Box Office: ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Makes $3.8 Million in Previews

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter What happens when two otherworldly beasts team up to take on the box office? Theater owners will find out this weekend as “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” touches down in North America. The monster mashup, from Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment, is targeting $50 million to $55 million from 3,850 theaters in its first weekend of release.

Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 had a rock ‘em sock ‘em weekend at the international box office, adding $55.3M from 69 markets for a $135M overseas running cume, and $268.2M global (there are several key markets still to release, including France, Australia, the UK and Korea). 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ opened on top of the mainland China box office in its first official week of release. But its debut was soft and led the market to one of its quietest weekends of the year. The Universal-DreamWorks Animation picture earned $14.7 million (RMB105 million) between Friday and Sunday, according to data provided by consultancy firm Artisan Gateway.

Jordan Moreau Ghostbusting is back at the box office! “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire,” the fifth and latest movie in the frightening franchise, has made $4.7 million at the box office in Thursday previews. Sony and Columbia Pictures’ new movie, which reunites the original stars of the ’80s classic and the cast from the 2021 “Afterlife” sequel, is expected to top the box office this weekend with an opening between $43 million and $45 million. That launch is in line with the previous film that revived the franchise, “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” which had a $45 million opening amid the pandemic.

Coming out of the weekend, and with Sunday’s actuals and Monday’s numbers included, there are new global milestones to celebrate for the two major Hollywood titles currently in release.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Previews for Universal Pictures and Dreamworks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” put the Chinese-themed film in fourth place at the mainland China box office, a week ahead of its official theatrical debut. Over the March 15-17 weekend, however, first and second places remained with holdover titles “The Pig, The Snake and the Pigeon” and “Dune: Part Two.” Taiwanese crime film “The Pig, The Snake and the Pigeon,” already playing on Netflix in territories outside China, topped the mainland China chart for the third successive weekend. According to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway, it earned $11.1 million (RMB79.1 million), for a cumulative of $73.2 million (RMB520 million).

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The South Korean box office had a familiar look. Dark drama, “Exhuma” dominated the chart with a more than 50% market share for the fourth weekend in a row. And, for the third successive weekend, “Dune 2” placed second. “Exhuma,” about two shaman, a feng shui master and a mortician who attempt to reverse the mysterious events happening to a U.S.-based Korean family, earned $5.80 million between Friday and Sunday.

“Kung Fu Panda 4 ” stayed at the top of the North American box office in its second weekend in theaters. The Universal and DreamWorks Animation movie earned $30 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.The franchise featuring the voice of Jack Black is responsible for over $1.9 billion at the box office since it launched in 2008 and spawned several animated series, shorts, video games and a holiday special.

With a solid offshore hold, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two is closing in on $500M globally. The overseas weekend brought in $51.2M across 73 markets, a 40% drop versus last session (-37% excluding China). The international box office cume through Sunday is $289.4M, and worldwide the running total is $494.7M. The latter figure means the film has already surpassed Villeneuve’s 2021 Dune worldwide.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “Kung Fu Panda 4” remained victorious at the domestic box office, collecting a solid $30 million in its second weekend of release. After 10 days on the big screen, the animated family film has grossed $107.7 million in North America and $176.5 million globally. Those ticket sales easily surpassed the debut of Mark Wahlberg’s canine drama “Arthur the King,” which opened in third place.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.. Domestically, the film’s made more than $86.5 million in its first two weeks in theaters.The Post said that Jack Black-helmed feature, “while nice enough, suggests that the smartest move would be to let the fuzzy guy retire to a calming bamboo forest rather than embark on yet another predictable adventure.”“Dune: Part Two” — director Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi desert flick — managed to hold onto the #2 spot during its third week of release, taking in $8.15 million.“Arthur the King” on Friday sold more than $3 million in tickets, nabbing the No.

In a frame that will see Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 rally with a second weekend take of around $30M (-48%), three wide entries hit cinemas, the biggest being Lionsgate’s Mark Wahlberg canine sports movie Arthur the King with an eye on $8M-$10M at 3,003 locations. The movie directed by Simon Cellan Jones made $825K in previews last night, which bests the $550K previews made by Wahlberg’s 2018 movie, Instant Family, that movie opening in a very pre-pandemic, pre Thanksgiving period to $14.5M.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Mark Wahlberg’s canine drama “Arthur the King” opens in cinemas on Friday, but it may not have enough bite to top domestic box office charts. Lionsgate’s film, a feel-good story about a man who befriends a wounded stray dog, is targeting a debut of $8 million to $10 million from 3,000 North American theaters. It’s a so-so start for the roughly $20 million-budgeted movie.

LOS ANGELES — As Universal Pictures prepared for a big night at the Academy Awards with “Oppenheimer,” the studio also celebrated the No. 1 debut of “Kung Fu Panda 4,” which collected $58.3 million in domestic theaters over the weekend, according to estimates Sunday.“Kung Fu Panda 4,” the first film in the DreamWorks Animation franchise since the third installment in 2016, got off to a better start than all but the 2008 original.

There’s no love lost for Kung Fu Panda!

Warner Bros/Legendary Entertainment’s Dune: Part Two held strongly in its sophomore session at the international box office, adding $81M to handily cross the $200M overseas milestone, and reaching $367.5M globally.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Kung Fu Panda 4” topped the domestic box office, earning a solid $58.3 million from 4,035 theaters in its opening weekend. It marks the biggest debut of the franchise since the original, 2008’s “Kung Fu Panda” ($60 million), overtaking the start of the two prior entries, 2016’s “Kung Fu Panda 3” ($41 million) and 2011’s “Kung Fu Panda 2” ($47.6 million), not adjusted for inflation. Internationally, the fourth film in the martial arts-inspired animated comedy collected $22 million from 41 markets for a global tally of $80 million.

J. Kim Murphy It’s been nearly three months since an animated wide release hit theaters, the last being Illumination’s “Migration” over the holidays. That’s a little bit frightening, but with some expert timing “Kung Fu Panda 4” has arrived, benefitting from a lack of competition for family audiences to score some strong numbers in its debut.

Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 grossed $3.8M in Thursday night previews that began at 2PM yesterday, a figure that KOs the preview figure of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ($3M), which stands as the best opening for a DWA title since Universal acquired the studio. How to Train Your Dragon 3 opened to $55M after a $17.3M Friday. The outlook for the fourthquel this weekend is north of $50M for the No. 1 spot. Rotten Tomatoes’ audience score of 82% is ahead of the movie’s critical score of 72% fresh.

The thawing of the winter box office continues this weekend with Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 which is bound to see the franchise’s second highest domestic opening at $50M+ at 3,900 theaters after the original 2008 movie ($60.2M). But that’s not all, it’s also the second biggest start for a DWA title after Universal acquired the label from its 20th Century Fox distribution deal; the biggest during Universal’s 2.0 with DWA being How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World which debuted to $55M in March 2019. Kung Fu Panda 4 is skewing among males and females under 25. Previews start Thursday at 2PM. No RT review rating yet.