A couple of months ago, people were talking about the mammoth gamble that Disney and Marvel were taking on “Guardians of the Galaxy,” their $170 million sci-fi space opera based on B-level comic book characters that most people had never heard of.
No one is talking about that big risk anymore. The question now is, how large will the payoff be?
Tracking has “Guardians” opening at $65 million, though most analysts believe it will top $70 million, which would make it the biggest August opening ever. It will be in 4,080 theaters, the widest North American rollout ever in August.