'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' Wins Box Office Weekend,'Guardians of the Galaxy' Could Be Biggest Movie of 2014
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" surprised at the box office and beat out "Guardians of the Galaxy."
After three months of disappointing summer blockbusters, the month of August has begun with two huge hits. This weekend, "TMNT" made a surprising $65 million and now holds the fourth-highest August opening ever. Pundits estimated that the feature would open with $40 million and that reviews would hurt the film's box office. However, the franchise's large fan base and Paramount Pictures' strong marketing had greater impact. After having had a tenacious opening the studio already announced a second installment for 2016 and this latest film looks to be one of the surprise hits of the year.
In second place, "Guardians of the Galaxy continued to play strongly as it made another $41.5 million. The 56 percent drop was on par with recent Marvel films "Thor: The Dark World," and "Captain America: The Winter Soldier." However, the film has already made $175 million and is now on track to top the $260 million mark and become the highest grossing film of the year.
"Into the Storm" also overperformed as it made $18 million. While it is not a great opening weekend for an effects-heavy film, it performed better than analysts had expected. "Into the Storm" is unlikely to become the box office smash hit that "The Day After Tomorrow" or "Twister" were, but it should easily make back its $50 million budget.
Helen Mirren's "The Hundred-Foot Journey" had a modest opening and made $11 million. The feature, however, failed to meet the heights similar cooking dramas "Julie and Julia" and "Eat Pray Love." The film should hold up for a number of weeks if word-of-mouth is good.
Rounding out the top five was "Lucy," which continued to play strongly as it only dropped 48.9 percent and made $9.3 million. To date, the film has already made $97 million and is likely to pass the $100 million during the week.
In sixth place, the new entry "Step Up: All In" failed to impress and made $6.5 million. The opening is the worst in the franchise up to this point and it also looks like the film will also rank as its worst grossing movie by the end of its run. Lionsgate is hoping for good international sales to meet its budget. However, it is unlikely a sixth feature will be released after these disastrous results.
In its third weekend, "Hercules" made another $5.7 million and brought its gross to $63 million. Meanwhile, "Get On Up" flopped in its second weekend as it had a 63 percent drop and made $5 million. After two weeks, the feature has made a weak $22.9 million.
In art house cinemas, "A Most Wanted Man" continued to do solid business after expanding nationwide. The film made in another $2.2 million and brought its total to $10 million. It now ranks as the third-highest grossing Roadside Attractions film and if the film continues to play strongly, it is likely to end its run with $20 million.
IFC Films' "Boyhood" also continued its successful run as it brought in another $2 million. The feature has already made $10 million in four weeks and IFC Films is planning on expanding the film nationwide in time for Labor Day Weekend.
Sony Pictures Classic's "Magic in the Moonlight" hit the $2 million mark after having made $804,000 in 170 theaters. The Woody Allen feature continues to perform solidly but it seems it is not resonating as much as some of his more recent films like "Blue Jasmine" and "Midnight in Paris."
Daniel Radcliffe's latest "What If" opened in 20 theaters to disappointing results. The romantic comedy only made $130,000 for an average of $6,500 per theaters. CBS Films is planning an expansion next weekend as it hopes Radcliffe's name will sell to the mainstream.