‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ Opens #1 in Both U.S. and China

Kung Fu Panda 3 dominated on both sides of the Pacific last weekend, scoring a number one launch in the United States and a record-breaking number one launch in China.

In the United States, the latest installment of the DreamWorks franchise debuted atop the box office with an estimated $41 million. The opening represents a drop-off from Kung Fu Panda 2, which opened with $47.7 million in 2011, or the original’s $60.2 million bow in 2008, but it’s a nonetheless significant launch for the slow January period. In fact, when final numbers are released, it may even top Ride Along’s $41.5 million debut to become the highest-grossing January launch of all-time.

The domestic box office gross doesn’t begin to tell the whole story about the Alessandro Carloni and Jennifer Yuh-directed movie. Kung Fu Panda, much like Blue Sky’s Ice Age franchise, has found greater success abroad than at home. In fact, less than 25% of Kung Fu Panda 2′s total box office came from the United States. Expect that number to drop even further with this latest installment.

Internationally, KFP3 launched in a handful of major markets including China, South Korea, and Russia, with $75.7 million. The bulk of that came from its record-setting debut in China, where it picked up $58.3M from around 15,000 screens, a record for an animated release in China. The film is widely expected to surpass the Chinese animation box office record, which was set last year with Monkey King: Hero Is Back’s $153M gross.

A big reason why KFP3 has a shot at the record is that the film is considered a Chinese production, due to its Oriental DreamWorks affiliation, which allows the film to bypass one-month long screening restrictions for foreign films and enjoy status as a locally-produced film.

The film also launched in the number one spots in Korea ($11.4M) and Russia ($5.1M). Perhaps a sign of concern, both launches are lower than the previous installment in the franchise; KFP2 opened in Korea with $12.8M and Russia with $15M.

Back in the United States, Shorts International launched its touring program of Oscar-nominated shorts on 112 screens with a robust $505,000 (a per-screen average of $4,509). Also, the Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson-directed Anomalisa picked up $355,000 in its fifth weekend from 169 screens. The Oscar-nominated stop mo pic has earned $1.9M to date.