Paramount and Nickelodeon Films’ Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles held on to pole position in the second weekend in North America as The Expendables 3 limped in at number four through Lionsgate on $16.2m.

Turtles brought in an estimated $28.4m for $117.6m through Paramount after a 57% slide to keep Marvel Studios’ Guardians Of The Galaxy in second place.

The latter added $24.7m to reach $222.3m and $419m worldwide after three sessions. It ranks as the sixth biggest US release so far in 2014 after crossing $200m on its 15th day on Friday (August 15).

Guardians overtook the final lifetime tallies of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on $203m and Thor: The Dark World on $206m and passed Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor last week.

There were three new releases, led by Fox’s comedy Let’s Be Cops with Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans at number three on $17.7m, The Expendables 3 at number four through Lionsgate on $16.2m and TWC’s YA adaptation The Giver starring Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep in fifth place on $12.8m.

The Expendables 3 delivered the weakest debut of the franchise. The Expendables opened at number one on $34.8m in August 2010 while the second episode arrived top on $28.6m in August 2012.

Boyhood surged back into the top 10 in its sixth session through IFC, which added 265 theatres for 771. The coming-of-age drama from Richard Linklater grossed $2.2m for $13.8m.

Speaking of IFC, the distributor released Michael Winterbottom’s The Trip To Italy starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon on $71,600 from three sites for a lofty $23,867 average.

A24 opened Sundance acquisition Life After Beth starring Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick and Dane DeHaan on $18,000 from two sites and Distrib Films opened Philippe Garrel’s French drama and Venice 2013 premiere Jealousy on $5,800 in a single site.

Overall box office for the top 12 fell 26% against last weekend and dropped approximately 6% against the comparable slot in 2013, when TWC launched Lee Daniels’ The Butler at number one on $24.6m.

Next weekend’s wide releases are Warner Bros’ drama If I Stay starring Chloe Moretz; TriStar’s sports drama When The Game Stands Tall; and Frank Miller’s Sin City: A Dame To Kill For through Weinstein/Dimension.

Estimated Top 10 North America Aug 15-17 2014
Film (Dist) / Est wkd gross / Est total to date

1 (1) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Paramount) PPI $28.4m $117.6m

2 (2) Guardians Of The Galaxy (Buena Vista/Marvel) WDSMPI $24.7m $222.3m

3 (-) Let’s Be Cops (Fox) Fox International $17.7m $26.1m

4 (-) The Expendables 3 (Lionsgate) Nu Image $16.2m –

5 (-) The Giver (TWC) TWC International $12.8m –

6 (3) Into The Storm (Warner Bros-New Line-Village Roadshow) WBPI $7.7m $31.3m

7 (4) The Hundred-Foot Journey (Buena Vista-Participant Media) WDSMPI $7.1m $23.6m

8 (5) Lucy (Universal) UPI $5.3m $107.5m

9 (6) Step Up All In (Lionsgate-Summit) Lionsgate International-UPI $2.7m $11.8m

10 (13) Boyhood (IFC) UPI $2.2m $13.8m

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