Cowabunga! ‘Ninja Turtles’ bring box-office power

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” sliced off $65 million at the weekend box office.

Paramount Pictures’ comic-book adaptation featuring Megan Fox alongside computer-generated renditions of the pizza-eating, sewer-dwelling superheroes lunged into first place in its debut weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. The action film’s success prompted the studio to announce plans Sunday for a sequel set for June 3, 2016.

Megan Colligan, Paramount’s head of domestic marketing and distribution, said the success of the “Ninja Turtles” reboot was mostly derived from a pair of distinctly different audiences: men who fondly remembered the 1980s and ’90s franchise that spawned a cartoon series, toy line and a live-action film trilogy, and youngsters familiar with a newer Nickelodeon animated TV series.

“It’s odd when you have 25- to 35-year-olds and then 7- to 12-year-olds really excited about the same film,” Colligan said. “The teen audience was actually the one that wasn’t as familiar with the property, so we put a lot of focus on teens. I think we did a great job of getting them out there to see the film, which is so fun, refreshing and unique.”

“Ninja Turtles,” which also stars Will Arnett and William Fichtner, made an additional $28.7 million in international markets such as Russia, Mexico, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan, bringing its worldwide total to $93.7 million.

Marvel Studios’ “Guardians of the Galaxy” slid into second place in its second weekend with $41.5 million, bringing its total domestic haul to $175.9 million. The total worldwide box office for the cosmic romp starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista as members of an intergalactic band of do-gooders stands at $313.2 million. Marvel and “Guardians” distributor Disney revealed last month at San Diego Comic-Con that a follow-up is planned for 2017.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak.

1. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” $65 million.

2. “Guardians of the Galaxy,” $41.5 million.

3. “Into the Storm,” $18 million.

4. “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” $11.1 million.

5. “Lucy,” $9.3 million.

6. “Step Up All In,” $6.5 million.

7. “Hercules,” $5.7 million.

8. “Get on Up,” $5 million.

9. “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” $4.4 million.

10. “Planes: Fire & Rescue,” $2.4 million.

This story was originally published August 10, 2014 at 6:47 PM with the headline "Cowabunga! ‘Ninja Turtles’ bring box-office power."