8. Release Date
For summer blockbusters, there are 3 prime months where movies make the most money, and that's May, June and July: those months will bring in over a billion dollars in revenue each without fail, whereas August is where things tend to get a bit more soft, dropping back down to the $600-800 million range. It's fair to say that anywhere Guardians is placed is going to have it facing stiff competition: May has Amazing Spider-Man 2, Godzilla, X-Men: Days of Future Past, A Million Ways to Die in the West and Malificient, June has Edge of Tomorrow, 22 Jump Street, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Transformers 4, and July has Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Hercules: The Thracian Wars. That said, given the film already being a hard sell with audiences, it makes sense to frame it within the biggest potential market. To me, a July 18th release date would make a little more sense: it'd still have Apes to fight off from the week before, but its opponents that week would offer little competition (Jupiter Ascending will probably flop, and Planes is aimed at small children). This is only a 2 week difference, but the figures speak for themselves. Again, here's hoping the trailers show enough promise to draw audiences in regardless.