Kung Fu Panda 3 Has 3rd Best January Opening, Star Wars Nears $2 Billion

Kung Fu Panda 3 has 3rd best January opening, Star Wars: The Force Awakens nears $2 billion

DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 3 easily topped the domestic box office this weekend with an estimated $41 million from 3,955 theaters, an average of $10,367 per theater. Distributed by 20th Century Fox, the third installment earned $10.5 million on Friday, jumped to $18.3 million on Saturday, and is projected to take in $12.2 million on Sunday. The debut marks the third-biggest January opening of all-time, trailing just American Sniper‘s wide release with $89.3 million last year and Ride Along‘s opening of $41.5 million in 2014. Made for about $145 million, the film received an A CinemaScore from audiences. Internationally, Kung Fu Panda 3 opened with $75 million of which $57 million came from China! The film earned $4.2 million on 289 IMAX screens in China and Korea.

Compared to the previous films, Kung Fu Panda 2 opened in 2011 with $47.7 million and earned $162.5 million domestically, while the first movie brought in $60.2 million its first weekend in 2008 and brought in $215 million total. Kung Fu Panda 3 features the voices of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, Randall Duk Kim, Bryan Cranston, J.K. Simmons and Kate Hudson.

20th Century Fox also took second place with The Revenant, which dropped just 22.5% in ticket sales and earned another $12.4 million for a total of $138.2 million. Made for $135 million, the film was directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson and Will Poulter. DiCaprio was one of the SAG Awards winners last night for his performance.

Dropping a spot to third was Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The J.J. Abrams-directed film added $10.8 million domestically and $12.6 million internationally this weekend for a global total of $23.4 million. Star Wars: The Force Awakens has now earned $895.4 million in North America and $1.087 billion overseas for a total of $1.983 billion. It is the #1 movie of all-time domestically, the #4 movie of all-time internationally, and the #3 movie of all-time worldwide, trailing Avatar‘s $2.788 billion and Titanic‘s $2.186 billion.

Despite receiving an A- CinemaScore, Walt Disney Pictures’ The Finest Hours debuted in fourth place with just $10.3 million from 3,143 theaters, an average of $3,286 per site. Directed by Craig Gillespie, the film stars Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Holliday Grainger, John Ortiz and Eric Bana.

Universal Pictures’ action-comedy Ride Along 2, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, dropped two spots to fifth with $8.3 million. The $40-million budgeted sequel has earned $70.8 million after three weeks.

STX Entertainment’s The Boy, directed by William Brent Bell and starring Lauren Cohan (“The Walking Dead”), added $7.9 million its second weekend in sixth place. Made for only $10 million, the horror film has earned $21.5 million so far.

Lionsgate’s Dirty Grandpa, starring Robert De Niro and Zac Efron, brought in $7.6 million in the seventh spot and has earned $22.8 million after two weeks.

Sony Pictures’ The Fifth Wave, starring Chloë Grace Moretz, earned $7 million its second weekend in eighth for a total of $20.2 million. The film cost $38 million to make.

Made for just $5 million, the Fifty Shades of Grey parody Fifty Shades of Black opened in ninth place with $6.2 million from 2,075 theaters, an average of $2,982 per theater. Marlon Wayans, Kali Hawk, Mike Epps, Andrew Bachelor, Affion Crockett, Jane Seymour, Fred Willard and Florence Henderson star in the comedy.

Directed by Gavin O’Connor, The Weinstein Company’s Jane Got a Gun opened to just $803,000 in 1,210 theaters. Starring Natalie Portman, Joel Edgerton, Noah Emmerich, Rodrigo Santoro, Boyd Holbrook and Ewan McGregor, the film cost $25 million to make.