‘Ninja Turtles II’ to Be Out on Cassette July 31

New Line Home Video ended the industry speculation about the video release of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze” with the announcement that it will be out July 31 at $22.95.

This was New Line’s original plan--releasing the movie in the $20-$25 range just four months after its theatrical release in order to capture the summer children’s audience and take optimal advantage of the film’s original advertising and promotional campaign.

But many observers had been guessing that the company would scrap that plan since the movie didn’t do as well as expected at the box office, grossing about $80 million--considerably less than the $130 million racked up by the original.

Following the disappointing box-office figures, Plan B--a fall release at a rental price, in the $95-$100 range--seemed likely. When Pizza Hut, a sponsor of the original movie when it came out on home video, decided to pass on involvement with the sequel, that was further indication that “Turtles II” wasn’t such a hot property.

But New Line was able to find other companies for cross-promotional tie-ins as part of a $20-million advertising and promotion campaign--including Nabisco’s Royal Gelatin, Burger King (which has a 30-second ad at the start of the tape) and the ecological group “Kids for Saving the Earth.”

One reason New Line decided to release “Turtles II” in late July is that the summer market isn’t overloaded with kid-oriented titles in the $20-$25 price range. The release is positioned to avoid direct competition with the others. Disney’s “Jungle Book,” for example, which came out in May, will be past its peak by then, and Fox-Video’s “Home Alone” won’t be released until Aug. 22 (at $24.98). Its major competition will come from Disney’s animated “Robin Hood,” due out July 12 at $24.99.

Some industry skeptics were predicting that “Turtles II” wouldn’t be a bonanza even before its disappointing box-office figures rolled in. The original, released to home video last October at $24.99, didn’t do as well as expected. Of the 8.5 million copies shipped, more than 25% were returned unsold, and some retailers say they still have plenty of copies in stock that they can’t sell.

New Line won’t reveal how many copies of “Turtles II” it will ship, but industry sources place the figure at 6 million.