Disney’s The Jungle Book rode strong reviews (95% on RottenTomatoes) and buzz about its groundbreaking CGI to a near-record-breaking opening this weekend, earning an estimated $103.5 million in domestic box office. Superlatives? That makes it the second-highest April opening ever (behind Furious 7’s $147 million last year) ((not adjusted for inflation)), and the “second-biggest live-action PG debut” (holy qualifiers, Batman!) behind Alice in Wonderland. Point is, it debuted well above expectations. And with an A Cinemascore in addition to the critical acclaim, should continue to play.
Internationally, it added $136.1 million for $290.9 million globally, led by $50.3 million in China. 43% of its domestic money came from 3D, 10% from IMAX. Zootopia, which opened substantially lower ($75 million) but had equally good reviews and audience ratings, is coming up on $900 million globally. So yeah, you could say that it’s been a decent year for Disney. And Captain America: Civil War isn’t even out yet.
Down in second was Barbershop: The Next Cut, well below expectations, everyone seems to agree, at $20.2 million.
The original Barbershop netted a $20.6m weekend in 2002 while Barbershop 2 earned a $24m weekend in 2004. Adjusted for inflation, those figures would be around $30-$33m for the weekend, so this is clearly a case of around 1/3 fewer tickets sold.
We’re so used to everything Ice Cube touches turning to gold that expectations for a long-overdue third sequel to a modest comedy were clearly too high. Still, the film only cost around $20 million to make, so it should be more than profitable. It also had an A- Cinemascore and was 92% recommended on RottenTomatoes. Wait, really?
This week’s other wide opener, Criminal, starring Kevin Costner with a funny haircut, didn’t do so hot, earning just $5.85 million for sixth place. No one seemed to like it much, and we probably won’t be hearing about it for much longer. Hardcore Henry fell hard in its second weekend, 71%, landing out of the top 10 and earning only $492 per theater.
In limited release, Green Room earned $91,000 in three theaters for A24, an impressive $30,333 per theater. Though not as much in total as The First Monday in May, which took $105,000 from 20 theaters, for a much less impressive $5,250 per. That one’s getting decent reviews (80% on RT), but I haven’t seen it on account of I’m allergic to anything featuring Anna Wintour and her stupid haircut/sunglasses in the marketing. Feel free to check it out and report back though. Fashion! (*spirit fingers*)
Next week brings us The Huntsman: Winter’s War, co-written by Ted Cruz’s college roommate, and Elvis & Nixon, along with some interesting limited release stuff like The Meddler (Susan Sarandon), Men & Chicken (Mads Mikkelsen – outside of one or two incredible scenes I didn’t get this one at all), and A Hologram for the King. That last one is a Dave Eggers adaptation from the director of Run Lola Run starring Tom Hanks, which, all things considered, is getting a shockingly non-existent amount of press. Does that mean it’s so bad the studio isn’t putting any money into promoting it? That’s what that usually means, but I’ve seen no reviews, so who knows. We’ll find out soon enough.
| Film | Weekend | Per Screen | ||
| 1 | The Jungle Book | $103,567,000 | $25,712 | $103,567,000 |
| 2 | Barbershop: The Next Cut | $20,210,000 | $7,595 | $20,210,000 |
| 3 | The Boss | $10,170,000 (-56.9) | $2,910 | $40,351,000 |
| 4 | Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | $9,010,000 (-61.4) | $2,571 | $311,311,000 |
| 5 | Zootopia | $8,235,000 (-42.6) |
$2,566 | $307,478,000 |
| 6 | Criminal | $5,850,000 | $2,180 | $5,850,000 |
| 7 | My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 | $3,160,000 (-49.7) | $1,419 | $52,095,000 |
| 8 | Miracles From Heaven | $1,900,000 (-59.6) | $913 | $56,930,000 |
| 9 | God’s Not Dead 2 | $1,712,000 (-59.6) | $1,080 | $16,956,000 |
| 10 | Eye in the Sky | $1,561,998 (-46.1) | $1,753 | $13,121,000 |
chart via ScreenCrush