This image released by DreamWorks Animation shows characters Po, voiced by Jack Black, left, and his long-lost panda father Li, voiced by Bryan Cranston, in a scene from “Kung Fu Panda 3.” DreamWorks Animation via AP
LOS ANGELES, United States—”Kung Fu Panda” easily bested its rivals to top the North American box office for a second straight time, raking in $21.2 million on a slow Super Bowl weekend, industry figures showed Monday.
READ: ‘Kung Fu Panda 3′ tops box office; ‘Finest Hours’ flounders
Dreamworks’ computer-animated comedy—the third installment in the popular franchise—follows the adventures of Po as he evolves from martial arts student to teacher, and features the voices of Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.
It has so far taken in $69.2 million since its release, industry tracker Exhibitor Relations said.
READ: Review: Third time’s the charm for witty ‘Kung Fu Panda 3′
“Hail, Caesar!”—a 1950s kidnap caper from the Coen brothers about a Hollywood fixer trying to keep a studio’s stars under thumb—debuted in second place with $11.4 million.
George Clooney, Scarlett Johansson, Channing Tatum and Josh Brolin lead the all-star cast amassed by the sibling filmmakers.
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” came in third—but the big news is that it surpassed the $2 billion mark in global ticket sales, and set a new domestic mark, passing the $900 million level.
The highly anticipated seventh installment in the popular blockbuster space saga released in December now only trails “Avatar” and “Titanic” on the all-time worldwide box office list.
For the weekend, it took in just under $7 million.
Fourth place went to “The Revenant,” a grisly survival and revenge thriller starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The critically acclaimed film, which has been showered with Oscar nominations, earned $6.9 million.
Coming in fifth was “The Choice,” a romantic drama based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name. The film, typical of the Sparks genre (he is also the author behind “The Notebook,” “A Walk to Remember” and “Message in a Bottle”) took in $6.1 million during its debut weekend.
Rounding out the rest of the top ten were:
— “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” $5.3 million
— “The Finest Hours,” $4.8 million
— “Ride Along 2,” $4.6 million
— “The Boy,” $4.1 million
— “Dirty Grandpa,” $4 million