The Box Office Record Breakers of 2014

Congratulations to Guardians of the Galaxy, which is 2014's biggest box office winner! The Marvel movie took in $332.6 million this year, leading to a $1 billion month for the movie industry in August. It also earns the title of the biggest opening weekend of any August ever, followed by The Bourne Ultimatum in 2007. Marvel also had a giant win with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which took in $259.8 million, surpassing the original Captain America: The First Avenger and making it the third biggest film of 2014.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1 is still in some theaters, but as of now, it's the second-highest grossing film of 2014, bringing in $289.4 million. Though its opening weekend was the lowest of the Hunger Games films so far, it's still 2014's largest opening weekend, with $123 million.

For a February release, The Lego Movie really nailed it. It brought in $257.8 million, making it the biggest animated movie of 2014 and the fourth-highest grossing movie of the year. It also earned the distinction of being the fourth-largest toy adaptation, behind the first three Transformers movies.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes easily secured the title of the highest earning Apes franchise movie of all time with its $208.5 million haul. It's followed by 2001's Planet of the Apes, which earned $180 million.

Not only did 22 Jump Street earn more than its predecessor, its $191.7 million box office means it's the highest grossing comedy of 2014. As we all know, Channing Tatum is quite pleased with himself.

David Fincher scored his highest-grossing movie of all time with Gone Girl, which earned $165 million and helped lead to the biggest October box office of all time.

On to the bad news! Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return had a huge budget of $70 million but only took in a paltry $8.5 million domestically. It was the worst opening of the year (for a release in over 2,500 theaters) and the eighth worst wide opening ever. Sorry, Dorothy, but you should have stayed in Kansas.

Tyler Perry has a solid fanbase, but the movie mogul had his worst opening weekend ever with The Single Moms Club. With an estimated budget of around $20 million, the movie failed to earn back its cost of production, taking in only $16 million.

Even Joe Manganiello couldn't save Sabotage. The action flick brought in $10.5 million and was Arnold Schwarzenegger's worst opening weekend in almost 30 years. Interestingly, it's followed by The Terminator, so maybe it will go on to become a classic and spawn a bunch of sequels? Maybe not.

Jason Reitman has been having a tough go of it lately. First, Labor Day bombed in January, and now Men, Women & Children is the worst wide opening for a movie released in over 600 theaters of the year. It only earned $706K and was barely a blip on moviegoers' radar this year.

Kellan Lutz's abs cannot carry a movie, and the reviews reflected it. The Legend of Hercules had a budget of $30 million but only earned $18.8 million domestically. In contrast, Hercules, starring Dwayne Johnson, took in $72.2 million later in the year. I guess we know who would win that gladiator battle.

Vampire Academy looked pretty good on paper. It's based on a popular series of vampire-centric YA books, features both action and romance, and has a strong female hero. Unfortunately, the formula fell flat on the big screen, and it only earned $7.8 million — a huge loss given that it took $30 million to make. Twilight, it was not.