Box Office: The Panda messes with the Zohan!
Not that I particularly thought Kung Fu Panda looked that good or anything but I'm pleased to see it come out on top over Adam Sander's latest embarrassing effort. Voiced by Jack Black, Panda took home $60 million to You Don't Mess With the Zohan's slightly tamer $40 million. Both movies though were a big success and just like last year, the over saturation of summer blockbusters aren't hurting anything other than our wallets.
For Kung Fu Panda and the very familiar style of the almost video game replica computer animation, it's the highest non sequel opening they have produced and should easy go on to top $150 million. Dreamworks are certainly staying in the fight with Pixar and with each release are edging closer and closer to the same frequent openings as their rivals. 1 Kung Fu Panda (2008) $60M $60M 2 You Don't Mess with the Zohan (2008) $40M $40M 3 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) $22.8M $253M 4 Sex and the City (2008) $21.3M $99.3M 5 The Strangers (2008) $9.29M $37.6M 6 Iron Man (2008) $7.52M $289M 7 The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) $5.53M $126M 8 What Happens in Vegas... (2008) $3.4M $72.2M 9 Baby Mama (2008) $779K $57.9M 10 Made of Honor (2008) $775K $44.7M For Sandler, the $40 million is fairly consistent with his usual fare - surprisingly slighter higher than the more accessible I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry's $34 million but under the $47 million of The Longest Yard. Unsurprisingly, Sex and the City absolutely plummeted in it's second week after all those rabid fans went crazy over the first few days. It dropped 63% from it's first week with a $21.3 million taking which puts it on $99 million after ten days. Indiana Jones IV has reached the $253 million domestic total after notching up a further $22.8 million to it's kitty. It's on $579 worldwide, slightly higher than Iron Man's $538 million worldwide. Tony Stark should reach $300 million domestic before it's theatrical run as it's currently standing tall on $289 million. OPENING NEXT WEEK: It's a big clash between the rejuvenated Hulk and the hopefully rejuvenated M. Night Shyamalan. With the past record of both franchises (oh yes, M. Night is certainly a franchise) I wouldn't blame you for missing out on them both but I bet you are slightly curious, at the very least right? source - coming soon