Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles debuted with an outstanding $65 million domestically and $97.3 million globally over the weekend.
The action-adventure film earned a B CinemaScore and defeated Guardians of the Galaxy for the top spot at the box office, while also scoring the title for the fourth-biggest August debut in history. It joins The Bourne Ultimatum ($69.3 million), Rush Hour 2 ($67.4 million), and Guardians ($94.3 million). In its second week, Guardians fell 56 percent taking in $41.5 million for a domestic total of $175.9 million.
“Guardians is a great movie and it’s always tough to come right behind a great movie,” said Megan Colligan, president of domestic marketing and distribution for Paramount. “Ultimately we played more like a family film and they played a notch older. … The great thing about summer is the marketplace is able to expand to allow for these two films.”
Directed by Jonathan Liebesman, TMNT stars Megan Fox, Will Arnett, William Fichtner, Danny Woodburn, Abby Elliott, Noel Fisher, Jeremy Howard, Pete Ploszek, Alan Ritchson and Minae Noji. It is based on the characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.
“To know moviegoers are embracing the Turtles with such enthusiasm is everything that we and all our filmmakers have been hoping for. Along with our partners Michael Bay and Platinum Dunes, and of course Cyma Zarghami and everyone at Nickelodeon, we are thrilled with this weekend’s result, the enduring power of this franchise, and the opportunity to make another one,” said Paramount chief Brad Grey.
With the incredible success of the family friendly film, Grey and producer Michael Bay have already announced plans for a sequel to hit theaters June 3, 2016.
Coming in third place at the box office is director Steven Quale’s tornado film Into the Storm with a disappointing $18 million when it premiered across 3,434 screens this weekend.
In fourth place is DreamWorks’ The Hundred-Foot Journey, about dueling French and Indian chefs, which opened to $11.2 million in 2,023 theaters and earned an A CinemaScore from moviegoers. The film was directed by Lasse Hallstrom and was based on the book by Richard C. Morais.
Scarlett Johansson’s drug-enhanced thriller film Lucy held fifth place with $9.3 million and now stands at $97.4 million domestically. Following is Summit Entertainment’s Step Up All In, the fifth installment in the dance franchise, which debuted to $6.6 million in 2,072 locations.
See what films made the top 10 list at the box office this weekend by clicking “Next”!
