MCS - 'Barbie' rolls on with Turtles Megalodon taking their turn at the movies

2023-08-04 16:40:24 ET

It's Barbie's world, and mutant turtles and prehistoric shark-beasts are just living in it.

That's the likely story as new movies Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem ( NASDAQ: PARA ) ( PARAA ) and Meg 2: The Trench ( NASDAQ: WBD ) step up against the runaway story of the summer, the top-grossing Barbie ( WBD ).

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie -- latest entry in a comics franchise dating to the 1980s -- opened on Wednesday after pulling $3.85M in a Tuesday preview, and it's gathered about $15M heading into the weekend. That puts it on track for some $35M-plus over a five-day opening period.

That likely won't be enough to slow down Barbie ( WBD ), which is looking at another $45M-plus. The film based on the Mattel ( MAT ) doll just crossed $400M domestically (in not quite three weekends in release) and has grossed at least $835M on a worldwide basis.

Meanwhile, Meg 2: The Trench ( WBD ) follows up its shark-action predecessor and drew about $3.2M in Thursday previews, meaning it's targeting $25M-$30M in its opening weekend.

And don't forget "Barbenheimer" counterpart Oppenheimer ( NASDAQ: CMCSA ), which will be fighting to hold on to second place but with a likely third-weekend result in the $25M range. The atomic-bomb biopic has already outperformed expectations with more than $194 domestically and a worldwide take of more than $425

Barbie is clearly the summer's top movie, but it moved into second place for 2023 in domestic grosses, behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie ( CMCSA ) with just over $574M.

On a worldwide basis, Barbie has moved into the No. 3 spot for 2023 -- just a hair behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ( DIS ), with $845.3M, and the Mario movie.

Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment ( NYSE: AMC ); Cineworld ( OTCPK:CNNWQ ); Cinemark ( CNK ); ( IMAX ); Marcus ( MCS ); Reading International ( RDI ); Cineplex ( CGX:CA ); National CineMedia ( NCMI ).

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