Fu Fighter

The CG all star animated flick Kung Fu Panda proved too much for Adam Sandler's You Don't Mess With The Zohan. over the weekend...That doesn't mean that the "Sand"man should be sad though...



Pamela McClintock of Variety:

Turns out you don't mess with a panda who knows kung fu.

DreamWorks Animation and Paramount's "Kung Fu Panda" easily won the weekend box office, grossing an estimated $60 million from 4,114 theaters and delivering the best opening ever for a DreamWorks Animation original pic. Only toon to have opened higher was "Shrek the Third" ($121.6 million).

That didn't mean there wasn't plenty left over for Sony's Adam Sandler laffer "You Don't Mess with the Zohan." Irreverent PG-13 comedy opened to an estimated $40 million from 3,462 runs, further solidifying Sandler's reputation for turning out consistent B.O. hits.

Elsewhere, New Line and Warner Bros.' "Sex and the City" all but jumped the $100 million mark at the domestic box office in only its second weekend, although it still saw a sizeable decline of 63% to an estimated $22.8 million from 4,190 runs for a cume of $99.3 million.

Paramount's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" crossed the $250 million mark at the B.O. and narrowly beat out "Sex and the City" to come in No. 3. Tentpole declined 49% to an estimated $22.8 million from 4,190 screens in its third frame for a cume of $253 million.

Universal and Rogue's horror pic "The Strangers" placed No. 5, declining 56% in its second weekend to an estimated $9.3 million from 2,477 runs for a cume of $37.6 million.

"Zohan" and "Panda" proved a potent combo in terms of overall B.O. perf.

Weekend was up more than 30% over the same frame last year, when "Ocean's Thirteen" led with a $36.1 million opening, but toon "Surf's Up" only opened to $17.6 million.

Some had expected a closer contest between "Zohan" and "Panda," but "Panda"--toplining the voice of Jack Black--far exceeded expectations.

On the specialty side, Picturehouse's "Mongol" scored the best per screen average of the weekend. Film grossed an estimated $133,136 as it opened in five theaters in Los Angeles and Gotham for a per location average of $26,627, besting "Panda's" per location average of $14,584....

Joshua Rich of EW:

Jack Black's animated film grossed $60 mil to beat ''You Don't Mess With the Zohan'' and win the weekend ...

Read More...