'Guardians of the Galaxy' leads weak Labor Day over newcomers 'As Above, So Below' and 'The November Man' at weekend box office

Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy led the box office again on one of the worst weekends of the year. The superhero smash, which is now the highest grossing movie of the year, dropped only 5.2% and took in $16.3 million. The film's total now stands at $274.6 million. Quite extraordinary. Guardians of the Galaxy will also likely top next weekend as well and according to Box Office Mojo, will go on to gross at least $305 million. Marvel really did something special with this one and they're going to be celebrating for a long time. The film has also taken in $273.1 million overseas, which adds up to a worldwide total of $547.7 million. Pretty impressive. 

Paramount's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles finished in second place with $11.7 million. That's a 30% drop from last weekend, which isn't terrible, but pales in comparison to Guardians. The kiddie action megahit has now grossed $162.4 million. Very good for a film that only cost $125 million. Ninja Turtles has also made $112.1 million overseas. That's not too shabby. Warner Bros.' If I Stay took third place and made another $9.2 million. The 41% drop the film took is pretty steep, but the film has still made an impressive $29.8 million on an $11 million budget. 

Universal's found footage horror flick As Above, So Below took in a disappointing $8.3 million. Not bad for a film that probably cost nothing, but compared to a lot of other similar flicks, it's a disappointment. The poorly reviewed movie (33% on Rotten Tomatoes) also received a "C-" Cinemascore, which means that it is going to crash and burn fast. I'm not very surprised that this film flopped, but it did look like it had some potential. 

Let's Be Cops took fifth place this weekend and grabbed $8.2 million. The low budget comedy hit has now grossed $57.3 million, which is very impressive considering the film's $17 million budget. Let's Be Cops will likely finish with $70 million. The weekend's other new release, The November Man, finished in sixth place with $7.6 million. The retro action flick opened on Wednesday and took in $9.3 million total over the five-day weekend. The November Man also received a "B+" Cinemascore, which is pretty solid. I would expect the film to have a solid hold next weekend. 

Sony's When the Game Stands Tall ended up in seventh place this weekend and made $5.6 million. The low budget football drama has now grossed $16.3 million. The Giver took a light 18% drop and landed in eighth place this weekend with $5.2 million. The drama has now made $31.5 million on a $25 million budget. Not great, but terrible either. Disney's The Hundred-foot Journey finished in ninth place this weekend and made $4.6 million. The breakout hit has now banked $39.3 million. And finally, The Expendables 3 rounded out the top ten with $3.5 million. The action flop has now made $33.1 million.

In the limited release world, Lionsgate's Catinflas grossed $2.6 million, which is pretty solid. Sony's rerelease of Ghostbusters also made $1.6 million in a few hundred theaters, which isn't bad. Open Road's Chef also crossed the $30 million mark this weekend and has now made $30.2 million. All in all, it was a pretty uninteresting weekend. 

Next weekend sees the release of The Identical. And that's it. Here are my predictions:

1. Guardians of the Galaxy- $12.1 million

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- $6.7 million

3. If I Stay- $5.8 million

4. The Identical- $5 million

5. Let's Be Cops- $4.9 million

6. The November Man- $4 million

7. As Above, So Below- $3.8 million

8. When the Game Stands Tall- $3.7 million

9. The Giver- $3.6 million

10. The Hundred-foot Journey- $3.3 million