TORONTO — Cowabunga, dude! Three decades after their comic book debut, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles raked in an estimated $65 million over the weekend to take the top spot at the box office.
The reptilian reboot starring Megan Fox and Toronto’s Will Arnett bumped last weekend’s box office champ, Guardians of the Galaxy, to second place. It earned $41.5 million in it sophomore weekend, according to studio estimates.
Guardians has so far earned $313 million worldwide.
The first big screen Ninja Turtles adaptation opened in 1990 with $25.4 million and went on to earn over $200 million.
Paramount, the studio behind the new Ninja Turtles, announced over the weekend that a sequel will be released June 3, 2016.
Into The Storm opened in third place with $18 million. (In comparison, Twister opened in 1996 with $41 million.)
Another new entry, The Hundred-Foot Journey starring Helen Mirren and Montreal’s Charlotte Le Bon, ranked fourth with $11 million. The movie is co-produced by Hollywood powerhouses Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey.
The Scarlett Johansson thrilled Lucy placed finished in the No. 5 position, pulling in $9.3 million.
Step Up All In, written by John Swetnam — the same screenwriter behind Into The Storm — flopped with a $6.6 million opening.
The rest of the Top 10 consisted of Hercules ($5.7 million), Get On Up ($5 million), Dawn of the Planet of the Apes ($4.4 million) and Planes: Fire & Rescue ($2.4 million).
James Cameron’s Deepsea Challenge 3D, which opened in only 304 theatres, earned a disappointing average of just under $500 per screen.
And the made-in-Toronto romantic comedy What If (titled The F Word outside of the U.S.) starring Daniel Radcliffe managed only $130,000 on 20 screens. It’s set for a wide release on Aug. 22.
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