Guardians Of The Galaxy is officially the US' highest grossing film of the year, thanks to mega box office sales over the past month, with the beginnings of the new franchise from Marvel continuing the studio's incredible domination of the global box office.
James Gunn's Guardians movie has so far taken a massive $280m (£168m) in the US, and that's even more impressive considering the overall trend at this summer's box office has been head-scratchingly low. For the traditional summer run of May 2 to September 1, takings this year are down 14.7 per cent compared to 2013.
So why is Marvel winning where the likes of last week's Sin City: A Dame To Kill For are failing miserably? It's not a new trend for Marvel to leapfrog other blockbusters. Take Iron Man, the third movie starring Robert Downey Jr took in a mammoth $1.2 billion last year, making it the second highest grossing movie of 2013 and even more impressively the sixth highest grossing film of all time.
Iron Man's success is down to a combination of a big character from Marvel's comic universe, played by an equally fascinating off-screen character. Robert's casting in the original 2008 movie was a talking point in itself. Director Jon Favreau had to fight for Rob, with the filmmaker insisting that the star (who at that time was more famous for his emergence from his shambolic private life) would bring the same level of public fascination as Johnny Depp bought to the Pirates of the Caribbean series. The gamble paid off, and Rob knows it, with the actor named as the highest paid actor by Forbes this year, thanks to his whopping $75million between June 2013 and June 2014. With the actor only starring in a handful of movies over the past years, those big bucks are all thanks to his role as Iron Man, with Marvel desperate to keep their money-spinner on board for as long as possible.
GOTG is another big winner for Marvel
But while a favourite character from the comics and RDJ's involvement propelled Iron Man to dizzy box office heights, it's been a very different story for Guardians. Almost everything about this new movie was a risk for Marvel. Hiring a director better known for his under the radar indie hits and a cast who's leading man was Chris Pratt, a self-confessed chubby TV actor. Throw in a bunch of characters who have remained under the radar in Marvel's comics, and a lean toward humour rather than explosions per minute, and Guardians was yet another big risk for Marvel, which again has paid off in epic fashion.
And Marvel show no sign of slowing down. Ahead of their appearance at Comic-Con in San Diego earlier this year, the studio announced their release date schedule from 2016 to 2019. It makes for very interesting reading, with the studio upping its output from an already impressive tradition of two movies per year to three in 2017. Will the Marvel momentum continue? The studio seem pretty confident.
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