 million ($25.5 million international).
___
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:
1. "Lucy," $25.5 million.
2. "Hercules," $17.1 million.
3. "The Expendables 3," $17 million
4. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes," $16.6 million.
5. "Into the Storm," $11.6 million.
6. "Guardians of the Galaxy," $11.5 million.
7. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," $8.7 million.
8. "Tazza: The High Rollers 2," $8 million.
9. "But Always," $7.1 million.
10. "Deliver Us From Evil," $6.9 million.
