If you ever needed a reason to take “expert” box office projections with a grain of salt, observe how “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” performed at this weekend’s box office.
Originally projected to earn a modest $40 million in its debut weekend, “TMNT” earned an upgraded forecast when it performed well in midnight showings Thursday.
Still, even with awareness of that successful midnight launch, the gurus were still banking on a weekend gross of only $45 million.
That guess was way off.
Based on the latest estimates, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” actually earned $65.0 million this weekend to obliterate the competition and claim #1.
“Guardians of the Galaxy,” which analysts believed had a strong chance of repeating at #1 this week, settled for second with $41.5 million.
New releases “Into the Storm” and “The Hundred-Foot Journey” followed with $18.0 million and $11.1 million, respectively. “Lucy” landed in fifth with $9.3 million.
“Step Up All In,” another newcomer, was good for sixth place with just $6.6 million.
