Cowabunga! “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” has taken the box office by storm, raking in approximately $65 million in North America. The film directed by Jonathan Liebesman surpassed expectations with market experts initially predicting that the heroes in a half shell is set to take between $40 to $50 million only. People above 25 years old responded extremely well to the movie reboot of the 80’s cult animated adaptation. Casting Megan Fox as April may also have contributed to some male fans making additional efforts to see the pic!
Also see: First Trailer for ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Has Arrived
‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ poster
The masked heroes also posted the fourth biggest August opener on record, which supports Paramounts’ campaign to introduce a sequel even before the first installment was released. The followup was officially announced even before the official total box office cume was revealed.
President of Paramount’s film group, Adam Goodman, said in an statement:
“Launching a new take on the Turtles into the feature film world was a daunting task because as fans of them ourselves, we felt a great responsibility to ensure audiences were going to experience everything they loved about the Turtles, while also getting to see them brought to life in a way they had never been seen before,”
“The result exceeded our high expectations and the response to the film is beyond great, making it all the more fun to get started on the continuation of their story.”
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2” is set to be released on June 3, 2016. “Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol” scribes Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec are tapped to pen the sequel and executive produce the film. Michael Bay, Andrew Form and Brad Fuller will return to produce along with Galen Walker and Scott Mednick. Liebesman has not been confirmed to return behind lens for the sequel.
Let’s have a quick look at the rest of the box office chart. Last week’s top contender, “Guardians of the Galaxy” slips down to second place, adding an estimated $41.5 million. Thriller “Into the Storm (2014)” debuts to a disappointing $18 million in third place, followed by another newcomer in the charts, “The Hundred-Foot Journey” with $11.1 million. The top 5 is rounded up with Scarlett Johansson’s “Lucy”, sliding down three placed from last week with an estimated $9.3 million.
Quick look at the top-grossing pictures in North American theaters, courtesy of Box Office Mojo
- “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” – $65 Million
- “Guardians of the Galaxy” – $41.5 million
- “Into the Storm (2014)” – $18 million
- “The Hundred-Foot Journey” – $11.1 million
- “Lucy” – $9.3 million
- “Step Up All In” – $6.6 million
- “Hercules” – $5.7 million
- “Get on Up” – $5 million
- “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” – $4.4 million
- “Planes: Fire & Rescue” – $2.4 million
Additional source: mtv.com
