'Kung Fu Panda 3' kicks 'The Revenant'

LOS ANGELES (AP):

Kung Fu Panda 3 kicked its way to the top of the North American box office with a respectable US$41 million, according to Rentrak estimates yesterday.

The DreamWorks Animation film cost a reported US$145 million to make and earned a strong 'A' CinemaScore from audiences, 70 per cent of whom were families.

The animated sequel also fared much better than the weekend's other new openers, like Disney's coastguard adventure The Finest Hours, which debuted in fourth place with US$10.3 million.

Based on a real-life 1952 rescue mission, The Finest Hours stars Chris Pine, Casey Affleck and Ben Foster, and cost around US$80 million to make.

The Fifty Shades of Grey parody, Fifty Shades of Black, earned a modest US$6.2 million, but it only cost a reported $5 million to produce. Marlon Wayans co-wrote, stars in and produced the R-rated take-off.

The Weinstein Company's Natalie Portman-led Western Jane Got a Gun misfired out of the gates, bringing in only US$803,000 on a US$25 million budget.

Overall, there wasn't much space for newcomers, with strong holdovers like The Revenant and Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which took second and third place with US$12.4 million and US$10.8 million, respectively. Both fell only 23 per cent from last weekend.

Following are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through yesterday at US and Canadian cinemas, according to Rentrak. Final domestic figures will be released today.

1. Kung Fu Panda 3, US$41m

2. The Revenant, US$12.4m.

3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens, US$10.8m

4. The Finest Hours, US$10.3m

5. Ride Along 2, US$8.3m

6. The Boy, US$7.9m

7. Dirty Grandpa, US$7.6m

8. The 5th Wave, US$7m

9. Fifty Shades of Black, US$6.2m

10. 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi, US$6m