Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios’ Guardians of the Galaxy opened to a massive $11.2 million last night, which is the biggest Thursday evening start for a movie in 2014! It means the James Gunn-directed adaptation is on track to surpass The Bourne Ultimatum’s August opening weekend record of $69.2 million. Overseas, the $170 million-budgeted movie debuted in 42 markets, in which it grossed about $11 million on Thursday.
Today, the movie expands into 4,080 theaters, which is the widest release for an August opening, surpassing G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’s 4,007 theaters in 2009.