Guardians of the Galaxy Expected To Take #1 at the U.S. Box Office Again This Week, Fourth Time Overall

For the third week in a row and the fourth week since its release, James Gunn's Marvel space opera Guardians of the Galaxy is expected to take the top spot at the U.S. domestic box office this weekend, predicts Exhibitor Relations.

The film was dominant last weekend, bringing in more than $17 million to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles's $11.9 million, with no new releases cracking $10 million for the weekend.

While the summer has generally been a flop at the box office, Guardians of the Galaxy and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles overperformed to lead the month of August to an unprecedented $1 billion-plus haul, according to Box Office Mojo.

The film recently eclipsed Captain America: The Winter Soldier as the top-grossing movie so far this year, and last weekend surpassed $250 million domestic and $500 million globally. The film is expected to pass the $300 million mark domestically at some point in the next week, although probably not this weekend as it would need to raise about $15 million. That would require a tiny drop from week to week, unlikely for a movie that's a month old and coming off a holiday weekend.

Internationally, the movie hasn't been the juggernaut that some American tentpoles have been...but it also hasn't opened in two of the largest international markets: Japan (mid-September) and China (early October).

Ninja Turtles, meanwhile, could cross $300 million globally this weekend, although that too is more likely to come sometime in the middle of next week. Weak word-of-mouth means that the film, which debuted at #1 the week after Guardians hit theaters and held that position for a week, fell behind Guardians in the meantime and has continued to gross markedly less than its older competition even while it beat out the rest of the box office. Both films were greenlit for sequels, though, so nobody's hurting -- and Paramount is hoping that a limited IMAX release for Turtles can drive the film past the $200 million mark domestically in the next two weeks.

Ironically, there's a moment in Guardians of the Galaxy when Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) makes a Ninja Turtles reference.