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Posted March 7, 2016 by Seth Paul in News
 
 

Box Office Weekend: Zootopia Tops with Audiences


Earning critical praise and audience acclaim was not enough…Zootopia, the latest from Disney, also took the mantle of highest opening weekend for an animated Disney film (at least, not involving Pixar) with an estimated $73.7 million. Not looking quite so tall was second-place finisher London Has Fallen. Despite Zootopia Postercritical bashing and a fairly weak opening weekend estimate of $21.7 million on a $60 million budget, it managed to top the wildly successful Deadpool for the weekend (estimated $16.4 million, and a whopping $311.2 million domestic gross).

In fourth, the Tina Fey comedy/drama Whiskey Tango Foxtrot held up well enough with critics, but failed to make much headway at the box office. At an estimated $7.6 million, it fell well short of its $35 million budget…but at least it has a faint glimmer of hope, unlike fifth-place finisher Gods of Egypt. Falling to fifth from its second-place perch last week with an estimated $5 million, the $140-million blockbuster has failed to bust any blocks, making back only half that amount worldwide, and likely to be the first (and potentially largest) bomb of 2016. Even the struggling Risen, with an estimated $3.9 million, has much less ground to cover, with only a $20 million budget to try and make up.

Kung Fu Panda 3 remains as solid as ever, an estimated $3.5 million making it mild success (if worldwide gross is counted), while The Revenant and its estimated $3.3 million continue to make the Oscar winner a verifiable worldwide success. Eddie the Eagle, in the meantime, is belly flopping despite good reviews, an estimated $3.1 million not enough to keep its $10.9 million in total earnings from being the second-lowest earning film on the top ten. Finally, The Witch ends its third week (and potential time on the top ten list) earning an estimated $2.5 million, $20.9 million in domestic totals, and that rarest of awards, an early year horror release with critical acclaim.

Weekend Box Office (March 4th – March 6th)

  1. Zootopia…$73.7 million
  2. London Has Fallen…$21.7 million
  3. Deadpool…$16.4 million
  4. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…$7.6 million
  5. Gods of Egypt…$5 million
  6. Risen…$3.9 million
  7. Kung Fu Panda 3…$3.5 million
  8. The Revenant…$3.3 million
  9. Eddie the Eagle…$3.1 million
  10. The Witch…$2.5 million
Seth Paul

Seth Paul

When not failing to write novels and screenplays, box-office guru Seth writes humorous comedy tracks for films under the name "The One Man Band" that can be found at Rifftrax.com. Although, he has recently succeeded in writing the novella "Jack Alan and the Case of the Not-Exactly Rocket Scientists," available as an eBook on Amazon. He is also the English voice of Zak in "Zak McKracken: Between Time and Space."