Final Box Office: 'Ninja Turtles' Stuns With $65 Million Opening
Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies have successfully launched what could be a new tentpole franchise, as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles stunned at the weekend box office with a $65 million opening. Even more impressively, the movie opened to a worldwide gross of $97.3 million, leading to the immediate announcement of a sequel to be released in two years.
The movie surprised pundits by upsetting last week's No. 1, Guardians of the Galaxy, to take the top spot. However, it's not as though the second weekend has been a failure for Marvel, as Guardians of the Galaxy only saw a 56 percent decline, raking in $41.5 million to bring its North American haul to $175.9 million. In worldwide ticket sales, the movie surpassed is now at an impressive $313.2 million.
In addition to the strong showing from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, two other newcomers exploded into the Top 5. Disaster movie Into the Storm took in $18 million to come in at No. 3, besting brand new prestige drama The Hundred-Foot Journey, which came in at No. 4 with $11.1 million. Both were strong enough to best the weekend's fourth debut, Step Up All In, which opened to a franchise low of $6.6 million. That said, the movie is at least recovering some of its money overseas, as its $37.7 million international gross brings the movie to a worldwide total of $44.2 million for the weekend. Still, the movie missed out on a Top 5 berth due to the $9.9 million gross this weekend for Lucy, which continues to do solid business. It is now just shy of crossing the $100 million threshold, as Lucy has brought in $97.4 million since its opening three weeks ago.
Check out the full Top 10 for the weekend box office below:
1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ($65 million)
2. Guardians of the Galaxy ($41.5 million)
3. Into the Storm ($18 million)
4. The Hundred-Foot Journey ($11.1 million)
5. Lucy ($9.3 million)
6. Step Up All In ($6.6 million)
7. Hercules ($5.7 million)
8. Get On Up ($5 million)
9. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($4.4 million)
10. Planes: Fire & Rescue ($2.4 million)
Credit: Paramount Pictures / Nickelodeon Movies