Stop me if you have heard this one before: a Disney film is at the top of the box office charts.
For the third -and final- weekend, Disney’s The Jungle Book lorded over the North America box office, earning nearly five times as much as its closest competition. Three films –Keanu, Mother’s Day and Ratchet & Clank- all opened wide but landed with a thud and not a single film earned over $10 million. Outside of Book, the box office went into sleep mode while theater owners and ticket buyers await Thursday’s launch of Captain America: Civil War, which officially kicks off the summer movie season in the middle of the spring.
Still holding court on 4,041 screens, The Jungle Book dipped a mere 31% from last weekend to earn an estimated $42.4 million. After three weeks, the domestic total for Book stands at $252 million. While Civil War might take a little bit of wind out of Book’s box office momentum, it won’t be enough to stop the movie from smashing through the $300 million barrier within the next two weeks. A final haul of $340 million stateside should be in the cards for the family adventure, which should land it in the top 40 of all time pre-inflation. Foreign totals currently stand at $432.7 million.
How quiet was the domestic box office this weekend? So quiet that The Huntsman: Winter’s War remained in second place despite a drop of 52%. The pricey Universal Pictures turkey earned an estimated $9.39 million from 3,802 theaters in its sophomore session. After ten days, Winter’s War has bagged a weak $34 million and may make it to the $50 million mark, some $106 million less than 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman. Ouch.
Despite decent reviews, Warner’s kitty crime comedy Keanu failed to connect with audiences. Starring the Comedy Central duo of Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, Keanu opened on 2,658 theaters Friday where it went on to earn a spayed $9.35 million. Still, the film only costs $15 million to make, so it should turn a tidy profit once it finds an audience on home video and cable.
For those longing for the conclusion of Garry Marshall’s holiday trilogy, which began with Valentine’s Day and continued with New Year’s Eve, your prayers have been answered with Mother’s Day. Apparently though, those devout numbers were not big enough to match the openings for either of those features. The Open Road release, which stars the likes of Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson and Jennifer Aniston, was met with scorn from the critics and a cold shoulder from ticket buyers, the latter who contributed an estranged $8.3 million at 3,035 screens. Perhaps now, Marshall could reboot the series. Maybe start with an Arbor Day-themed ensemble comedy. Then again, perhaps not.
Rounding out the top five was the Ice Cube comedy Barbershop: The Next Cut with an estimated $6.1 million from 2,310 theaters, a decrease in attendance of 42%. After three weeks, the sequel has earned $44.7 million and should end near the $55 million mark.
Outside the top five:
- Zootopia (Disney) $5 million (-24%); $323.5 million
- Ratchet & Clank (Focus) $4.8 million
- The Boss (Universal) $4.25 million (-32%); $56.1 million
- Batman V. Superman (Warner) $3.8 million (-31%); $325 million
- Criminal (Lionsgate) $1.32 million (-57%); $13.4 million
While we in North America have to wait a few more days to see it, Captain America: Civil War did make its international debut this weekend and did so in a big way: $200 million. The opening for the latest Marvel Studios behemoth opened just a tad below Age Of Ultron’s $201 million earned from foreign markets one year ago, but I seriously doubt anyone is sweating bullets over it. The superhero showdown is expected to open close to the $200 million mark as well in North America next weekend.
