Movies
Box Office Recap: ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ Wins Super Bowl Weekend, Beats Newcomers
DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 3 won the 2016 Super Bowl weekend box office, beating newcomers Hail, Caesar! and Pride and Prejudice and Zombies with an additional $21 million to its $69 million domestic haul.
“It’s all about timing, and Kung Fu Panda took advantage of that opening last weekend, with very few options for families at the multiplex in 2016, as far as something brand-new,” says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “Another big boost for the movie was Super Bowl weekend. A lot of people are trying to get their moviegoing out of the way Friday and Saturday before the game, and what better weekend to take the kids out and satisfy their entertainment?”
Joel and Ethan Coen’s weekend newcomer Hail, Caesar! debuted in second place on the charts with a mediocre $11.4 million in 2,222 theaters. The comedy didn’t open as strongly as the brothers’ previous films True Grit ($24.8 million, 2010) and Burn After Reading ($19.1 million, 2008), however it did perform closely with their The Ladykillers ($12.6 million, 2004).
“The Coen brothers are a name brand with a solid following, but their collective box office is not massive,” said Dergarabedian. “It’s a star-studded spectacle and a movie like this has long-term playability.”
An Exclusive Interview with George Clooney & Channing Tatum in HAIL, CAESAR!
Universal’s Hail, Caesar! stars George Clooney as a kidnapped A-lister and has a star-studded ensemble including Josh Brolin, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill and Scarlett Johansson. The film, which appealed to males (52%) and adults over the age of 35 (69%), earned a 79 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from moviegoers and a C-minus CinemaScore from critics.
Holdovers The Revenant and Star Wars: The Force Awakens stayed strong in third and fourth place, respectively. Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant took in $7.1 million, bringing it’s grand total to $149.7 million, while Force Awakens grossed another $6.9 million to its $906 million domestic total ($2 billion total worldwide) – the third film ever to cross that mark.
Rounding out the top five is Lionsgate’s The Choice with $6.1 million from 2,631 theaters. The romance film, starring Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer, received an 8 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a B-plus CinemaScore from moviegoers. Nicholas Sparks’ adaptation tells the story of a veteran (Walker) who falls in love with his neighbor (Palmer). The film comes in slightly behind other Sparks’ romances, including last year’s The Longest Ride ($13 million) and 2014’s The Best of Me ($10 million).
THE CHOICE: Backstage with Teresa Palmer & Benjamin Walker
The final nationwide release for the weekend included Sony’s Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a hybrid of Jane Austen’s 1813 classic and The Walking Dead. The film, based off of Seth Grahame-Smith’s book, earned $5.2 million from 2,931 theaters and stars Cinderella’s Lily James, Sam Riley and Matt Smith. The film earned a B-minus CinemaScore from moviegoers and a 41 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics.
Bella Heathcote & Lily James on Killing Zombies in PRIDE + PREJUDICE + ZOMBIES
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: February 5-7
- Kung Fu Panda 3 — $21 million
- Hail, Caesar! — $11.4 million
- The Revenant — $7.1 million
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $6.9 million
- The Choice — $6.1 million
- Pride And Prejudice And Zombies — $5.2 million
- The Finest Hours — $4.72 million
- Ride Along 2 — $4.52 million
- The Boy — $4.1 million
- Dirty Grandpa — $4.1 million