‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ Scores Biggest Animated Film Opening in China

Kung Fu Panda 3 kicked its way to the top of the North American box office over the weekend, bouncing The Revenant to the number two spot, industry estimates showed yesterday.

Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation CEO said that he personally chose Chou not only because he was a top musician in China but because his style is suitable for the film’s concept.

The latest sequel, which is distributed domestically by Fox, features the return of Jack Black as the voice of Po, the portly but heroic panda bear, as well as vocal contributions by Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu and Bryan Cranston.

“‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ truly filled a void in a marketplace that has been chock-full of adult dramas, awards-season contenders and other R-rated fare, and capitalized on this with a move from the typical summer release date”, says Rentrak senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Kung Fu Panda 3 landed in first with a $41 million opening take. The $80 million production is a dramatization of the true-life Coast Guard rescue of over 30 men off the coast of Cape Cod in 1952 and stars Chris Pine, Casey Affleck and Eric Bana.

It’s a win, win weekend with the release of “The Finest Hours” and “Kung Fu Panda 3“.

“The Revenant” was in second place with an estimated 12.4 million dollars in sales this weekend, which was down a slim 23 percent compared with last week’s ticket sales. The good news: The parody cost a modest $5 million to make.

And Disney’s (DIS) “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” nabbed third with $10.7 million in its seventh weekend. The $25 million film has a much smaller footprint than the other new movies, playing in just 1,210 theaters, but grossed a dismal $830,000 – by far the worst showing of Portman’s career. The movie’s domestic total through Sunday is a projected $895 million.

The critically eviscerated spoof of Fifty Shades of Black from Marlon Wayans was expected to open around $10 million.