The Denver Gazette

‘Jungle Cruise’ sails atop box office

The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES • Despite growing concerns over the delta variant, “Jungle Cruise” still drew moviegoers out to theaters during the film’s opening weekend to sail atop the North American box office.

The Disney film starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt exceeded expectations by pulling in more than $34.1 million over the weekend. The adventure movie was estimated to open with around $25 million to $30 million domestically, but it outpaced those numbers despite the surge in the coronavirus cases.

Globally, “Jungle Cruise” brought in a total of $90 million, including $27.6 million in the international box office and more than $30 million from Disney Plus.

“In this pandemic-challenged market place, it overperformed,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “It didn’t really seem like the streaming component hurt the box office in any significant way. ”

“Jungle Cruise” also earned five times more than “The Green Knight,” which came in at No. 2 with $6.78 million. The A24 film starring Dev Patel barely edged M. Night Shyamalan’s “Old,” which had $6.76 million after scoring the top spot last weekend.

“Black Widow” placed fourth with$6.4 million after a past week of turmoil between Disney and the film’s lead, Scarlett Johansson.

The actor sued the studio over the film’s streaming release, which she said breached her contract and deprived her of potential earnings.

Disney responded to Johansson’s claim saying she received $20 million in compensation and that she benefited from Disney Plus’ revenue.

Matt Damon’s “Stillwater” opened at No. 5 with $5.1 million.

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2021-08-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-08-03T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.denvergazette.com/article/282175064162820

The Gazette, Colorado Springs