‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ No. 1

Kung Fu Panda 3 is set in China with the film’s lead Po, played by Jack Black, meeting his biological father before confronting an evil supernatural warrior. The Disney movie, earning an A- CinemaScore, came in No. 3 after Panda 3 and Fox and New Regency’s The Revenant, which remains a potent player in its sixth weekend.

And in an interview earlier this month (Jan16), Kung Fu Panda 3 co-director Alessandro Carloni noted although several franchise instalments are in the works, all of these movies are being treated as standalone releases. In 2011, Kung Fu Panda 2 pulled in 125 million yuan ($18.9 million) in its opening weekend – a record at the time for China – before going on to make $92 million total.

With no major storms or championship football games to contend with, the North American box office got itself back on track this weekend.

“Kung Fu Panda 3 definitely feels like the end of a trilogy and wraps up the dragon warrior’s story in a complete and satisfying way”, IGN’s Max Nicholson said.

The Revenant remained a solid draw in second place in its fourth weekend of wide release, thanks to its dozen Oscar nominations and DiCaprio’s star power. The film also had a strong opening in Korea, where it debuted on 1,300-plus screens and took $11.4 million, $380,000 of which was from the 17 participating IMAX theaters. Running on its third weekend, the movie raked in $8.3 million making a total worldwide earning of $88.5 million.

Marlon Wayans’ spoof “Fifty Shades of Black” generated only middling business with $6.2 million at 2,075 locations and Natalie Portman’s oft-delayed western “Jane Got a Gun” was almost invisible with less than $1 million at 1,210 screens.

The film, produced with DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. Newcomer “The Finest Hours” enters the chart at No. 4 with an estimated $10.3 million, while “Ride Along 2” rounds out the top five with approximately $8.3 million.