Never count the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles out.
Despite mixed reviews from critics and longtime fans, the Michael Bay-produced “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” brought in some serious green at the U.S. box office this past weekend with a haul of $65 million. The film now has a worldwide gross of $93.7 million after just one weekend in theaters. That amount was more than enough for Paramount to confidently approve a sequel to the film, according to Variety.
While “Turtles” didn’t break any box office records, it did fend off Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy,” which many experts didn’t predict.
“‘Guardians’ is a great movie and it’s always tough to come right behind a great movie,” said Megan Colligan, president of domestic marketing and distribution for Paramount, in a statement. “Ultimately we played more like a family film and they played a notch older. … The great thing about summer is the marketplace is able to expand to allow for these two films.”
People may roll their eyes at Michael Bay’s film style, but there is no denying his success. That’s why Paramount is also bringing back Bay’s Platinum Dunes production company to work on the next installment in the franchise. Outside of word that screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec will be returning, there is no confirmation from Variety that director Jonathan Liebesman will be back.
This was yet another big summer for Bay, whose “Transformers: Age of Extinction” brought in more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office. Neither “Transformers” nor “Turtles” impressed critics, but when it actually came time for people to decide on what to see at the movies, it seems like they ignored any bad press either film was getting.
"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2” (or whatever it will finally be called) will hit theaters on June 3, 2016.
