Guardians Of The Galaxy Becomes The Top 2014 Summer Movie At The U.S. Box Office

As we reported earlier today, Guardians of the Galaxy is projected to beat all the new movie releases and leap ahead of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to retake the top spot at the U.S. box office this weekend. With Friday box office numbers now officially in, Guardians of the Galaxy actually finished second on Friday with $4.831 million.

However, since If I Stay took in a somewhat less than expected $6.825 million on its opening day, the film is not expected to be able to hold its lead through the weekend. Guardians on the Galaxy on the other hand is projected to bring in $7 million on Saturday, which will raise the film's total to $246 million.

The $246 million will be good enough to push Guardians of the Galaxy past Transformers: Age of Extinction, which has earned $243 million at the U.S. box office. Transformers: Age of Extinction is nearing the end of its U.S. box office run and is only making in the tens of thousands of dollars currently per day.

By Sunday, Guardians of the Galaxy is projected to reach between $251 million to $252 million. It will not be enough to pass Captain America: The Winter Solider and The Lego Movie, who currently hold the #1 and #2 positions respectively at the U.S. box office. However, given both of those films have ended their runs, Guardians of the Galaxy should pass Captain America: The Winter Soldier's U.S. gross of $259 million sometime in the next week to become 2014's highest grossing film at the U.S. box office.