The domestic box office received a nice shot in the arm this weekend thanks to Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part Two, which helped propel business 13% over last year, per Deadline. DreamWorks Animation’s fourth entry in the long-running franchise featuring the voice of Jack Black got off to a hot start, earning $55 million in its debut week. This makes it the second-highest opening for Po and Co., trailing only the original Panda’s $60M opening in 2008. That film earned $631M worldwide, followed by Kung Fu Panda 2’s $664M and Kung Fu Panda 3’s $521M. How high can Po fly? With an A- CinemaScore, on par with the original, there’s a chance this one legs out to solid worldwide numbers.
Remember that outside of the original, the franchise made most of its money overseas. Parts two and three accounted for $165M and $143M of those films’ total revenue, respectively. So, even if Panda 4 only accrues $140-150M stateside, it should do well abroad. Panda 4 opened at $22.2M in 41 international markets, raising its global cume to $80.5M.
Warner Bros./Legendary’s Dune: Part Two held remarkably well in its second weekend, dipping just 47% to earn $44M. Domestically, Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi adventure has accrued $154M, which already tops Dune: Part One’s $108M domestic total. Granted, that picture struggled with a day-and-date HBO Max release and faced Covid restrictions. Still, all signs point to the sequel finishing as an enormous success.
Overseas, the blockbuster spectacle held strongly, collecting another $81M and bringing its global total to $367.5M. Dune: Part One finished with $433M worldwide, which Part Two should easily surpass. On Imax, the pic fell just 15% and raked in $27.7M from 1,600 screens, raising its global tally to $72.4M. Can Paul Atreides rise to the billion-dollar mark?
For all the talk about the dying moviegoing culture, how odd that audiences flock to theaters to view quality products. Coincidence? You be the judge.
Elsewhere, Lionsgate/Blumhouse’s Imaginary finished third in its premiere week, scoring $9.3M, while Angel Studio’s Cabrini raked in $8M.
The box office should level out this week without significant releases on the docket. Of course, March 22 sees the release of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which is projected to earn anywhere between $35M to $49M in its opening frame.
