BOX OFFICE: (Shell) Shocker! TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES Likely To Open With $60M
Despite initially being expected to open with between $40 - $50 million (meaning it would have had some stiff competition from Guardians of the Galaxy), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles now looks set to easily take the top spot with an impressive $60 million...
Variety reports that a strong Friday for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could see the Michael Bay produced reboot easily take the #1 spot at the North American box office this weekend. Initial estimates had the movie opening in the $45 million range, and with Guardians of the Galaxy expected to earn that much during its second week as well, the battle for first place looked set to be a close one. However, with a Friday somewhere in the $19 - $25 million range, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles could now earn as much as $60 million by close of business on Sunday.
Last weekend, Guardians of the Galaxy took roughly $30 million more than analysts believed, so the fact that the numbers are now looking so different shouldn't come as a huge surprise (and tracking is notoriously unreliable). Not finishing at #1 is no great shame for the James Gunn helmed Marvel movie, as we always knew that this reboot would pose a serious threat. By the weekend, Guardians should be closing in on $200 million domestically, and with little competition overseas, Star-Lord and his team will be adding a healthy amount to its current haul over the next few days. Of course, it wasn't too long ago that analysts said Captain America: The Winter Soldier wouldn't beat Rio 2, so stay tuned, as some surprises could still be in store. What do you guys think?
About The Author:
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.
While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is CBM's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).
Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.