The turtles beat down the Guardians

NEW YORK/ LOS ANGELES:

A reboot of famous comic book and television series, the film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TMNT), has garnered a whopping $65 million in theatres across Canada and the United States, toppling Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy at the box office.

According to Paramount Pictures, TMNT managed to gather another $28.7 million in the international market, making their global debut worth $93.7 million. The total cost of making the film rounded off to $125 million.

In the previous week, Guardians of the Galaxy reigned over the box office with collections that amounted to $41.5 million during its second week. Subsequently, film forecasters had predicted that it would give stiff competition to TMNT.

But the hard-shelled heroes fought all expectations and managed a domestic total of nearly $40 million. “This exceeded all our expectations,” said Megan Colligan, head of domestic marketing and distribution at Paramount Pictures.



The film stars Megan Fox playing the role of a reporter who befriends the four pizza-loving turtle heroes, living in the sewers and fight crime in New York City. Although the film’s fanbase was expected to comprise 25 to 35 year olds, its performance at the box office is testament to its raving success among different age groups. “Families came out in a very big way,” while teenagers were drawn to the film’s incredible action sequences,” explained Colligan.

Meanwhile, Guardians of the Galaxy, according to distributor Walt Disney Co, reached $313 million. Starring Chris Pratt and Zoe Saldana as galactic warriors, the film revolves around them leading a team of misfits including a talking raccoon and human-like tree.

According to research firm Rentrak, this season remains 16.5 per cent behind 2013’s box-office record rate despite the fact that the two films gave summer sales a late boost. Ranking third on the weekend box office is Time Warner Inc’s Warner Bros’ Into the Storm. The film, which revolves around a place in a fictional Midwest town that is hit by the strongest tornadoes ever seen, earned $18 million.

The Hundred-Foot Journey finished fourth with $11.1 million, a food romance about a French restaurateur who feuds with the Indian family that takes over the defunct restaurant across the street. Produced by DreamWork’s studio and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films, the film was distributed by Disney.

Step Up All In, released by Lion’s Gate Entertainment is the fifth instalment in the Step Up film series. Earning $6.6 million in the US and Canadian theatres, the music-drama ended up securing the sixth spot at the box office.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 12^th, 2014.

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