Guardians of the Galaxy claimed first place this weekend with an estimated 17.63 million U. S. dollars.

The blockbuster sci-fi superhero adaptation from Marvel returned to first place after finishing in second for the past two weekends. It held up extremely well this weekend, as it was down just 30 percent from last weekend. The film surpassed the 250- million-dollar mark this weekend and has grossed 251.88 million dollars in 24 days, which currently ranks the film as the third highest grossing release of 2014 so far domestically, only behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier and The Lego Movie. And it's set to move into first place of the year within the next week.

After leading the box office for the past two weekends, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fell into second place with an estimated 16.8 million dollars. Paramount's successful franchise re-launch was down a solid 41 percent from last weekend. But it continues to exceed expectations in a big way with 145.61 million dollars through 17 days of release. The film is expected to further stabilize next weekend with the help from the Labor Day holiday.

Warner's If I Stay debuted in third with an estimated 16.36 million dollars and received an encouraging A-rating on CinemaScore. The low-budget drama starring Chloe Grace Moretz opened towards the lower end of pre-release expectations and performed well with its cost in mind. If I Stay opened slightly ahead of the 16.10 million dollars debut of last year's Carrie, which also starred Moretz. Due in part to its different genre and in part to the limited amount of new wide releases over the next few weeks, If I Stay will hope to hold up better going forward than Carrie did.

Let's Be Cops followed in fourth with an estimated 11.0 million dollars. Fox's low-budget action-comedy held up well in its second weekend, as it was down 38 percent from last weekend. Let's Be Cops has grossed 45.25 million dollars in twelve days. And it will likely continue to hold up well thanks to no new comedies entering the marketplace for the next few weeks.

Sony's When the Game Stands Tall rounded out the weekend's top five with an estimated 9.0 million dollars. The low-budget drama from TriStar and AFFIRM Films also opened on the low end of expectations. And it received a promising A-rating on CinemaScore and will have a good chance of holding up well going forward.

Meanwhile, The Expendables 3 only claimed the seventh place with an estimated take of 6.6 million dollars, which dropped a sharp 58 percent and stands at a very disappointing 27.52 million dollars.

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