Box Office Report: ‘Kung Fu Panda’ And ‘Dune’ Deliver An Impressive One-Two Punch

Box Office analysis is provided by Daniel Garris of BoxOfficeReport.com.

Weekend Box Office Report: March 8th, 2024 to March 10th, 2024

Universal and DreamWorks Animation's Kung Fu Panda 4 had a very impressive first place debut of $57.99 million this weekend. The fourth theatrical release in the Kung Fu Panda series exceeded expectations, which had tended to be closer to the area of $50 million heading into the weekend and opened an impressive 40.5 percent stronger than the $41.28 million launch of Kung Fu Panda 3 back in January of 2016. Kung Fu Panda 4 also outpaced the $47.66 million three-day opening weekend of Kung Fu Panda 2 back in May of 2011, but opened just below the $60.24 million launch of the original Kung Fu Panda back in June of 2008. Kung Fu Panda 4 delivered the largest opening weekend ever for a DreamWorks Animation film released by Universal (a mark that was previously held by 2019's How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World with $55.02 million) and also had the highest grossing opening weekend for a DreamWorks Animation film since the $60.32 million start of Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted back in June of 2012. Kung Fu Panda 4 having a large amount of average showtimes per location (thanks in part to the film's 94 minute run-time), being the first true new family film to receive a wide theatrical release since Christmas and eight years of ticket price inflation since the release of the previous Kung Fu Panda film, are all factors that helped out Kung Fu Panda 4 at the box office this weekend.

Kung Fu Panda 4 started out with $19.45 million on Friday (which included an estimated $3.8 million from Thursday preview shows that began at 2PM), increased 17.5 percent on Saturday to gross $22.85 million and declined 31.4 percent on Sunday to take in $15.69 million. Kung Fu Panda 4 had four-quadrant appeal this weekend, as the film skewed 56 percent male, 44 percent female, 56 percent under 25 and 44 percent over 25. On the average, critical reviews for Kung Fu Panda 4 have been good, but not great. Kung Fu Panda 4 looks to be going over a tad better with audiences after receiving a healthy A- rating on CinemaScore, though at the same time that was also just below the A CinemaScore ratings received by both Kung Fu Panda 2 and Kung Fu Panda 3. Going forward, Kung Fu Panda 4 should benefit from there being very few new upcoming options for family audiences over the next couple months.

Internationally, Kung Fu Panda 4 started out with $23.7 million this weekend from 41 select international markets. The global start for Kung Fu Panda 4 stands at $81.7 million. It should be noted that Kung Fu Panda 4 didn't open in nearly all of the larger international markets this weekend, as the film will have a staggered international release throughout the rest of March. Opening weekend performances for Kung Fu Panda 4 by international market included $3.1 million in Spain, $2.4 million in Malaysia, $2.2 million in Indonesia, $1.9 million in Vietnam, $1.8 million in Poland, $1.3 million in Argentina, $1.2 million in Kazakhstan, $1.2 million in Denmark and $1.1 million in Chile. This coming Thursday (March 14), Kung Fu Panda 4 will open in Germany and Mexico.

While it had to settle for second place this weekend, Warner Bros. and Legendary's Dune: Part Two nonetheless had a terrific second weekend hold by declining 44.0 percent to take in $46.22 million. Dune: Part Two had an especially strong second weekend hold for an event film sequel. In comparison, back in October of 2021 Dune declined 62.4 percent in its second weekend to gross $15.41 million. The second weekend hold of Dune: Part Two was much more in line with the second weekend hold of last year's Oppenheimer, which declined 43.4 percent to gross $46.71 million in its second weekend. With a ten-day domestic take of $157.24 million, Dune: Part Two has already zoomed past the $108.33 million final total domestic gross of Dune (2021) and is running just 9.9 percent behind the $174.57 million ten-day start of Oppenheimer (due in part to Oppenheimer having the benefit of stronger summer midweek business). Dune: Part Two continued to benefit in a big way from strong IMAX grosses, as the film took in an estimated $11.0 million from domestic IMAX screens this weekend. That brings the domestic IMAX total for Dune: Part Two to $36.7 million, which represents a very significant 23.3 percent of the film's overall domestic gross to date.

Internationally, Dune: Part Two grossed $82.1 million this weekend from 72 international markets. That brings the film's international total to $212.4 million and current global haul to $369.6 million. This weekend's international performance included a $19.6 million debut in China. Additional totals for Dune: Part Two by international market through Sunday include $24.4 million in the United Kingdom, $19.6 million in France, $18.2 million in Germany, $11.6 million in Australia, $10.9 million in South Korea, $7.5 million in Spain, $7.4 million in Italy, $7.2 million in Mexico, $5.7 million in Poland, $5.0 million in the Netherlands and $4.3 million in Taiwan. Dune: Part Two grossed an estimated $16.7 million from international IMAX screens this weekend (including $6.5 million from China). Through Sunday, IMAX totals for Dune: Part Two stand at $35.8 million internationally and at $72.4 million globally. Dune: Part Two will open in Japan this coming Friday (March 15).

Lionsgate and Blumhouse's Imaginary debuted in third place with $9.91 million. The PG-13 horror film opened towards the lower end of consensus expectations. Imaginary was also off to a softer than usual start for both a horror film from Blumhouse and a PG-13 horror film in general. On a positive note, Imaginary was still off to a decent start with the film's modest production budget in mind. There just never seemed to be all that much interest in Imaginary and the film's late-hitting poor critical reviews didn't help matters either. Imaginary also doesn't look to be going over all that well with audiences given that the film received a C+ rating on CinemaScore, though at the same time the film's 8.5 percent increase from Friday on Saturday was a more promising early sign for Imaginary going forward.

Angel Studios' Cabrini started out in fourth place with $7.17 million. While that was pretty much in the middle of consensus expectations for the film, at the same time Cabrini failed to break out at all this weekend, which had been a possibility given relatively strong pre-sales and that the film represents the first follow-up to last year's Sound of Freedom for director Alejandro Gómez Monteverde. After a $3.09 million start on Friday, Cabrini decreased 23.8 percent on Saturday to gross $2.35 million, which suggests that the film's Friday performance received a boost from International Women's Day. Cabrini will have a chance of holding up well going forward, thanks in part to strong critical reviews, strong initial word of mouth (the film received an A rating on CinemaScore) and the lead-up to the Easter holiday.
Paramount's Bob Marley: One Love rounded out this weekend's top five with $4.08 million. That represented a respectable 45.1 percent decline from last weekend. The 24-day total domestic gross for Bob Marley: One Love stands at a healthy $89.35 million. Bob Marley: One Love is still in good shape to eventually cross the $100 million domestic mark, though after this weekend's hold it's also not quite a lock either.

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