“Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” was left battered and bruised on Friday at the domestic box office, while “Guardians of the Galaxy” will likely skyrocket back up top, eking out Friday’s victor “If I Stay” by Sunday.

The retro-noir, budgeted between $60 million and $70 million, came in sixth on Friday behind the sports drama “When the Game Stands Tall,” with $2.6 million. It’s on track for dismal $7 million this weekend — less than half the $15 million projected sum.

The sequel comes almost a decade after The Weinstein Co. stuck gold with the original pic. “Sin City” debuted to $29.1 million in 2005 on its way to a $74.1 million domestic total ($158.8 million worldwide). Nine years is evidently too long of a gap in between films for audiences, especially since the franchise no longer has critical support. This second installment earned a 43% fresh rating on the Rotten Tomatoes, while “Sin City” garnered 78%.

Robert Rodriguez’s second adaptation from Frank Miller’s graphic novel series brings back Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson while introducing several newcomers, including Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

“If I Stay” topped the charts on Friday with $6.8 million, but the YA tearjerker stands to fall to second place by weekend’s end. The pic is en route for an estimated $17.7 million, while “Guardians of the Galaxy” stands to gross $17.8 million.

The drama from Warner Bros./New Line and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer — based on Gayle Forman’s hit novel of the same name — couldn’t cast quite the same weeping spell that bewitched the teen girl audience of “The Fault in Our Stars” earlier this summer. Despite its success, “If I Stay” won’t come close to the numbers scored by Fox’s “TFIOS,” an adaptation of John Green’s best-seller, which opened to a higher-than-anticipated $48 million in early June.

“If I Stay,” which marks R.J. Cutler’s feature directorial debut, centers on a teen (Chloë Grace Moretz) who falls in a coma after a car accident. She floats between life and death, and must decide whether to live and stay with her boyfriend, or die and join her family in an afterlife.

If estimates hold, “If I Stay” will outperform Moretz’s last two pics, Kimberly Peirce’s “Carrie” reimagining and Jeff Wadlow’s comedy actioner “Kick-Ass 2,” which debuted to $16.1 million in October 2013 and $13.3 million in August 2013, respectability.

The last new release, Sony’s sports drama “When the Game Stands Tall,” came in fifth behind “Guardians of the Galaxy,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Let’s Be Cops” ($3.2 million). The inspirational pic earned $3 million and looks to score just north of $9 million in its debut.

The movie is based on the true story of Bob Ladouceur (played by Jim Caviezel), the high school football coach behind a Northern California high school’s record-breaking 151-game winning streak.

Meanwhile, “Guardians of the Galaxy” shows no signs of slowing down on its way to becoming summer’s top domestic film. Disney-Marvel’s intergalactic pic made $4.8 million on Friday and is on track for $17.8 million in its fourth weekend. It crossed the $200 million mark last Friday and stands to gross $252 million by Sunday.