Beauty School : Disney’s Jungle Cruise Takes Control of the Box Office

The box office received a much needed shot in the arm this weekend via Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt’s adventure film Jungle Cruise, based on the Disneyland attraction of the same name, which hauled in $34.2 million in North America, $27.6 million internationally, and $30 million from Disney+ (mostly from U.S. subscribers) for a not-too-shabby $90M opening weekend gross.

That opening nearly matches Johnson’s Rampage, which opened to $35.7 million in 2018, and surpassed Space Jam: A New Legacy’s $31 million domestic opening two weeks prior. In other words, for all the talk about how COVID is affecting the box office, it’s clear families are willing to venture to theaters to watch the latest event film.

Interestingly, Deadline reports that some around the industry aren’t too excited about Jungle Cruise‘s opening, which pales in comparison to its tentpole-sized $362 million budget (including distribution and marketing expenses). The big question is whether Jungle Cruise will continue to draw big numbers through the month of August, or if it will face a drop similar to Black Widow and Space Jam — a problem many blame on the simultaneous openings on HBO Max and Disney+.

Elsewhere, A24’s The Green Knight opened to $6.78 million from 2,790 theaters, surpassing the $6.56 million total earned by the studio’s Midsommar in 2019. Naturally, audience scores (54% fresh on RT) for the arthouse pic directly contrast critical scores (89% on RT), so it’ll be interesting to see how the fantasy epic fares in the coming weeks.

The only other new release this week was the Matt Damon vehicle Stillwater, which opened with $5.1 million from 2,531 theaters, or right in line with what Focus Features expected.

Last week’s top dogs, namely Old and Snake Eyes, dropped considerably in the second week. Old dropped 60% (on par with 2006’s Lady in the Water) for a $6.76 million total, while the G.I. Joe prequel dipped 70% and collected $4 million. All told, Shyamalan’s latest thriller has amassed $30.6 million in ten days, while Snake Eyes has collected $22.2 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP 10

1. Jungle Cruise (Dis) 4,310 theaters, Fri $13.378M/Sat $12.2M/Sun $8.5M/3-day $34.2M/Wk 1
2. The Green Knight (A24) 2,790 theaters (-25)/Fri $2.878M/3-day $6.78M Wk 1
3. Old (Uni) 3,379 theaters (+24), Fri $2.1M (-70%)/Sat $2.65M/Sun $1.99M/3-day $6.76M (-60%)/Total: $30.6M/Wk 2
4. Black Widow (Dis) 3,360 theaters (-890)/Fri $1.9M (-46%)/Sat $2.6M/Sun $1.9M/3-day $6.4M (-45%)/Total $167M/Wk 4
5. Stillwater (Foc) 2,531 theaters, Fri $1.85M/Sat $1.92M/Sun $1.35M/3-day $5.12M/ Wk 1
6. Space Jam 2 (WB) 3,501 (-501) Fri $1.34M (-57%)/Sat $1.67M/Sun $1.26M/3-day $4.265M (-55%)/Total $60.7M/Wk 3
7. Snake Eyes (Par) 3,540 (+19) Fri $1.19M/Sat $1.6M/Sun $1.19M/3-day: $4M (-70%)/Total $22.2M/Wk 2
8. F9 (Uni) 2,348 (-502) theaters Fri $760K/Sat $1.06M/Sun $830K/3-day: $2.65M (-45%)/Total $168.5M/Wk 6
9. Escape Room 2 (Sony) 2,086 (-729) Fri $670K/Sat $860K/Sun $670K 3-day $2.2M (-37%)/Total: $20.55M/Wk 3
10. Boss Baby 2 (Uni) 1,865 (-908) theaters Fri $400K/Sat $510K/Sun $390K/3-day $1.3M (-55%)/Total: $53.4M/Wk 5