As Barbenheimer continues to dominate the box office (she’s everything — he’s just become death, the destroyer of worlds), the enthusiastically reviewed franchise revamp Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem is ready to throwdown in theaters. Preview night screenings Tuesday earned the Paramount Pictures/Nickelodeon Movies/Point Grey animated feature $3.85 million.
Box office watchers are predicting the new Turtles adventure — directed by The Mitchells vs. the Machines co-helmer Jeff Rowe, co-directed by Kyler Spears, with Seth Rogen heartily involved as a writer, executive producer and voice star — will make between $30M and $40M over its first five days in release. The movie was reportedly produced for $70M.
In addition to some early cash returns, Mutant Mayhem can bank on good word of mouth from early audiences, who have reviewed it at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, in line with the 95% critics’ rating on the Tomatometer — an exact tie with Sony’s Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for the best reviewed animated movie of the year. The Turtles officially hit theaters today (Weds., August 2) in approximately 3,800 domestic locations, following exclusive Sneak Preview and Early Access Fan Event screenings on Saturday and Monday, plus an advance taste at Comic-Con.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opens in 24 markets this week, including Germany and the United Kingdom.
To further promote the release, Paramount partnered with Snapchat, Snapchat Lens creator Brielle Garcia (creator of another TMNT Lens), and digital agency Pretty Big Monster (PBM) to develop a new TMNT Mutant Mayhem AR Lens.
Built with Snap AR’s 3D Body Tracking technology, this Lens transforms your whole body into any of the four turtle brothers, Mikey, Leo, Raph or Donnie — each with their own movie-accurate height, build, accessories and catchphrases. The technology allows an immersive experience that follows your body movement in real time, and flip to the rear-facing camera to transform your friends.
Fans can also check out the new “It’s Called Mutant Mayhem” Featurette , introducing the wonderful weirdos lurking in the shadows of the movie’s New York City. The video drop was combined with the news that YouTube celebrity MrBeast has joined the voice cast in his first-ever film role, as “Times Square Guy.”
[Sources: Paramount, Deadline]
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