‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Drops Almost 50% from Reboot
Despite more favorable reviews than the 2014 reboot, Turtle Power wasn’t with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows this weekend, as the sequel opened to an estimated $35.3 million. That’s little over half of the $65.6 million debut for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2014.
While it’s no surprise Out of the Shadows would not outperform the 2014 film, the massive drop is becoming an alarming trend for sequels. Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising dropped 56% from its previous film, down $49 million to $21.7 millon a few weeks ago. The same fate happened to last week’s Alice Through the Looking Glass, which only pulled in $26.9 million opening weekend compared to the 2010 film’s massive $116.1 million haul. Even with fan favorites like Krang, Bebop and Rocksteady added into the mix, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel is another example of an underperforming follow-up. With a loaded slate this Friday (The Conjuring 2, Now You See Me 2 and Warcraft), the marketplace might be a bit too crowded for the mutant brothers, ultimately leading to a frontloaded run.
Dropping one spot from last week, X-Men: Apocalypse continues to fall hard in its second weekend with $22.3 million. Down 66%, Apocalypse fell on par with X-Men: The Last Stand’s -66% post-Memorial Day sophomore frame in 2006. Fortunately, it’s not as a quick burn as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which fell over 69% its second weekend and has yet to pull off a 2x multiplier. While not as strong as 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which ended up over $230 million domestically, Apocalypse may still toy with a $150 million run, finishing roughly around the first X-Men movie in 2000.
Newcomer Me Before You claimed third place with $18.2 million. Starring Game of Thrones’ Emilia Clarke and The Hunger Games franchise’s Sam Claflin, Me Before You played decently to the female demographic, who aren’t interested in superhero films or mutant turtles. While not a groundbreaking haul, Me Before You was able to hang with the favorable and leggy The Age of Adaline ($13.2 million) and If I Stay ($15.7 million). Both films managed to capture a 3x multiplier and with zero demographic competition in the coming weeks plus positive reviews, Me Before You could do so as well. Outside their respective franchises, Clarke and Claflin have yet to draw audiences in on starpower alone. That shouldn’t put a damper on this film’s success though.
Dropping two spots to fourth place is Disney’s Johnny Deep-driven sequel, Alice Through the Looking Glass. After a incredibly disappointing debut over Memorial Day weekend, Alice declined 60% to $10.7 million, bringing its 10-day total to $50.8 million. At this point in its run, it safe to say that Alice will not pass the century mark, following the likes of many other recent Disney live-action properties (Tomorrowland, The Lone Ranger, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, John Carter). $75 million seems to be an optimistic prediction for Alice’s finish. The 2010 film managed that in its first two days of release.
Rounding out the charts this weekend is Sony’s The Angry Birds Movie, which made another $9.8 million in its third frame. Despite no other animated films out there, Rovio app adaptation isn’t able to perform like other May animated films. In comparison, 2006’s Over the Hedge and 2000’s Dinosaur flirted with sub 30% drops their first couple of weeks. However, The Angry Birds Movie continues to face 50% drops every week. When Finding Dory swims into theaters in two weeks, The Angry Birds Movie will be launching its last few birds.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows debuted a few notches above my $30 million prediction. Me Before You did the same, scoring a few millon higher than my $14 million projection from Friday.
Note: These #’s are based on Sunday’s projections and can change with Monday’s actual #’s.
#1 – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (NR)
$35.3 million / $35.3 million total
#2 – X-Men: Apocalypse (1)
$22.3 million / $116.5 million total
#3 – Me Before You (NR)
$18.3 million / $18.3 million total
#4 – Alice Through the Looking Glass (2)
$10.7 million / $50.8 million total
#5 – The Angry Birds Movie (3)
$9.8 million / $86.7 million total
Opening Next Week: The Conjuring 2, Now You See Me 2, Warcraft
Source: Box Office Mojo
