海角大神

During the high-profile movie season, not every movie will succeed, and the sequel 鈥淭eenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows鈥� seems to have become the newest film to struggle following its debut.

鈥淭eenage,鈥� which opened on June 3, came in number one at the box office, beating the superhero film 鈥淴-Men: Apocalypse,鈥� but the opening weekend gross for the Turtles was far below the opening weekend results for the previous film, 2014鈥檚 鈥淭eenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."聽

Also coming to theaters in recent weeks was the film 鈥淎lice Through the Looking Glass,鈥� a follow-up to the 2010 live-action film 鈥淎lice in Wonderland,鈥� and 鈥淴-Men: Apocalypse,鈥� the newest entry in the superhero series. Both are being regarded as having performed below expectations financially, lagging behind their predecessors' grosses.

As the summer movie season continues, what movies have succeeded, and why? And why are some movies struggling?

For moviegoers who check what critics are saying before spending their money, just about all of the movies that have struggled financially were panned by critics. 鈥淎lice鈥� in particular has received very negative reviews. Bad reviews for "Apocalypse" "likely made a difference with audiences in the social media age, where insta-feedback is the name of the game,"聽Chris Eggersten of the website HitFix wrote.

And Jake Coyle of the Associated Press found that these films, all of which were continuations in a series, may show that audience members don鈥檛 need more installments for every successful story.聽

鈥淭he recent sequel slump suggests that Hollywood may have become too quick on the sequel trigger 鈥� that maybe not every profitable movie deserves a second chapter, that the world might not have been craving another 鈥楴inja Turtles鈥� or 鈥榋oolander,鈥欌�� Mr. Coyle writes.聽

What movies have succeeded so far this summer? 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War,鈥� which also helped kick off the summer season, is probably the biggest success story 鈥� it鈥檚 currently the highest-grossing film of the year so far. In contrast to some of these other films, 鈥淐ivil鈥� succeeded 鈥渢hanks to strong reviews plus solid word-of-mouth," notes聽Dave McNary of Variety. "The marketing for 鈥楥ivil War鈥� clearly resonated with moviegoers, as it promised an epic fight between Chris Evans鈥� Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.鈥檚 Iron Man, plus the introduction of Chadwick Boseman鈥檚 Black Panther and Tom Holland鈥檚 Spider-Man.鈥澛�

In addition, 鈥淐ivil鈥� was part of the powerful Marvel brand, which has had few, if any, missteps.聽

Another film that has done well initially is 鈥淭he Angry Birds Movie,鈥� an animated film based on the game of the same name. 鈥淏irds鈥� surprised some observers by toppling 鈥淐ivil鈥� at the box office when it debuted in late May.聽

What helped 鈥淏irds鈥�? Awareness was high, writes Gary Susman of Moviefone. 鈥淭his is the biggest campaign Sony has ever mounted for an animated feature,鈥� Mr. Susman wrote. He notes, 鈥淜ids may not care, but grown-ups may have noticed that the voices come from performers they've liked in grown-up comic roles." Sony moved up the film's initial release date from July 1 to late May, making it the only major animated movie between March's "Zootopia" and mid-June's "Finding Dory." In other words, "it has the family demographic locked up," Susan said.聽

"Birds" will soon have 鈥淒ory鈥� to contend with, though, so industry observers will no doubt be watching to see if the film can sustain its success.