‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Repeats at No. 1 on the Box Office Charts

 16 March 2024, Australia, Sydney: Movie character "PO" poses at the Australian Premiere of "Kung Fu Panda 4" at Event Cinemas Bondi Junction on in Sydney. (dpa)
16 March 2024, Australia, Sydney: Movie character "PO" poses at the Australian Premiere of "Kung Fu Panda 4" at Event Cinemas Bondi Junction on in Sydney. (dpa)
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‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Repeats at No. 1 on the Box Office Charts

 16 March 2024, Australia, Sydney: Movie character "PO" poses at the Australian Premiere of "Kung Fu Panda 4" at Event Cinemas Bondi Junction on in Sydney. (dpa)
16 March 2024, Australia, Sydney: Movie character "PO" poses at the Australian Premiere of "Kung Fu Panda 4" at Event Cinemas Bondi Junction on in Sydney. (dpa)

“Kung Fu Panda 4” stayed at the top of the North American box office in its second weekend in theaters. The Universal and DreamWorks Animation movie earned $30 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The franchise featuring the voice of Jack Black is responsible for over $1.9 billion at the box office since it launched in 2008 and spawned several animated series, shorts, video games and a holiday special. The fourth installment, playing in 4,067 locations in North America, has already made $107.7 million domestically.

There were several new movies arriving in over 1,000 theaters (or expanding) this weekend, including Lionsgate’s Mark Wahlberg dog movie “Arthur the King,” Focus Features’ comedic satire “The American Society of Magical Negroes” and A24’s Kristen Stewart-led bodybuilding thriller “Love Lies Bleeding.”

But the charts still belonged to the franchises, including “Dune: Part Two,” which came in a very close second in its third weekend, with $29.1 million. That's down only 37% from last weekend. It’s now made $205.3 million domestically. The first film, which was released simultaneously in theaters and on streaming, capped out at around $435 million globally, while “Part Two” is already at almost $500 million worldwide.

“Arthur the King” did the best of the newcomers, landing in third place with $7.5 million from 3,003 locations. The studio went into the weekend expecting something in the $8 million to $10 million range. Its low production cost and international presales should yield profits.

Directed by Simon Cellan Jones and written by Michael Brandt, the movie is based on the true story of an adventure racer who befriends a stray dog on a perilous 435-mile trek in the Dominican Republic. Simu Liu plays one of Wahlberg’s teammates. With an A CinemaScore, the studio is hoping positive word of mouth will boost sales in the coming weeks.

“Love Lies Bleeding” opened in 1,362 locations to $2.5 million. Written and directed by Rose Glass (“Saint Maud”), it’s a pulpy ’80s-set Western thriller about an isolated gym manager (Stewart) and a bodybuilder (Katy O’Brian) passing through town.

“The American Society of Magical Negroes” opened in 1,147 theaters and made an estimated $1.3 million. According to exit data, 52% of the opening weekend audience was Black. The movie, written and directed by Kobi Libii, is a satire about a secret society of Black people dedicated to making white lives easier. Justice Smith and David Alan Grier star.

In the first weekend following the Oscars, “Poor Things” added $2.3 million globally, bumping its total to $112.6 million.

Next weekend, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire” will arrive in theaters, armed with proton packs and brand name recognition.

“When there’s not a newcomer dominating the marketplace, it makes for a rather slow weekend,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “Now we’re just waiting for ‘Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire’ and ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire.’ That combo should take us out of the month of March on a high note.”

He added: “We’re going to have to have a lot of patience until we get to May and ‘The Fall Guy’ and the summer movie season. But there’s some great movies on the way.”



English Version of Animated Chinese Hit 'Ne Zha 2' Heading to Theaters

FILE PHOTO: Michelle Yeoh poses during the Oscars arrivals at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Michelle Yeoh poses during the Oscars arrivals at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
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English Version of Animated Chinese Hit 'Ne Zha 2' Heading to Theaters

FILE PHOTO: Michelle Yeoh poses during the Oscars arrivals at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Michelle Yeoh poses during the Oscars arrivals at the 97th Academy Awards in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, US, March 2, 2025. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo

A24 and CMC Pictures are teaming up to bring an English-language version of the globally successful Chinese animated film "Ne Zha 2" to theaters in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand on August 22, the companies said on Wednesday.

The animated blockbuster "Ne Zha 2" overtook Pixar's "Inside Out 2" in February to become the highest-grossing animated film globally, according to data from ticketing platform Maoyan.

"Ne Zha 2" amassed a total box office of 12.3 billion yuan ($1.71 billion) including pre-sales and overseas earnings, making it the eighth highest box office film worldwide, Reuters reported.

The English-language cast will include Academy Award winner Michelle Yeoh. No other voice actors have been announced so far.

"I'm honored to be part of Ne Zha 2, a landmark in Chinese animation and a powerful reminder of how universal our stories can be," the Malaysian actor said in a statement.

The sequel film follows the first "Ne Zha" film from 2019 and is based on Chinese mythology.

The story follows Ne Zha, a rebellious young boy, who is feared by the gods and born to mortal parents with wild, uncontrolled powers.

He's faced with an ancient force intent on destroying humanity and must grow up to become the hero the world needs.

The film, which will be released in IMAX and 3D, was written and directed by filmmaker Yang Yu, who also developed the first movie. Over 99% of the mythological movie's box office income came from mainland China, starkly in contrast to Hollywood films, which typically rely on a more global distribution strategy.

"Ne Zha 2" is based on a 16th century Chinese novel "The Investiture of the Gods," depicting a hero boy with magic power who tried to defend Chentangguan, a fortress town.