Yeah, let's not get revisionist here. Most of the people hating on this movie were not saying "I know this is going to be a hit but...".
Oh no no no. A lot people claimed this was gonna be a franchise-killing bomb. People claimed it was going to be too gritty and scary (the Turtles' appearances) for kids, and that it was going to alienate the nostalgia crowd (heh, get it) and miss both audiences. After GOTG hit, a lot of these same people were talking about this movie like it was dead in the water.
People came out to see this movie, both families/kids and the older crowd. It found itself a nice niche and was successful. Now we'll get a sequel, and probably more.
Those on board can continue to enjoy the franchise, while the rest can keep it out of sight/out of mind if they wish. That's really all there is to it.
I'm not being revisionist. Admittedly I can only talk about about I've heard and read and in all sincerity I've never seen any serious suggestions that this movie would be a financial failure.
Far from it years ago when the aliens controversy kicked off I saw many obnoxious comments on the internet about how story and "whiny fans" meant nothing. That all we have to do is look at the billion dollar Transformers movies to see Michael Bay makes huge hits. Even people who were leery about the quality of the movie were pretty much resigned that it would be a huge hit.
It's only really recently that people have been seriously suggesting that this would not be the case and even then I've never seen anyone suggest that it would outright fail but rather fall very short of the initial predictions. I think it's fair to say that's how it's worked out.
The fact that TMNT is still holding its own against the highest grossest movie of the summer with the strongest legs is still great. It could've just as easily not even competed, given the glaring contrast in reviews.
Gotta wonder how much more Guardians might've made if not for TMNT cutting into their second and third weekend.
In a similar manner when it was first announced this movie would be released in the same month as Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy I heard a lot of similar comments about how TMNT's such a recognizable brand and being a much loved property meant it would beat a movie about characters no one cares about.
Now a lot of those same people seem to argue as if it was always seen as an inevitability that Guardians would be this huge hit and that simply doing half their money is seen as an accomplishment.
But the same can be said about Transformers. Those movies get horrible reviews, yet, they make a TON at the box office. Overall, people like these kind of movies.
Well whether a movie is seen as a hit or a flop is subjective. Usually relative to how much money it was expected to make. A lot of people are painting this as a hit because it beat recent predictions. I'm arguing otherwise because it's fallen very short of it's initial predictions.
This movie is nowhere near Transformers levels of money and while I don't begrudge their marketing team for painting this as success I think the description that's it's making "a TON at the box office" doesn't quite fit a movie that's struggling to make it's budget back. Essentially it hasn't made any money yet.
Even the idea that people must like it to go watch it doesn't really sit right with me. Three people involved in this movie have stated that to some degree they believe even though fans of these properties may hate their versions they'll go see anyway. Andrew Form even said even if this movie sucks we'll go see it because we love those characters. To large degree I believe this has proven true but with TMNT not doing the business of it's contemporaries in at a time with the market it primed it suggests that isn't
as true as it used to be.
