Kung Fu Panda 3 successfully beat all of the competition for the top spot at the box office with $41 million at 3,955 theaters.
The family film, costing $145 million to produce, earned an A CinemaScore from moviegoers and an 80 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics. The voice cast sees the return of franchise stars Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan and Seth Rogen – with a new voice cast including Bryan Cranston, Kate Hudson and J.K. Simmons. Kung Fu Panda 2’s Jennifer Yuh Nelson shares directing duties with Alessandro Carloni.
Kung Fu Panda 3 tells the story of Po (Black) reuniting with his long-lost panda father (Cranston), as they travel together to a secret panda paradise, where he’s arranged to be married to Mei Mei (Hudson). However, when the supernatural villain Kai begins to sweep across China defeating all the kung fu masters, Po must do the impossible: learn to train a village full of his fun-loving, clumsy brethren to become the ultimate band of Kung Fu Pandas.
“Family movies can work at anytime of the year now, evidenced by the fact that 70 percent of our audience was family,” Fox distribution chief Chris Aronson said. “And this is a great date, because we have a five-week runway before another animated film opens so Kung Fu Panda will have a very healthy multiple.”
The weekend’s other three new releases included Disney’s The Finest Hours, Marlon Wayans’ parody Fifty Shades of Black and Natalie Portman’s Jane Got a Gun.
Disney’s Coast Guard adventure-disaster film The Finest Hours, starring Chris Pine and Casey Affleck, debuted with $10.3 million at 3,143 theaters for a fourth place finish. The film, directed by Craig Gillespie, earned a 59 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and an A minus CinemaScore from moviegoers, who were 60 percent over the age of 25. Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz and Eric Bana also star.
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The Finest Hour tells the real-life story of the Coast Guard’s heroic efforts in 1952 to save the crew of two oil tankers sheared in two during a fierce storm off Cape Cod.
“These are softer results than we had hoped for. We’ve seen a string of movies based on real-life adventures have a hard time, such as The Walk, Everest and In the Heart of the Sea,” said Disney executive VP distribution Dave Hollis. “We’re encouraged by the response of the people who have seen it, and it bodes well for the film’s international expansion.”
Marlon Wayan’s parody Fifty Shades of Black landed in ninth place with $6.2 million from 2,075 theaters. With a C CinemaScore and a 13 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics, the $5 million production stars Wayan opposite Kali Hawk. Meanwhile, Gavin O’Connor’s Jane Got a Gun, starring Portman opposite Joel Edgerton and Ewan McGregor, grossed a dismal $830,000 across 1,210 theaters. It currently has a score of 33 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from critics.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant landed in second place in its fourth weekend of wide release, finishing the weekend with $12.4 million at 3,330 sites. The film has now generated $138.2 million domestically. Star Wars: The Force Awakens slid to third place with $10.8 million at 2,566 locations, hauling a domestic total of $895.4 million.
Universal’s third weekend of Ride Along 2 followed in fifth place with $8.4 million at 2,412 theaters ($71 million domestic total).
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: January 29-31
- Kung Fu Panda 3 — $41 million
- The Revenant — $12.4 million
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens — $10.8 million
- The Finest Hours — $10.3 million
- Ride Along 2 — $8.4 million
- The Boy — $7.9 million
- Dirty Grandpa — $7.6 million
- The 5th Wave — $7 million
- Fifty Shades Of Black — $6.2 million
- 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi — $6 million
