Weekend box office: The Jungle Book easily opens on top

Brad Sturdivant April 17th, 2016

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Disney’s live action version of THE JUNGLE BOOK (click the link to read our review), mainly because it seemed too dark for little kids and a little too reliant on CGI animals. But you can’t always judge a movie by its trailer and as it turns out, the movie was pretty enjoyable and audiences seemed to flock to it, to the tune of over $85 million at the weekend box office. That’s one of the highest April openings ever, but not good enough to beat CAPTAIN AMERICA: WINTER SOLDIER ($95m) or FURIOUS 7 ($147m). Still, not bad for a movie that came into the weekend with a lot of question marks. Audiences seem to love it and it will definitely clean up on home video. BARBERSHOP: THE NEXT CUT opened with just over $20 million, which is disappointing compared to the other films in the series, but still not a bad haul for the modestly budgeted film. Finally, there was Kevin Costner’s CRIMINAL, which couldn’t crack the top five. Some are saying that’s disappointing, but I don’t think this was a movie that was really expected to do much damage at the theater. It’s more of a direct to video film.

Next week sees the release of THE HUNTSMAN: WINTER’S WAR, which is kind of a prequel to the original SNOW WHITE AND THE HUNTSMAN. I enjoyed the original and was surprised by it, but I’m not sure it warranted a sequel/prequel. As great as Chris Hemsworth is, he’s struggled to bring audiences in when he’s not wielding Mjolnir. Given how well reviewed THE JUNGLE BOOK has been, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it retain a lot of its audience and take the top spot again next week, with Huntsman coming in second place. Note: the numbers below will be updated as they become final.

Update: Early estimates were way off. THE JUNGLE BOOK ended up with just over $103 million, giving it the second largest April opening ever.

1. The Jungle Book $103.2m

2. Barbershop: The Next Cut $20.4m

3. The Boss $10.1m

4. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice $8.5m

5. Zootopia $7.5mHardcore Henry $5.2m

6. Criminal $6.1m

7. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 $3.3m

8. Miracles From Heaven $2m

9. God’s Not Dead 2 $1.8m

10. Eye in the Sky $1.5m

(Deadline)