Weekend Box Office Report: ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ Fights To The Top

The opening for the latest adventures of Po and his pals was down slightly from the $47 million earned by the second film back in 2011, but it should be noted that Panda 2 opened during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. This may have been due to weak competition in theaters, the holiday surge of awards movies growing stale, a paltry offering of new weekend releases, and a seeming drought of animated films (giving exception to Norm of the North, coined a failure on many different levels).

This image released by DreamWorks Animation shows character Mei…

DreamWorks Animation gave the box office some pulse this weekend thanks to Kung Fu Panda 3.

New Zealand’s box office results will be available on Tuesday – but are expected to follow similar trends with The Revenant and Star Wars still holding top spots.

Fox is handling distribution of “Kung Fu Panda 3”, which grossed another $18 million from four other global markets including Russian Federation and South Korea for a worldwide opening of $116 million.

The third film has voice talent from Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, and Angelina Jolie.

But it’s the numbers from the film’s China debut that were most impressive. The family film cost around $145 million to produce. The $25 million film has a much smaller footprint than the other new movies, playing in just 1,210 theaters, but grossed a dismal $830,000 – by far the worst showing of Portman’s career. Starring Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, and Eric Bana, the inspirational drama did earn an A- CinemaScore, but it only managed to secure fourth place.

Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens came in No. 4 with an estimated $10.8 million as it approaches the $900 million mark in North America and $2 billion globally. The Kevin Hart and Ice Cube comedy “Ride Along 2” rounded out the top five with $8.3 million.

Marlon Wayans’ spoof of E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey opened to $6.2 million in 2,982 locations, earning a C CinemaScore.