'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2' takes box office with $35.3M
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows won the weekend box office with $35.3 million, according to studio estimates. But it was a shell of its former self.
The sequel fell fall short of 2014's first Ninja Turtles reboot with producer Michael Bay, which opened with $65 million on its way to $493 million at the worldwide box office.
"In 2014, people were running out to see Ninja Turtles out of nostalgia for the past movies and the TV show," says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "But the fans are clearly not as enthusiastic about one movie every two years. This is a lesson for Hollywood, which is suffering with sequels this summer."
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In TMNT2, the sewer-dwelling crime fighters did improve in terms of audience reaction. Moviegoers gave the 2014 version a B grade on CinemaScore, while the 2016 sequel received an A-. But critics still loathed Out of the Shadows, branding it with a lowly 37% approval rating on review aggregate site RottenTomatoes.
The latest installment of the X-Men franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse, earned $22.3 million in its second weekend, bringing it to $116.5 million total.
Romantic drama Me Before You, starring Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke and The Hunger Games' Sam Claflin, had a strong third-place debut with $18.3 million. The modestly budgeted love story based on Jojo Moyes' best-selling novel was strong counterprogramming to the big summer releases.
"Me Before You was a true bright spot in this weekend's box-office derby that clearly struck a chord with audiences looking for something completely different from the typical summer fare," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. "This paid off big."
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Me Before You faltered with critics, receiving a 55% positive rating on RottenTomatoes, but scored an A with devoted audiences on CinemaScore.
Alice Through the Looking Glass took fourth with $10.7 million ($50.8 million total) in its second weekend. The sequel to 2010's Alice in Wonderland has disappointed domestically since opening Memorial Day weekend.
The animated Angry Birds Movie rounded out the top five with $9.8 million. The PG-rated screen adaptation of the popular game app has earned $86.7 million in three weeks.
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping landed out of the top five in its opening weekend, ranking No. 8 with $4.6 million for the pop music mockumentary from the comedy trio known as the Lonely Island (Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer). Even positive reviews and knocks at a Justin Bieber-esque star (played by Samberg) couldn't bring in the audience.
"It's a low opening gross, but I haven't written it off," Dergarabedian says. "This movie could turn into a cult classic eventually on the small screen."
Popstar scored a 78% critical rating on RottenTomatoes and a B with CinemaScore audiences.
Final numbers are expected Monday.