Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem Sets Another TMNT Franchise Record

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem managed to score an A CinemaScore from audiences leaving theaters on opening night, marking the highest CinemaScore in franchise history. That's probably good news for Paramount, who have already committed to a TV tie-in and theatrical sequel, after the movie debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a near-perfect score last week. To be totally fair, it's worth noting that the first three Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie, including the 1990 version that is widely regarded as the best live-action adaptation of the franchise, were released in the days before CinemaScore was a thing that existed.

Inspired by movies like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a new generation of ambitious animated movies like Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem have started to seep into the blockbuster space, giving a cool, tactile update to properties that had previously been fairly by-the-numbers in terms of their style, even when the scripts themselves were strong.

In ComicBook.com's review, Evan Valentine gave the movie 3 stars out of 5, saying, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has its problems and it's certainly not within striking distance of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. However, it does justify this new take on the Turtles while also giving old and new fans quite a bit to enjoy should they venture to theaters to take in this animated enterprise."

According to the film's official synopsis, "In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, after years of being sheltered from the human world, the Turtle brothers set out to win the hearts of New Yorkers and be accepted as normal teenagers through heroic acts. Their new friend April O'Neil helps them take on a mysterious crime syndicate, but they soon get in over their heads when an army of mutants is unleashed upon them."

Teenage Mutans Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem stars Micah Abbey as Donatello, Shamon Brown Jr. as Michelangelo, Nicolas Cantu as Leonardo, and Brady Noon Raphael. The cast also includes Hannibal Buress as Genghis Frog, Rose Byrne as Leatherhead, John Cena as Rocksteady, Jackie Chan as Splinter, Ice Cube as Superfly, Natasia Demetriou as Wingnut, Ayo Edebiri as April O'Neil, Giancarlo Esposito as Baxter Stockman, Post Malone as Ray Fillet, Seth Rogen as Bebop, Paul Rudd as Mondo Gecko, and Maya Rudolph as Cynthia Utrom.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem opens in theaters on August 4th.