This may have been one of the weakest weekends at the box office this summer, with audiences seemingly avoiding movies new and old like the plague. Even the victories feel a little half-hearted, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows taking number one at the box office while not even coming close to matching the business of the first film. With Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping simply bombing, the only new release to show promise was Me Before You.

FilmWeekendPer Screen
1Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows$35,250,000$8,659$35,250,000
2X-Men: Apocalypse$22,325,000 (-66.1)$5,376$116,498,000
3Me Before You$18,270,000$6,757$18,270,000
4Alice Through the Looking Glass$10,691,000 (-60.2)$2,841$50,772,000
5The Angry Birds Movie$9,775,000 (-47.9)
$2,806$86,677,000
6Captain America: Civil War$7,591,000 (-50.7)$2,461$388,940,000
7Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising$4,700,000 (-49.8)$1,945$48,560,000
8Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping$4,630,000$2,003$4,630,000
9The Jungle Book$4,247,000 (-40.1)$2,134$347,469,000
10The Nice Guys$3,520,000 (-46.0)$1,864$29,120,000

 

That $35 million opening weekend for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles looks perfectly fine out of context, but it’s a huge disappointment when you note that the first film opened to $65 million two years ago. That one went on to make $191 million at the domestic box office — this one will probably have to grow strong legs, and fast, if it wants to break $100 million, and even that won’t be enough. It’s definitely an unfortunate situation for the film, which has received significantly better reviews than its more financially successful — but far more disliked — predecessor.

Me Before You opened in third place with $18 million, which is a strong start for this kind of movie and evidence that well-timed counter-programming can work wonders in the summer. With a reported budget of only $20 million, it should be profitable soon enough and prove to be a minor hit in the long run.

As for the final new release of the weekend, Popstar bombed in eighth place with $4 million. Considering the many strong reviews and some of the people involved, it’s easy to imagine this film pulling a MacGruber and finding its audience after a theatrical run, but right now, it’s dead on arrival.

It also wasn’t a strong weekend for other releases. X-Men: Apocalypse dropped 66 percent and made only $22 million for a current total of $116 million. At this rate, it could struggle to make in its entire run what Captain America: Civil War made in its opening weekend. It won’t come close to matching what X-Men: Days of Future Past made a few years ago. Alice Through the Looking Glass also plummeted, making $10 million for a $50 million gross. It won’t even match what the first film made in its first three days back in 2010.

Elsewhere in the top 10, Captain America edged toward $400 million, The Angry Birds Movie toward $100 million, and The Jungle Book can taste $350 million. All three should reach those milestones by the end of next weekend.

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