The thawing of the winter box office continues this weekend with Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 which is bound to see the franchise’s second highest domestic opening at $50M+ at 3,900 theaters after the original 2008 movie ($60.2M). But that’s not all, it’s also the second biggest start for a DWA title after Universal acquired the label from its 20th Century Fox distribution deal; the biggest during Universal’s 2.0 with DWA being How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World which debuted to $55M in March 2019. Kung Fu Panda 4 is skewing among males and females under 25. Previews start Thursday at 2PM. No RT review rating yet.
Legendary Entertainment/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two keeps humming with $8.1M yesterday off bargain Tuesdays, +12% over Monday, for a running total through five days of $98M. The Zendaya-Timothee Chalamet-Austin Butler-Josh Brolin-Florence Pugh space worm epic will cross $100M today in its sixth day at the box office. Many expect an ease in the low 50% percentile. We’ve heard that second weekend presales in Imax look great, so expected around $39M.
More depth to the box office chart: Lionsgate has the Blumhouse PG-13 title Imaginary about a teddy bear that terrorizes a family booked at 3,000 theaters. The $10M feature production has a shot at opening to $10M-$14M. Universal has a first look on Blumhouse titles, I understand, and opted not to release. Blumhouse shopped the movie and it wound up at Lionsgate given the longstanding relationship of Jason Blum and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group Chair Adam Fogelson, who both worked together when the latter was Universal Pictures Chairman. Blumhouse’s The Gift was also the first theatrical release for STX Entertainment back in 2016, which Fogelson also ran. The movie from Truth or Dare and Fantasy Island filmmaker Jeff Wadlow stars and was executive produced by DeWanda Wise. In materials, Lionsgate has positioned Imaginary as being akin to a M3GAN, Blumhouse’s big hit from last year. Women under 25 are the key crowd. Previews start tomorrow at 6PM. No RT reviews yet.
Angel Studio’s has the nun biopic Cabrini from Sound of Freedom filmmaker Alejandro Monteverde about the immigrant woman who comes to NYC in the late 1800s, overcomes poor health and misogyny and builds an empire of hope to become a patron saint. It’s booked at 2,500 theaters, start previews on Thursday at 6PM (in addition to a few paid previews tonight) and is shaping up for a mid-single digit to $10M opening. Pic stars John Lithgow and David Morse along with Italian actress Cristiana Dell’Anna, who plays Mother Francesca Cabrini. The pic is 96% fresh with critics on Rotten Tomatoes. Cabrini is tracking with women 35 and up.
Also looking to warm up arthouses this spring is A24’s Sundance World Premiere, Love Lies Bleeding, from Rose Glass and starring Kristen Stewart and Katy O’Brian as a gym manager and amateur bodybuilder who go up against the former’s gun-running evil father. At 91% fresh with critics on RT, the pic is shaping up as something special. This weekend it’s booked at five NYC (AMC Lincoln Square and Regal Union Square) and LA (AMC’s Grove, Burbank, and Century City) theaters. Expect a per screen between $30K-$50K. Love Lies Bleeding expands next weekend in north of a 1,000 theaters nationwide.