When the movie was first announced, there were many who wondered why we needed a blockbuster, live-action/CGI remake of "The Jungle Book." But never count out Disney to know their audience, effectively market their movies, and ensure they have a high-grade product, because the studio has once again scored another big live-action hit.
Following a strong international bow last weekend, "The Jungle Book" hit stateside theaters on Friday and cleaned up with a huge $103 million opening, well above expectations. It’s the second biggest April debut in history behind "Furious 7," and overseas, the movie was a monster, too, expanding into more territories and helping bring the global weekend haul to a staggering $239.7 million. No wonder Disney felt confident about getting to work on a sequel — they knew this was gonna be big. And with an A-grade CinemaScore, this one is gonna leg out for a while. Chalk up another big win for Disney, who can’t seem to miss these days.
Underperforming slightly in second place was "Barbershop: The Next Cut." Coming more than a decade after "Barbershop 2," Warner Bros. probably had to work extra hard to stir up interest. That said, the movie took in $20 million, which is pretty much the same as the estimated budget, and with an A- Cinemascore, it should play well to the core audience in the weeks ahead. In short, it’ll keep the brand going, and turn a little profit in the end, but whether or not we’ll see more movies in the series is a question mark.
Tanking in sixth place was "Criminal," the thriller starring Kevin Costner, Gary Oldman, Gal Gadot, and Ryan Reynolds. Earning a shade under $6 million, Lionsgate struggled to make anyone care about the high-concept movie, and this will likely tumble out of the top 10 in the next couple of weeks. The studio might as well get the home-video release ready.
Elsewhere, "Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice" continued to fall, dropping another -61% and falling into fourth place with $9 million. The movie is currently on track to finish its run at $875 million worldwide, which isn’t a failure, but is surely a disappointment for the studio that expected bigger things (i.e. $1 billion). The pressure will certain be on Zack Snyder to knock the currently filming "Justice League" out of the park.
In limited release, "Green Room" is off to a very strong start, taking $91,000 on three screens for an excellent $30,333 per screen average. "Sing Street" scored $68,979 on five screens for a $13,796 PSA, while "Measure Of A Man" earned $11,391 on two screens.