The live-action movie is, of course, based on the English author Rudyard Kipling’s seminal work and the second time that Disney has made an adaptation of the book.
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Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and Idris Elba lend their voices to the roles, with Christopher Walken and Sir Ben Kingsley voicing other characters. Though it was projected to take in $25 million in ticket sales, the comedy sequel grossed $20.2 million in its first week.
Last weekend’s champion, the Melissa McCarthy comedy The Boss, dropped 57 per cent, taking third place with $US10.2 million ($13.3 million). The 37-year-old R&B star and the 30-year-old model were married in 2013.
Its 95% critics score on review site Rotten Tomatoes and family friendly PG rating should have kids and adults wanting to return to the jungle with Baloo and Mowgli.
That ranks as the second biggest April opening in history, behind only “Furious 7’s” $147.2 million launch. The movie’s global release kicked off ahead of the United States, and it’s also performing very well overseas with $187.4 million to date. “Warner Bros. didn’t deliver the product that audiences expected or wanted”. With a $31.5 million budget, this is another loser for Lionsgate in what has been a terrible year for them; thus far Divergent Series: Allegiant and Bad Grandpa have massively disappointed while Gods of Egypt outright bombed.
Elsewhere, “Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice” continued to fall, dropping another -61% and falling into fourth place with $9 million.
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As for “Criminal”, the action-suspense film starring Kevin Costner landed in sixth place with $5.85 million, below its $7 million to $9 million projections. The story of a business icon whose career is derailed by insider trading has earned $10.2 million in two weeks of release. Audiences also embraced the dramatic movie which features incredible CGI animals, awarding it an A Cinemascore on its opening day. The Millennium Films action movie earned $21 million last week, bringing its cumulative gross in China to $45.6 million.
