Turtles surprise and surpass ‘Guardians’
The half-shell heroes run away with $65M
It should come as no shock when a tortoise wins a race, but those mutant turtles continue to surprise.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the fifth installment of the kids’ franchise, stunned Guardians of
the Galaxy over the weekend by dethroning the superhero squadron after just one week at No. 1.
Turtles shelled the box office for $65 million, according to studio estimates from ticket sales firm Rentrak.
The debut shattered analysts’ expectations, which had hovered around $45 million.
But the half-shell heroes have made a career upending expectations and befuddling critics, who have hammered the series since it hit movie screens in 1990. Not that it has mattered: In nearly 25 years, no Teenage Mutant Nin
ja Turtles film has opened below No. 1.
The debut prompted distributor Paramount Pictures to announce a sequel, Teenage Mutant
Nina Turtles 2, which will hit theaters June 3, 2016.
“As silly as the idea of pizza-obsessed reptilian warriors may be, the quartet is iconic, claiming a rare level of public awareness,” says David Mumpower, analyst for Box Office Prophets.
Despite scoring a thumbs-up from just 20% of the nation’s critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes, the movie earned a collective B from moviegoers, says pollsters Cinema-Score. More important, the movie earned an A from children, says distributor Paramount Pictures.
Fond memories probably played a part in the film’s success: The studio says 55% of moviegoers were 25 or older, a surprisingly mature demographic. Not so surprisingly, 61% of the audience was male, Paramount says. “The film obviously had greater-than-expected appeal to nostalgic parents,” says Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian.
That took a big chunk of the fanboy base from Guardians, which held up well with $41.5 million in its second weekend but couldn’t manage a repeat performance at No. 1. The disaster thriller Into the
Storm took third place with $18.1 million, meeting most expectations.
The $22 million Helen Mirren food film The Hundred-Foot Jour
ney also met most of its modest expectations, taking fourth place with $11.1 million. Scarlett Johansson’s thriller
Lucy rounded out the top five with $9.3 million. Final figures are due today.