‘Kung Fu Panda’ shows it has the chops
Its No. 1 weekend boosts franchise and the box office
Jack Black’s martial-arts cartoon bear Po is again rich at the box office.
Kung Fu Panda 3, the latest in the animated franchise, karate-kicked all comers and raked in $41 million, according to studio estimates from Rentrak. The film was buoyed by critical acclaim (80% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.com) and audience raves (a solid A on CinemaScore). However, it’s the lowest opening weekend for the series yet, after $60.2 million for the first Panda in 2008 and $47.7 million for the sequel three years later.
Its debut is third all-time best for January and helped propel the overall box office weekend to a 35% increase from last year.
“Kung Fu Panda 3 filled a void in a marketplace that has been chock-full of adult dramas, awards-season contenders and other R-rated fare,” Rentrak’s Paul Dergarabedian says.
Oscar contender The Revenant continues to do well as Leonardo DiCaprio’s wilderness epic pulled in $12.4 million — good enough for second place. Star Wars: The Force
Awakens was third with $10.8 million and looks to pass $900 million domestically this week.
Chris Pine and Casey Affleck’s period rescue drama The Finest
Hours tanked with only $10.3 million in its opening weekend. The Kevin Hart and Ice Cube comedy
Ride Along 2 rounded out the top five with $8.3 million.
In other weekend debuts, Marlon Wayans’ Fifty Shades of Black could muster only $6.2 million. Even worse, Natalie Portman scored one of the lowest openings of her career as her Western Jane
Got a Gun made only $803,000. The Fifty Shades of Grey spoof was leveled by critics (13% liked it on Rotten Tomatoes) and garnered a lowly C on CinemaScore. But Dergarabedian says he doesn’t see these pop-culture send-ups going away anytime soon. Final figures are out Monday.