NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Actuals: ‘Ninja Turtles’ ($28.5M) and ‘Guardians’ ($25.1M) Hold off Newcomers ‘Let’s Be Cops’ ($17.8M), ‘Expendables 3’ ($15.9M) and ‘The Giver’ ($12.3M)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was able to easily hold off three major newcomers this weekend to remain in first place with $28.52 million. In the process, Paramount’s high-profile franchise re-launch zoomed past the $100 million domestic mark over the weekend. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was down a sharp, but understandable 57 percent from last weekend’s debut. The film continues to exceed expectations in a very big way with $117.77 million through ten days of release. That places Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles an impressive 19.5 percent ahead of the $98.58 million ten-day take of 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. With its initial fan rush-out now behind it, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will hope to stabilize going forward.

Also holding off the weekend’s newcomers was Disney’s Guardians of the Galaxy. The blockbuster sci-fi superhero adaptation from Marvel placed in second with $25.12 million. Guardians of the Galaxy was down 40 percent this weekend, which is an encouraging sign for the film going forward. Guardians of the Galaxy rocketed past the $200 million domestic milestone over the weekend and has grossed a stronger than expected $222.66 million in 17 days. Guardians of the Galaxy is currently running 11 percent ahead of the $200.50 million 17-day take of Captain America: The Winter Soldier earlier this year and will have no problem eventually surpassing the $259.75 million current total gross of The Winter Soldier to become the highest grossing release of 2014 thus far domestically.

While it debuted towards the lower end of expectations, Fox’s Let’s Be Cops was nonetheless the weekend’s top new release with a third place take of $17.81 million. Given its Wednesday release date, it was impressive that the action-comedy topped both The Expendables 3 and The Giver over the weekend. Let’s Be Cops is also performing well with its low production cost in mind. Let’s Be Cops has grossed $26.22 million through five days of release. That gave the film a five-day to three-day ratio of 1.47 to 1 and places the film 21 percent behind the recent $33.31 million five-day start of Tammy. Let’s Be Cops only received a so-so B rating on CinemaScore, but will still have a very solid chance of holding up well going forward due in part to the lack of new comedies entering the marketplace over the next several weeks.

Lionsgate’s The Expendables 3 landed in fourth place with a disappointing debut of $15.88 million. The third installment of the ensemble action franchise starring Sylvester Stallone opened below its already scaled back expectations and 44.5 percent below the $28.59 million start of 2012’s The Expendables 2. In addition to moviegoers clearly growing tired of the franchise, The Expendables 3 also appears to have been hurt by having been pirated online prior to its release. The Expendables 3 opened with $5.95 million on Friday, declined 4 percent on Saturday to take in $5.73 million and fell 27 percent on Sunday to gross $4.20 million. That placed the film’s opening weekend to Friday ratio at 2.67 to 1. The Expendables 3 did receive an encouraging A- rating on CinemaScore, but as the third installment of a franchise, audience reaction likely won’t make a big difference for the film going forward.

The Giver rounded out the weekend’s top five with a debut of $12.31 million. The young adult sci-fi adaptation from The Weinstein Company opened on the lower end of pre-release expectations. The film’s opening weekend performance was similar to the $10.60 million start of The Host last year. The Giver took in $4.75 million on Friday, fell 6 percent on Saturday to gross $4.45 million and declined 30 percent on Sunday to gross $3.11 million. That gave the film an opening weekend to Friday ratio of 2.59 to 1. The Giver received a B+ rating on CinemaScore.

Holdovers Into the Storm and The Hundred-Foot Journey claimed sixth and seven place with respective takes of $7.89 million and $7.18 million. Warner’s Into the Storm was down a significant 55 percent from last weekend and has grossed $31.51 million in ten days. Disney’s The Hundred-Foot Journey was down a healthy 35 percent and has grossed $23.69 million over the same ten-day span. Both films are performing in line with their respective pre-release expectations thus far.

On the limited front, Boyhood took in an estimated $1.99 million from 771 locations to place in eleventh among all films, while Magic in the Moonlight took in $1.79 million from 964 locations to finish in 14th place. IFC Films’ Boyhood has grossed an impressive $13.64 million to date, while Sony Pictures Classics’ Magic in the Moonlight has grossed a soft $4.62 million so far.