The Big Picture Paramount has had an interesting summer; in the span of a month, the studio released two major movies — the first was a massive sequel to one of the longest-running franchises in history, and the second a scrappy animated film designed to kick-start a new series. But both Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem were affected by what has come to be known as the “Barbenheimer” event.
While Dead Reckoning Part One was never able to recover after being hit by the one-two punch of Barbie and Oppenheimer merely 10 days after its theatrical debut, Mutant Mayhem was released in the wake of “Barbenheimer.” Nevertheless, after two weeks of release, the animated film has passed a major milestone at the global box office. Mutant Mayhem is now a member of the $100 million club, having made $76.8 million domestically and another $23.1 million from international territories.
The film’s biggest international markets are the U.K. , Mexico , France , Germany and China . Paramount appears to be emulating the success strategy of Sony’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a film that utilized a fresh new animation style that helped keep the budget below the industry norm for major animated features.
Paramount Kept the Film's Budget Tight By comparison, major animated movies from the likes of Pixar and Dreamworks tend to cost between $150 million and $200 million. For instance, this year’s Elemental was produced on a reported budget of $200 million. But Mutant Mayhem cost Paramount only $70 million, before marketing. Which means that it’ll be in the black if it hits the $200 mark worldwide.
Mutant Mayhem is the seventh installment in the franchise, following a trilogy of live-action movies that was released in the early 1990s, and a reboot series co-produced by Michael Bay that lasted two films between 2014 and 2016. It’s also the second animated feature of the franchise, following 2007’s TMNT. Directed by Jeff Rowe, Mutant Mayhem takes inspiration from teen movies, and features the voices of Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr.