1. The Jungle Book (review here) - $103.5M
Maybe Disney should start a whole "talking animals" division? With the animated Zootopia still in theaters and performing extremely well, now they can add Jon Favreau's live-action The Jungle Book to the list of blockbuster favorites. The film earned a huge $103.5M, the second biggest April debut ever behind last year's Furious 7, which had an incredible $147M. Plus a whopping $187M overseas, the film has amassed $290M worldwide. While Disney gets a lot of attention, and rightfully so, for Marvel and Star Wars, their live-action fairy tale remakes are perhaps an even bigger story with Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, and Cinderella all cashing in big time with plenty more on the way. And this further solidifies Favreau as the go-to director for visually pleasing movies for all ages. It's not too crazy to credit him for setting the tone of the entire Marvel universe with two all-ages Iron Man movies. The Jungle Book had the benefit of an A-list voice cast (Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, and more) and some gorgeous promos that emphasized all of the film's strengths while keeping hidden that it's considerably darker than some parents may expect. That said, the film still has an 'A' Cinemascore so that hasn't turned anybody off. So what's next? A Baloo spinoff with Bill Murray? Don't laugh; it's probably not too far out of the question.
2. Barbershop: The Next Cut (review here)- $20.2M
14 years after the first Barbershop opened with $20M, Barbershop 3: The Next Cut debuts with nearly the same. That's less than 2004's Barbershop 2: Back in Business' $24M, so this may be looked at as a disappointment. Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Regina Hall, and much of the original cast are back for this one, along with some high-profile additions like Common and Nicki Minaj. But the biggest change may be in the tone, as the film uses humor to tackle the serious issue of Chicago gang violence. It's still funny and will appeal to the dedicated fanbase, who will undoubtedly push this one to about $60-$70M just as the other movies did, but it's not the kind of storyline that reaches out and grabs new audiences. Besides, the Barbershop films are perhaps the speediest to hit the home release market and some may have decided it's a better idea to just wait.
3. The Boss- $10.1M/$40.3M
Melissa McCarthy's latest laugher, The Boss, slid 57% with $10.1M in its second weekend. The $40.3M total is lower than some of her previous hits, and it's looking like this one won't be quite as strong, so it's a good thing it only cost $29M.
4. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice- $9M/$311.3M
5. Zootopia- $8.2M/$307.4M
6. Criminal (review here)- $5.8M
The funniest part about the promos for the body-swapping crime flick Criminal has been its focus on supporting players Gal Gadot aka Wonder Woman and Ryan Reynolds aka Deadpool. Hmmm...why might that be? The shameless appealing to fanboys didn't work as the Kevin Costner-led flick opened with only $5.8M. The film also stars Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Oldman so the cast for this one was great all around. Reviews have been pretty terrible for the most part, though, and along with the weak box office this is becoming a pattern for Costner movies. Maybe he should stick to getting killed in superhero movies for a while?
7. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2- $3.2M/$52M
8. Miracles from Heaven- $1.9M/$56.9M
9. God's Not Dead 2- $1.7M/$16.9M
10. Eye In the Sky- $1.5M/$13.1M
