The return of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles earned $65 million in ticket sales at US and Canadian movie theatres over the weekend, easily winning a box office battle with Marvel’s outer space hit Guardians of the Galaxy.
Ninja Turtles, a reboot of a franchise born in 1980s comic books and popularised in TV cartoons, rang up another $28.7 million in international markets for a global debut of $93.7 million, according to distributor Paramount Pictures which wasted no time in announcing a sequel, set to open on June 3, 2016.
Guardians, which ruled the box office universe a week ago with a record opening for August, collected $41.5 million during its second weekend, according to estimates from research firm Rentrak.
New tornado-chasing thriller Into the Storm landed in the No. 3 slot with $18 million.
Food romance The Hundred-Foot Journey debuted with $11.1 million at domestic theatres, finishing fourth.
The movie stars Helen Mirren as a French restaurateur who feuds with the Indian family that takes over the defunct restaurant across the street.
It was produced by Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks Studios, Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films and Participant Media. Disney distributed the film.