Three new releases for this weekend’s box couldn’t make their presence felt as Guardians of The Galaxy enjoyed another weekend atop the pile. Sin City 2: A Dame To Kill For, The Game Stands Tall and If I Stay all disappointed.

Sin CitySin City 2, starring Joseph Gordon Levitt

The penultimate weekend of the summer saw one of the season’s biggest hits reign supreme once more as the hugely popular Marvel franchise, Guardians of The Galaxy pulled in $17.6 million in its fourth weekend for a domestic total of $251.9 million – it won’t be long before it becomes the biggest domestic film of the year ahead of another Marvel property, Captain America: The Winter solider. Globally. GOTG has reached something just shy of $490m.

More: 'Sin City 2' Goes Deeper, Darker, Meaner 

For Sin City 2, the numbers haven’t been anywhere near as kind. In with $6.5 million, 10% of its reported budget, the Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez sequel didn’t manage anything near its potential, leaving room for criticism over the time between this follow up and the first film, which opened to the tune of $30m almost a decade ago. Too long, some industry experts are opining. 

"We stand behind the film, and Robert is a member of the Weinstein family. We never expected this level of rejection. It's like the ice bucket challenge without the good cause, and is a major disappointment," said TWC distribution chief Erik Lomis of the film, which stars Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson and Mickey Rourke.

More: Could 'If I Stay' Beat 'Sin City 2' To Box-Office Top Spot?

Chloe Moretz's new release "If I Stay" – which was expected to win the weekend with at least $18 million - ended up in third place. It took $16.8 million, and, considering it cost $11 million to make, there won’t be pandemonium. Another low-budget, low-risk new release, When The Game Stands Tall, also pulled in a meagre amount. $9m saw it land in fifth.