Guardians Of the Galaxy tops US box office with 145 million dollar debut

Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2 is the number one film in America after taking an estimated $145 million (£111.6 million).

Director James Gunn’s second Guardians film opened 54% higher than the first instalment in 2014.

That release, which introduced the intergalactic band of misfits played by Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper, debuted with $94 million (£72.4 million) in its first weekend.

In two weeks of international release, the film has also made $269 million (£207.1 million) overseas.

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The gap between first and second at the US box office was immense.

The Fate Of The Furious was second with $8.5 million in its fourth weekend.

The Universal release, the eighth instalment in the franchise, has grossed $1.6 billion worldwide.