Friday, October 4, 2024

Box Office: “Kung Fu Panda 4” Chops Up Friday with $20 Mil Opening, Giving Universal Quite A Weekend

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Universal Pictures is sitting pretty these days.

“Oppenheimer” is about to sweep the Oscars tomorrow. Focus Features’ “The Holdovers” is also looking good for a couple of big awards.

Now this weekend, “Kung Fu Panda 4,” is on top after a $20 million Thursday-Friday opening. Who even knew there was a “Kung Fu Panda 4”? The answer is; mothers and children.

The fourth iteration of this animated series will come close to $40 million for the weekend. Years ago, Universal sent out a Kung Fu Panda Halloween costume that I filed away somewhere. Time to see if it’s worth anything on ebay!

Focus has a bit of a flop on its hands with “Drive Away Dolls,” Ethan Coen’s lesbian road trip film, which has made around $5 million and is almost out of theaters after two weeks. But it’s early in the year, and they likely knew this one was not going to tear it up.

Meantime, A24 held an actual party for “The Zone of Interest” the other night, which is kind of macabre. This is another A24 project with lots of word of mouth but not much box office. Maybe if it wins something on Sunday that will help.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.

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