Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows’ Leads a Lackluster Weekend
This may have been one of the weakest weekends at the box office this summer, with audiences seemingly avoiding movies new and old like the plague. Even the victories feel a little half-hearted, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows taking number one at the box office while not even coming close to matching the business of the first film. With Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping simply bombing, the only new release to show promise was Me Before You.
| Film | Weekend | Per Screen | ||
| 1 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows | $35,250,000 | $8,659 | $35,250,000 |
| 2 | X-Men: Apocalypse | $22,325,000 (-66.1) | $5,376 | $116,498,000 |
| 3 | Me Before You | $18,270,000 | $6,757 | $18,270,000 |
| 4 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | $10,691,000 (-60.2) | $2,841 | $50,772,000 |
| 5 | The Angry Birds Movie | $9,775,000 (-47.9) | $2,806 | $86,677,000 |
| 6 | Captain America: Civil War | $7,591,000 (-50.7) | $2,461 | $388,940,000 |
| 7 | Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising | $4,700,000 (-49.8) | $1,945 | $48,560,000 |
| 8 | Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping | $4,630,000 | $2,003 | $4,630,000 |
| 9 | The Jungle Book | $4,247,000 (-40.1) | $2,134 | $347,469,000 |
| 10 | The Nice Guys | $3,520,000 (-46.0) | $1,864 | $29,120,000 |
That $35 million opening weekend for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles looks perfectly fine out of context, but it’s a huge disappointment when you note that the first film opened to $65 million two years ago. That one went on to make $191 million at the domestic box office — this one will probably have to grow strong legs, and fast, if it wants to break $100 million, and even that won’t be enough. It’s definitely an unfortunate situation for the film, which has received significantly better reviews than its more financially successful — but far more disliked — predecessor.
Me Before You opened in third place with $18 million, which is a strong start for this kind of movie and evidence that well-timed counter-programming can work wonders in the summer. With a reported budget of only $20 million, it should be profitable soon enough and prove to be a minor hit in the long run.
As for the final new release of the weekend, Popstar bombed in eighth place with $4 million. Considering the many strong reviews and some of the people involved, it’s easy to imagine this film pulling a MacGruber and finding its audience after a theatrical run, but right now, it’s dead on arrival.
It also wasn’t a strong weekend for other releases. X-Men: Apocalypse dropped 66 percent and made only $22 million for a current total of $116 million. At this rate, it could struggle to make in its entire run what Captain America: Civil War made in its opening weekend. It won’t come close to matching what X-Men: Days of Future Past made a few years ago. Alice Through the Looking Glass also plummeted, making $10 million for a $50 million gross. It won’t even match what the first film made in its first three days back in 2010.
Elsewhere in the top 10, Captain America edged toward $400 million, The Angry Birds Movie toward $100 million, and The Jungle Book can taste $350 million. All three should reach those milestones by the end of next weekend.
