NORTH AMERICA: Weekend Actuals: ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ Remains #1 with $21.24M; ‘Hail, Caesar!’ Debuts in Second with $11.36M; ‘The Force Awakens’ Passes $900M After $6.97M Take

Kung Fu Panda 3 continued to comfortably lead the box office with $21.24 million over Super Bowl weekend. The 3D computer animated sequel from Fox and DreamWorks Animation was down a sizable 49 percent from last weekend’s debut. Without adjusting for ticket price inflation, Kung Fu Panda 3 registered the ninth largest Super Bowl weekend performance of all-time. Kung Fu Panda 3 has grossed $69.29 million in ten days of release. That is below expectations and places the film 24 percent behind the $90.73 million ten-day take of last year’s Hotel Transylvania 2 (which fell 31.5 percent in its second weekend to gross $33.19 million). With no new family films entering the marketplace next weekend, Kung Fu Panda 3 is likely to hold up very well over the Presidents Day holiday frame.

Universal’s Hail, Caesar! debuted in second place with $11.36 million. The Coen Brothers directed film featuring Josh Brolin and George Clooney opened in line with pre-release expectations, which were kept in check a bit by the film’s relatively modest location count and its Super Bowl weekend launch. Compared to previous collaborations between The Coen Brothers and Clooney, Hail, Caesar debuted 41 percent below the $19.13 million opening of 2008’s Burn After Reading and instead opened more in line with the $12.53 million start of 2003’s Intolerable Cruelty. Normally Hail, Caesar! would be a prime candidate for strong holding power (especially after opening against the Super Bowl), but that may not ultimately be the case for the film going forward given both its poor C- rating on CinemaScore and 48 percent current audience score on Flixster.

Disney’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens placed in third with $6.97 million. In the process, the seventh chapter of the Star Wars franchise surpassed the $900 million domestic mark, making it the first film ever to do so without taking into account ticket price inflation. The 52-day total for The Force Awakens stands at a massive $906.04 million. When adjusting for ticket price inflation, The Force Awakens ranks as the ninth highest grossing film on the all-time adjusted domestic list. The Force Awakens was down 37 percent from last weekend, which represented the weekend’s strongest percentage hold among wide releases. Star Wars: The Force Awakens also passed the $2 billion global mark this weekend, making it just the third film ever to do so (joining 2009’s Avatar and 1997’s Titanic).

Fox’s The Revenant claimed fourth place with $6.94 million. The Alejandro González Iñárritu directed western starring Leonardo DiCaprio fell a respectable 46 percent from last weekend and trailed The Force Awakens by a slim $33,521 for the frame. The Revenant is now on the verge of crossing the $150 million mark with $149.54 million after 31 days of wide release (and an additional two weeks of platform release). The film is currently running an impressive 29 percent ahead of the $115.75 million 31-day take of 2010’s Shutter Island.

Lionsgate’s The Choice rounded out the weekend’s top five with $6.05 million. The Nicholas Sparks adaptation starring Benjamin Walker and Teresa Palmer debuted below its already modest expectations and delivered the smallest opening weekend take ever for a Sparks adaptation. The Choice opened 39.5 percent softer than the $10.00 million start of 2014’s The Best of Me, which previously represented the softest opening weekend performance for a Sparks adaptation. Given the performances of The Best of Me, last year’s The Longest Ride and now The Choice, it’s clear that Sparks adaptations aren’t anywhere near as popular as they were only a few years ago. On a positive note, The Choice did receive a solid B+ rating on CinemaScore (which represented the strongest score among this weekend’s three new releases), and currently has a 65 percent audience score on Flixster. The Choice is also likely to receive some help next weekend from Valentine’s Day.

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies followed in sixth place with an even more disappointing debut of $5.32 million. The horror romance hybrid from Sony and Screen Gems had been widely expected to get off to a stronger start thanks in part to the fanbase of the 2009 Seth Grahame-Smith novel the film was adapted from. Ultimately audiences clearly weren’t interested, as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies opened a very underwhelming 67 percent below the $16.31 million start of 2012’s Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (which was also adapted from a Seth Grahame-Smith novel). Reaction to the film also appears to be underwhelming as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies received a B- rating on CinemaScore and has a current audience score of 62 percent on Flixster.