Box Office Milestone: 'Guardians of the Galaxy' Crosses $600M Worldwide

On Friday, the quirky tentpole became the first film of 2014 to hit $300 million in North America

Marvel Studios and Disney's Guardians of the Galaxy has cleared the $600 million mark at the worldwide box office, following its equally remarkable achievement of becoming the top film of the summer in North America.

On Friday, the quirky tentpole hit $300 million at the troubled domestic box office, becoming the first film of the year to achieve that milestone. Internationally, Guardians cleared the $300 million mark on Saturday, pushing its total past $600 million.

Worldwide, Paramount and Michael Bay's Age of Extinction remains the year's leader by far, with a global gross of $1.077 billion. Guardians ranks No. 8 but is poised to overtake How to Train Your Dragon 2 ($605.6 million).

From director James Gunn, Guardians of the Galaxy has pulled off the biggest box-office surprise of the year. Heading into summer, no one predicted that the movie would emerge the victor in North America. Opening Aug. 1, Guardians, praised for its originality, amazed with a record domestic debut and continued to impress from there.

Among superhero films, Guardians has eclipsed the global grosses of fellow Marvel titles Iron Man ($585 million), Thor ($449 million) and Captain America: The First Avenger ($371 million). The list is more impressive in North America, where it has now exceeded a raft of titles, including Man of Steel ($291 million), The Amazing Spider-Man ($262 million), Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($259 million), X-Men: Days of Future Past ($232 million), Thor: The Dark World ($206 million) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($203 million).

Featuring a ragtag group of unlikely galactic heroes, Guardians stars Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Lee Pace and Bradley Cooper, who voices the role of Rocket Raccoon. Vin Diesel, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close and Benicio Del Toro also star.

Guardians wasn't a cheap proposition, costing $170 million to produce. Marvel and Disney have already announced plans for a July 28, 2017, sequel, with Gunn returning to direct.

Internationally, Guardians has exceeded the total cumes of The Wolverine ($282 million), Thor ($268 million), Iron Man ($267 million) and Captain America: The First Avenger ($194 million).