With Star Wars‘ force-grip on the US box office now finally having been completely loosened by a combination of Kevin Hart and Ice Cube taking a ride and Leonardo DiCaprio wrestling bears in the snow, some new box office contenders can finally enter the fight. And Kung Fu Panda 3 certainly came out fighting… kung fu fighting, to be exact! Coming off some surprisingly strong reviews, Dreamworks Animations’ animated threequel punched and kicked its way to the top of the charts.
Boasting a star-studded voice cast lineup featuring the likes of Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Angelina Jolie, JK Simmons, Jackie Chan and more, Kung Fu Panda 3 managed to pull in a massive record-setting $41 million. The record for the largest January opening for an animated film was previously held by 2014’s The Nut Job, but its $19.4 million take has now been thoroughly flying kicked right out the building. Something that also has to be pointed out in these times where lack of diversity has been at the forefront of industry news, is that Kung Fu Panda 3‘s lead star is black, white, Asian and chubby! Top that Hollywood!
Meanwhile the Chris Pine led true-life coast guard rescue drama The Finest Hours wasn’t all that fine on its opening weekend, only capable of mustering up a soggy $10.37 million. With a $80 million price tag, production studio Disney is probably going to be looking to the international market to rescue this pic from drowning. The film has received an “A-” Cinemascore which should bode well for its prolonged money making chances, and it can still fall back on its IMAX 3D dividends to help bolster its coffers.
Marlon Wayans latest crime against humanity spoof film Fifty Shades of Black also opened on Friday to $6.18 million, which is actually not the worst result seeing as this film only cost $5 million to make. It also proves that people really can’t help but to stop and gawk at a gruesome accident. Wayans’ brand of comedy certainly has its fans, but his latest is drawing pretty poor reviews even by his standards, with many claiming that the spoof is actually less funny than the movie it’s spoofing! Don’t expect this one to hang around the charts long.
The only other new release on the charts is unfortunately also the one with the saddest story here. We’ve written up plenty of stories about the insane production troubles that has plagued Natalie Portman’s long delayed western Jane Got a Gun. The movie finally released this weekend, 17 months after it was originally scheduled to do so, but the film barely cracked the $800 000 mark and could only reach the no.17 spot on the charts.
With the film opening in 1210 theatres, its tiny total gives it only a $664 per theater average which is by far the worst opening of Portman’s career. It would seem that while Jane got a gun, she doesn’t have an audience.
Here’s what is happening on the rest of the charts:
- 1. Kung Fu Panda 3 – $41 million (NE)
- 2. The Revenant – $12.4 million (LW: 1st)
- 3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens – $10.78 million (LW: 2nd)
- 4. The Finest Hours – $10.37 million (NE)
- 5. Ride Along 2 – $8.34 million (LW: 3rd)
- 6. The Boy – $7.89 million (LW: 5th)
- 7. Dirty Grandpa – $7.57 million (LW: 4th)
- 8. The 5th Wave – $7 million (LW: 6th)
- 9. Fifty Shades of Black – $6.18 million (NE)
- 10. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi – $6 million (LW: 6th)
This weekend finally saw Will Ferrel and Mark Wahlberg’s Daddy’s Home dropping out of the top 10. Despite middling to poor reviews the R-rated comedy has pulled in a whopping R143 million domestically. For a kinda crappy movie that cost $50 to produce, that’s not bad at all.
(LW = Last Week, NE = New Entry)
Last Updated: February 1, 2016
