‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Sequel Announced Despite Original Fans Unfavorable Reviews
The Michael Bay produced Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie surprised the box office this weekend with a $65 million debut in the United States. This made Paramount Pictures happy enough to go ahead and announce a sequel on Sunday.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 will be released to theater on June 3, 2016, according to a Variety report. Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes will produce the film once again, and screenwriters Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec will both return to continue the story of the four teenage brothers who also happen to be mutants, ninjas, and turtles.
‘TMNT’ Debuts to $65 Million, Sequel Announced http://t.co/CT8Mlgxm5q
— Variety (@Variety) August 10, 2014
CinemaScore currently has Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ranked with a B score. However, Deadline reports that there’s a pretty sharp divide between older fans of the series and younger movies goers. Those under 18 gave Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles an A score, but it received a C+ from those between the ages of 25 and 35. This older group grew up watching the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoons and possibly even read the comic books. This movie reboot shredded some of the original origin story, though not as badly as originally conceived.
For those that don’t know, CinemaScore ratings are exit polls given to movie goers and used by the movie industry to predict trends in a film’s longevity or to help plan for upcoming films. It’s not always indicative of a film’s success though as films that are graded an A can sometimes tank at the box office and films that are graded a C can sometimes take off. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles combination of A rating from those under the age of 18 and exceeding the projected $40 million weekend was a clear sign to Paramount that this is a franchise to keep producing movies for.
Can anyone heal the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles generational divide? http://t.co/zE0dwe6NCH pic.twitter.com/orGyRPyXIK
— N’Gai Croal (@ncroal) August 9, 2014
It also helps that Michael Bay still has the magic touch when it comes to quickly producing movies that don’t review well, but still make tons of money. Transformers: Age of Extinction is still the highest-grossing film of the summer. However, 2014 summer movie revenues are down approximately 18 percent from the year before. This is thanks in large part to a huge turnout in overseas markets such as China.
As for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles themselves, the next question is where does Bay and Paramount go with the franchise? Do they embrace the weirdness of the originals with characters like the alien Krang and mutant thugs Bebop and Rocksteady? Or do they come up with original enemies?
What do you want to see in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sequel? Let us know in the comments below.
[Image via Paramount Pictures]
