Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are giving the lagging 2014 summer box office season a jolt of adrenaline on the heels of Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy doing the same only a week ago. What was a toss up between TMNT and Guardians for box office supremacy entering the weekend turned into a blowout once the Friday box office results were reported.
Weekend box office estimates for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were bumped $5 to $10 million after the reboot from producer Michael Bay and starring Megan Fox earned $4.6 million at Thursday night screenings. Other notable films that had similar Thursday night numbers, Maleficent and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, each enjoyed opening weekends north of $60 million.
Paramount’s revised weekend estimates for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were raised to $44-$50 million, and that range was way off the mark. Turtles put up an impressive $25.6 million on Friday and will now most certainly clear $60 million through Sunday. It could even top $65 million if the Sunday drop-off isn’t too substantial. So much for Paramount’s revised estimates.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy took a dive on Saturday of 67 percent from the previous weekend or right in line with the typical Marvel drop-off. As a result, Guardians is in track for a little north of $40 million through Sunday and definitely lost some ticket sales to the success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles that draws from the same demographic.
Another newcomer, the Twister-esque Into the Storm, stirred up $6.5 million on Sunday. It should wind down the weekend around $15 million, a far cry from the $41 million opening weekend Twister scored for Warner Bros. back in 1996.
The full weekend box office estimates that will determine approximately where Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles wrapped up its three-day opening weekend will come online Sunday afternoon.
