The Jungle Book Exceeds Expectations and Dominates Global Box Office

Walt Disney Pictures had another big hit this weekend, as The Jungle Book opened with $103.6 million

Walt Disney Pictures has been having a great year so far with Zootopia dominating family business, but after six weeks in the Top 3 at the box office, it was overshadowed by a new Disney movie, that being the live-action adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book, directed by Iron Man‘s Jon Favreau.

Starring 10-year-old newcomer Neel Sethi and featuring the voices of Bill Murray, Sir Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Christopher Walken, Lupita N’yongo and more, The Jungle Book opened in 4,028 theaters where it grossed $32.4 million on Friday (including $4.2 million from Thursday previews), then did enough business on Saturday for Disney to estimate $103.6 million for the weekend.

That’s an impressive average of $25,700 per theater and that opening is compared to the $116 million of Alice in Wonderland starring Johnny Depp in 2010, the $79 million opening of Sam Raimi’s Oz The Great and Powerful in 2013 and the $67 million opening of last year’s Cinderella. Surprisingly, it’s only Disney’s fourth (non-Pixar, non-Marvel, non-Lucasfilm) to open over $100 million (and ninth biggest opener of all the movies they’ve distributed). We’ll have to see if it becomes their second movie of the year to cross the $300 million mark. Like Zootopia, it also received an A CinemaScore, which is a good sign it will have legs through the rest of the month.

The Jungle Book grossed another $136.1 million overseas this weekend as it expanded into 49 international territories, including the UK, Australia, Germany, Brazil, China, France, Italy and more. That $240 million global gross this weekend brings its overall gross to $290 million worldwide. $20.4 million of this weekend’s grosses came from the movie’s IMAX screenings with roughly half that amount from the 376 domestic IMAX screens. 63% of its international gross came from the movie’s 3D screenings with a lower percentage of 43% in North America.

Ice Cube returned to his popular hair-cutting comedy franchise with Barbershop: The Next Cut (New Line/MGM), joined by Cedric the Entertainer, Eve, Common, Nikki Minaj and more. It opened with $20.2 million in 2,661 theaters, or $7,591 per theater.  That’s just a little lower than the opening of the original Barbershop in 2002 and about $4 million less than the opening of its sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, two years later. It received an A- CinemaScore.

Melissa McCarthy’s comedy The Boss (Universal Pictures) dropped to third place after topping the box office last weekend, taking in $10.2 million (down 57%) to bring its total to $40.3 million in ten days.

After being dethroned from the top spot last weekend,  Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Warner Bros.) took another dip in its fourth weekend, taking fourth place with $9 million. It has grossed $310 million domestically after crossing the $300 million mark earlier in the week. (For comparison, Snyder’s Man of Steel grossed $291 million domestically.) Internationally, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice added $15.1 million from 67 markets to bring its overseas total to $516 million. The film has now earned $827.3 million worldwide.

Walt Disney Animation’s Zootopia took fifth place with $8.2 million as it also crossed the $300 million mark this weekend with $307.5 million grossed domestically to date. Internationally, the animated hit added $10.8 million for an overseas total of $574.8 million and worldwide total of $882.3 million.

Things didn’t go nearly as well for Kevin Costner, whose action-thriller Criminal (Lionsgate), co-starring Ryan Reynolds, Gal Gadot and Gary Oldman, was delayed from last year yet still bombed with just $5.9 million in 2,683 theaters for a sixth place opening. With a B- CinemaScore, it’s doubtful that it will hold up well over the rest of the month either.

Seventh place went to Universal Pictures’ My Big Fat Greek Wedding with $3.3 million and $52.1 million total.

Just missing the Top 10 was the Bollywood flick Fan, which opened in 282 theaters Friday and is estimated to have grossed $1.4 million, around $5,000 per theater and possibly enough to place in the Top 12.

After running the festival gauntlet over the past year, Jeremy Saulnier’s thriller Green Room (A24), starring Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Patrick Stewart and Alia Shawkat, finally opened with $91,000 in three theaters in New York and L.A., averaging $30,000 per theater, which should be good for its nationwide expansion on April 29.

The Weinstein Company’s musical Sing Street, the new movie from Once director John Carney, opened in five theaters in New York and L.A., where it grossed just under $69,000 or $13,800 per theater.