“The Jungle Book” was the most popular movie in North America for the third straight weekend. “Mother’s Day”, released by Open Road, even trails the $13 million opening of 2011’s “New Year’s Eve”.
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With a domestic total of US$252 million and a global take of more than US$685 million, the live-action Jungle Book continues Disney’s hugely successful streak of retelling classic stories, using computer wizardry to bring to life the characters from Rudyard Kipling’s tales about a boy named Mowgli who is raised by animals.
The weekend’s debuts withered in the wake of “The Jungle Book”. Some expect the film to be the year’s biggest hit. As a result, the movie has boasted unusually strong legs, declining just 40 percent its second weekend and just 31 percent this weekend.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War just barely held on to second place in its sophomore weekend. This follow-up to 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman has earned $34 million after 10 days in theaters. In its third weekend, the Disney talking-animal tale earned an estimated $42.4 million in North America, while newcomers “Keanu” (at an estimated $9.4 million), “Mother’s Day” ($8.3 million), and “Ratchet and Clank” ($4.8 million) combined for about $22.5 million.
Warner Bros.’ R-rated “Keanu”, from the former Comedy Central stars of “Key and Peele”, cost only about $15 million to make.
The rom-com Mother’s Day, starring Jennifer Aniston and Julia Roberts, opened in fourth with $8.3 million, while Keanu, from the creators of Key and Peele, debuted in third with $9.3 million.
Directed by Garry Marshall, the picture drew very different responses from audiences and critics.
Rounding out the top five was Barbershop: The Next Cut, which grossed $6 million to bring its cumulative to $44.6 million through three weeks.
In its first weekend, the Ratchet & Clank film (shown at 2891 theaters) managed to earn $4.7 million. Moviegoers gave it a B grade, according to polling firm CinemaScore, and 75 percent of Rotten Tomatoes critics rated the film positively. “Huntsman” has earned only $35M since it released, still well-below the original film’s opening weekend of nearly $55M.
There was no doubt that Civil War would do well at the box office, but not even Walt Disney Studios may have expected this strong overseas opening. ‘Zootopia, ‘ $5 million ($8.3 million international). 7.
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“We’re about to be swept up in the excitement and huge box office of Captain America”. “It’s going to really kick off the summer”.
