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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows clobbered its closest rival at the box office over the weekend, earning $35.2 million running at 4,071 theaters, while the other mutants, the X-Men (in X-Men: Apocalypse) earned a mere $22.3 million in 4,153 venues.
Who’d a thunk it? Whenever I think of those four hyper-drive turtles, I wonder who’s laughing their way to the bank. It turns out to be comic writers and artists Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, who were in a goofy mood after an evening of (reportedly) dull TV.
I’d love to say that’s when “genius struck,” but I’m not willing to go that far. That’s when … the killer weed kicked in, perhaps, although I’m not staking my claim on that, either. Anyway, from sillier things empires are hatched. Am I right?
Warner Bros. release Me Before You received a mid-range welcome from U.S. audiences, earning $18.2 million, despite criticism from the so-called “disabled community” who objected to the underlying message (which would spoil the film if I spelled it out). Of course, if that doesn’t work, they could have complained that it’s the sappiest romantic comedy since Love Story. That would have turned the trick.
Following Me Before You is Alice Thorough The Looking Glass, a Disney release that earned $10.6 million in its second weekend. Angry Birds: The Movie, took in $9.7 million, another potential case of weed-inspired genius or doth I protest too much? I say “potential,” of course, because I haven’t a clue whether stoners or not created Angry Birds … I just wouldn’t be surprised if it was true.
Six through 10 includes Captain America: Civil War ($7.5 million), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising ($4.6 million), Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping ($4.6 million), The Jungle Book ($4.2 million), The Nice Guys ($3.5 million).
As is our habit these days, let’s take a walk through the critic’s side of things, going straight to critic survey site Rotten Tomatoes, which gives a broad-based score of critical thinking out there…For the week, let’s just say, you can hear the tomatoes going splat through the night.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows was probably not Oscar material, anyway, but critics said “Pllttt!” as it earned a 35 percent rating. X-Men: Apocalypse was given a less embarrassing score of 48 percent. Me Before You earned an insipid 56 percent, followed by Alice Through The Looking Glass (29 percent), Angry Birds: The Movie (43 percent), Captain America: Civil War (90 percent), Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (63 percent), Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (77 percent), The Jungle Book (94 percent) and The Nice Guys (90 percent).
