“Kung Fu Panda 3” showed plenty of power at the U.S. box office with a solid opening weekend of $41 million at 3,955 theaters as the durable family franchise dominated moviegoing.
Disney’s launch of Coast Guard rescue adventure “The Finest Hours” saw only modest returns with $10.3 million at 3,143 sites — trailing both “The Revenant” and the seventh weekend of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”
“Kung Fu Panda 3,” distributed by Fox for DreamWorks Animation, will finish its first weekend near 2011’s “Kung Fu Panda 2,” which opened with $47.7 million domestically on its way to $162.5 million.
The 2008 original bowed to $60.2 million and ended its U.S. run with $215 million.