Guardians shows Marvel's screen muscle

Guardians of the Galaxy blasted past expectations at the weekend box office.

Marvel Studios' cosmic romp starring Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana as members of an intergalactic band of rebels earned $94 million in its debut weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Ahead of its Friday debut, box-office analysts initially projected that the comic-book adaptation would earn between $60 million and $75 million in North America.

The launch gives Guardians the biggest opening for an August film, a record previously held by the $69.2 million debut of 2007's The Bourne Ultimatum. It also makes Guardians the third-largest opening of 2014, coming behind the $95 million inauguration of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and the $100 million launch of Transformers: Age of Extinction.