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LOS ANGELES (CNN) — The Star-Lord is officially the star of the box office.
"Guardians of the Galaxy" is now the top-grossing domestic movie of the year, Entertainment Weekly reports. According to data collected by Rentrak, the film has seen its domestic total rise to more than $274 million and is expected to rake in more than $16 million this holiday weekend.
Not that this has been the best summer for cinema.
Forbes says that as of the last week of August, summer ticket sales were down by 15 percent in comparison with 2013. Forbes reports that "Nine films have topped $200 million on domestic charts so far this year, only seven of which were summer releases.
"With four months left in the year, if 2014 plays out about even with the last two years, then we should see a final domestic tally that's down by between $200-300 million, or around perhaps a 2-3 percent decline from last year's box office," Mark Hughes writes for Forbes. "Notice, that number looks much less severe than the 25 percent figure for the summer, but then again that would also assume the next several months compare positively to the same period in 2013 and 2012."
"Guardians," which stars Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana, takes the top of the box office title from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" which was released in April.
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