Box Office Buzz: Kung Fu Panda 4 Reigns Supreme, Arthur the King Struggles

The fourth offering by Universal and DreamWorks Animation, “Kung Fu Panda 4,” has still continued to lead the domestic ticket window, having doubled in size during its second weekend at the box office. Add in the big numbers, and the animated family film stands with a total run of $107.7 million and a terrific $176.5 million worldwide after just ten days of release.

Mark Wahlberg’s drama “Arthur the King” managed only a modest debut and stumbled into the third position, collecting a pitiable $7.5 million from 3,003 sites. Opening to somewhat warm reviews (okay for January, 64% on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it an “A” grade on CinemaScore, maybe just eschewing the warm and fuzzy narrative. But, certainly, an opening in the high single-millions would seem somewhat ‘lite’ for a film carrying a reported $19 million production budget.

Another wide-release newcomer, Focus Features and Working Title’s comedy “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” barely broke into the top ten with $1.25 million from over 1,600 locations. Another sorely hitting, with rare exceptions, comedy among moviegoers came in the form of the Kobi Libii-directed comedy starring Justice Smith and David Alan Grier.

“Dune: Part Two” continued to bring in the hits at number two, with $29 million from 3,847 locations opening. The sci-fi sequel, continuing into its third weekend, slipped a meager 37% relative to the last frame, putting the film over the $400 million mark in total grosses worldwide.

The impetus for such excitement is Sony’s forthcoming slate, which includes “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” on March 22 and “Godzilla vs. Kong: The New Empire” a week later, on March 29, freshening up the cinemas and possibly lifting the fortunes of the business between now and month’s end.