Guardians of the Galaxy has done it again! After only a month in theaters, Guardians has surpassed Iron Man in the global box office, making it Marvel’s biggest-earning franchise-starter yet! Even though Guardians of the Galaxy has yet to open in some large markets, it has earned $586 million worldwide, surpassing Iron Man’s $585.1 million total.
Regarding the worldwide success of Guardians of the Galaxy, director James Gunn had this to say:
“Guardians of the Galaxy box office just passed up Iron Man, making us the biggest Marvel franchise-starter yet. And we still haven’t opened in Japan, China, or Italy.
If I had a penny for every time someone said making a Marvel movie with a talking raccoon was dumb and that Guardians was going to bomb, I’d probably have just about the amount of money Guardians has made so far. So I’m glad I spent that time making a film instead of counting people and their opinions, because we’re still going strong. Also, making the movie was a little more productive, and people seem to enjoy it. Not to mention that I would have had a difficult time collecting all those pennies, and the bank would have been pissed off at me when I tried to exchange them for large bills.
But, once more, YOU ALL are the ones who bought the tickets. We provided the material, but you took it into your hearts and made it a hit. So THANK YOU, and love to you all (even those of you from whom I’d otherwise be collecting pennies).”
Guardians of the Galaxy is now the top-grossing Marvel Studios movie without Iron Man in it, placing it fifth on the all-time list, at the domestic box office.
