1. Kung Fu Panda 3 (review here)- $41M
Dreamworks Animation has karate chopped another hit with Kung Fu Panda 3, although in this case the third film is somewhat lower than the first two. The animated martial arts film featuring Jack Black as the roly-poly panda, Po, opened at $41M, which is okay. Fortunately, the film opened huge in China with $57M, which makes sense given its obvious appeal to Chinese audiences. So while the domestic number is pretty average, it's important to remember the overseas numbers could save the day, and that Dreamworks films tend to stick around for the long haul.
2. The Revenant- $12.4M/$138.1M
3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens- $10.7M/$895.4M
4. The Finest Hours (review here)- $10.3M
Maybe now is a good time to call a moratorium on these sea-faring special effects-heavy dramas? After Ron Howard's In the Heart of the Sea got dumped into theaters last month and sank like a stone (thanks Star Wars!), Disney's Coast Guard rescue film The Finest Hours shipwrecked with only $10.3M. Casey Affleck and Chris Pine were the headliners for this one, but the real draw should have been the real-life event it depicted and the impressive wave-crashing production. But audiences just didn't care. Perhaps they've had enough of these movies and would rather stay on dry land?
5. Ride Along 2- $8.3M/$70.7M
6. The Boy- $7.8M/$21.5M
7. Dirty Grandpa- $7.5M/$22.8M
8. The 5th Wave- $7M/$20.1M
9. Fifty Shades of Black- $6.1M
Trending downward are the returns on Marlon Wayans' satires, with Fifty Shades of Black the lowest of the recent bunch. A few years ago Wayans plunked down a few million dollars (none of these movies are very expensive) on A Haunted House and came away with a surprising $60M. The sequel only managed $24M, and now this one, which satirizes Fifty Shades of Grey rather than Paranormal Activity, is poised to do even less. But these films are so cheap that it only takes a couple of weekends to turn a profit, an so we may see Open Road and Wayans keep this train going a while longer.
10. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi- $6M/$42.5M
