Guardians of the Galaxy blasted past early box office projections to debut to a whopping $94.3 million this past weekend, bringing in the third-best gross for 2014.
Marvel's latest superhero film has temporarily brought some life to a weak summer box office, while also setting a new August record, According to The Hollywood Reporter, besting The Bourne Ultimatum's 69.3 million.
In addition to the strong domestic launch, GOTG grossed $67.4 million worldwide, spread across 42 other markets.
"Having a great movie that's original is such a rare thing anymore," Dave Hollis, Disney's distribution head, said. "This film and its reception around the world proves Marvel can break new ground with unique characters."
While GOTG is behind Transformers: Age of Extinction's $100 million and Captain America: The Winter Soldier's $95 million for the best opening weekend of the year, the James Gunn directed film did snag the best debut for an original property for 2014.
Related: Guardians of the Galaxy review
Marvel announced at San Diego Comic-Con that they had already greenlit a sequel, with Gunn set to return as director and writer. The film will drop July 28, 2017.
Last weekend's top film, the Scarlett Johansson starring Lucy earned $18.2 million for the weekend for the second spot at the box office, Deadline reports. New wide release film Get On Up followed behind with a $13.58 million gross.
MGM and Paramount's Hercules fell from second to fourth with an $11 million weekend haul, while Fox's Dawn of the Planet of the Apes rounded out the top five spots with $8.6 million.
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