As expected, the biggest movie of the summer – and as of yesterday, the biggest movie of the year – had no trouble holding on to first place this Labor Day weekend.  Guardians of the Galaxy took in an estimated $16.3 million through Sunday, which gave the blockbuster it’s third box office victory.  Although its wins were not consecutive, the Disney/Marvel pic is the only film to spend three weeks in first place this summer and just the fourth title to three-peat in 2014.

Details after the jump.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the movie that knocked Guardians of the Galaxy out of first place in its sophomore outing, will close the summer in second place.  That makes it the only film besides GotG to spend four consecutive weeks in either first or second place this season.  TMNT has earned a total of $162.4 million in North America, which means a final domestic gross of $175 million is now probable.  Interestingly, that would make it more profitable (at least in North America) than How to Train Your Dragon 2 – the movie that many expected to dominate the summer family scene.

After a second-place debut on Friday, newcomer As Above/So Below fell to fourth place on the weekend chart.  The horror pic is currently outpacing fellow R-rated release The November Man, which ranked sixth for the three day weekend.

After a disastrous debut last weekend, Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame to Kill For was off more than 65% in its second frame.  Sin City 2 is still playing in all of its original 2,894 locations, which gave it an abysmal per-screen average of just $751.  This year has seen worse averages – February’s Vampire Academy, for example – but considering the sequel’s pedigree, it’s hard to imagine a bigger slap in the face to Robert Rodriguez.

Sin City 2’s per-screen average is of special note when considering Cantinflas, the Spanish-language biopic of Mexican actor and writer Mario Moreno that opened in twelfth place this weekend.  The Lionsgate release earned an estimated $2.62 million from just 382 locations, or $6,872 per screen.  That’s not quite as astounding as 2013’s Instructions Not Included, which, as you may recall, was a surprise sensation on Labor Day weekend last year.  The Mexican comedy (also distributed by Lionsgate) opened in fourth place a year ago with $7.8 million from 348 locations – over $22,545 per-screen.

This Labor Day weekend ended up behind 2013’s box office total by over 20% - considering the summer we've just concluded I wouldn't expect any less.  Next weekend is not likely to improve 2014’s numbers, considering no major studio decided to gamble on what is traditionally the lowest grossing weekend of the year by releasing a new title.  That’s good news for Guardians of the Galaxy, though.  Four times on top of the box office is a record even The Avengers couldn't reach.