Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 3D prove kowabunga at the Chinese box office
The heroes in a half-shell beat rival martial arts movie Kung Fu Jungle to the top spot
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.It might have been panned as a ‘turtle turkey’ by critics, but the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are proving kowabunga in China with the film reboot having taken £33m at the box office in its first 10 days.
The movie, which stars Megan Fox as turtle-loving reporter April O’Neil in the 1980s classic comic, racked up 236,675 screenings and more than 4.1 million admissions in China in the week ending 9 November, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
China has the world’s second-largest film market and Turtles is screening in 3D in the region. Of the 52 films which made over 100m yuan (£10.2m) in the year to October, 26 of them were in 3D, according to data from HIS research group, which shows that unlike in other film markets having a third dimension is an indicator of box office success.
William Fichtner, Alan Ritchson, Johnny Knoxville and Will Arnett star as the reptilian brothers who rise from the sewers to help save New York City from Shredder and his Foot Clan. Several of the actors, including Fox, Fichtner, as well as producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form and Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore, visited China to promote the film.
It beat rival martial-arts movie Kung Fu Jungle to the top spot at the Chinese box office. Teddy Chan’s film, which stars Donnie Yen, Wang Baoqiang, Charlie Yeung and Michelle Bai, took £5.8m in its first full week.
Turtles was described as having “the emotional resonance of an episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” by The Independent’s critic, and called a “total turtle turkey” by the Guardian.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments