TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES - TMNT TOYS LED TO MOVIE, SAYS STUDIO EXEC

Although some critics had suggested that the sole reason for reviving the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie franchise was to sell toys, Warner Bros.' distribution chief Dan Fellman has indicated that just the opposite may have been the case. "The toys were selling and there was a resurgence of interest among young people who have seen reruns or purchased the toys," Fellman told the Los Angeles Daily News, which noted that, with last weekend's success of TMNT, Warner Bros. had pulled off a "hat trick" that included revivals of their Superman and Batman franchises. Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office trackers Media by Numbers, told the newspaper: "It's not an easy task to reinvent and retool a franchise. ... You are dealing with a lot of built-in expectations and you are also dealing with a bias, in a way, against it. People think it's been so long, that [it's] dead."

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):
1. TMNT, Warner Bros., $24,255,205, (New); 2. 300, Warner Bros., $19,862,491, 3 Wks. ($161,706,146); 3. Shooter, Paramount, $14,523,571, (New); 4. Wild Hogs, Disney, $13,850,542, 4 Wks. ($123,303,817); 5. Last Mimzy, The, New Line, $10,024,819, (New); 6. The Hills Have Eyes II, Fox Atomic, $9,686,362, (New); 7. Premonition, Sony, $9,562,739, 2 Wks. ($31,653,484); 8. Reign Over Me, Sony, $7,460,690, (New); 9. Pride, Lions Gate, $3,533,300, (New); 10. Dead Silence, Universal, $3,440,415, 2 Wks. ($13,216,140).

27/03/2007