‘Arthur The King’ Opens, But ‘Kung Fu Panda 4’ Still No. 1

FRIDAY PM: Right now, Universal/DWA’s Kung Fu Panda 4‘s second weekend and Legendary/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two‘s third weekend are in a close call for No. 1 with around $27M-$30M apiece. Many are expecting Kung Fu Panda 4 to knockout the sandworm come tomorrow. Friday for the animated pic is $8.1M at 4,067 venues while the sci-fi epic is $7.6M at 3,847 theaters. KFP4 is -48% while Dune 2 is -35%.

Dune Part Two will become the first movie of 2024 to crack past the two century mark with $206.2M on the high end. KFP4 ten-day on the high end is $107.7M, the second movie after Dune 2 to cross $100M this year.

Lionsgate’s Arthur the King is looking at $2.8M today including Thursday previews of $825K which will come in around $7.6M at 3,003. Audience scores are still high on RT at 97%.

The Santa Monica-based studio will also claim fourth with Blumhouse’s Imaginary with a second weekend of $4.4M at 3,118 theaters, -55% after a Friday of $1.3M. Ten-day cume by Sunday will be $17.7M.

Fifth goes to Angel Studios Cabrini with a second Friday of $750K, second weekend of $2.65M, -62% with a ten-day of $12.8M.

Arthouse not so hot, I’m told with A24’s Love Lies Bleeding at 1,362 venues with a second weekend of $2.3M in a major coastal city play, while Focus Features’ The American Society of Magical Negroes seeing $500K at 1,147 theaters today for a 3-day of $1.25M. Moviegoers aren’t wowed by the latter at 46% on RT. No audience score yet on the Rose Glass movie.

Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love at 2,272 locations is looking at fifth Friday of $600K, 3-day of $2.28M, -44% for a running total by EOD Sunday of $93.3M.

FRIDAY AM: In a frame that will see Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 rally with a second-weekend take of around $30 million (down 48%), three wide entries hit cinemas. The biggest is Lionsgate’s Mark Wahlberg canine sports movie Arthur the King, which is eyeing $8 million-$10 million at 3,003 locations. The movie directed by Simon Cellan Jones made $825,000 in previews last night, which bests the $550K in previews made by Wahlberg’s 2018 movie Instant Family, which opened in a very pre-pandemic, pre-Thanksgiving period to $14.5M.

Rotten Tomatoes reviews are at 63% fresh for Arthur the King, but the portal’s audiences love it more at 93%.

Based on a true story, pic takes plays during a 10-day pro adventure race of 435 miles as Michael Light (Wahlberg) bonds with scrappy street dog Arthur. Light, desperate for one last chance to win, convinces a sponsor to back him and his team (Simu Liu, Nathalie Emmanuel and Ali Suliman) for the Adventure Racing World Championship in the Dominican Republic. As the team is pushed to their limits of endurance in the race, Arthur redefines what victory, loyalty and friendship truly mean.

The $19M feature production, as Deadline first reported, saw its domestic rights move from Paramount Players to Lionsgate. Pic’s offshore rights were sold during the Covid Cannes via international sales firm Sierra/Affinity. Entertainment One and Tucker Tooley Entertainment co-financed.

A24’s Sundance Film Festival premiere Love Lies Bleeding expands to 1,300 theaters this weekend from five NYC and Los Angeles sites with an eye at $2M. The LGBTQ crime noir is 92% certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie made $167K last weekend for a per-theater average of $33,500. The film directed by Rose Glass and starring Kristen Stewart and Katy M. O’Brian played at the Regal Union Square (which led the packed last weekend), AMC Lincoln Square, AMC Burbank, The Grove and Century City.

RELATED: ‘Love Lies Bleeding’ Review: The Gays Are Doing The Burying In Rose Glass’ Psychological Thriller

Focus Features has Kobi Libii’s feature directorial debut The American Society of Magical Negroes at 1,146 theaters. The movie also world premiered at Sundance. Critics are hard on the feature at 29% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s expected to open in the low single-digit millions. The satirical comedy follows a young man named Aren (Justice Smith) who is recruited into a secret society of magical Black people who dedicate their lives to a cause of utmost importance: making white people more comfortable. Although initially enamored with his new powers, Aren begins to question the value of using supernatural means to do the very thing he’s felt obligated to do his whole life.

RELATED: ‘The American Society Of Magical Negroes’ Review: Kobi Libii’s Fantastical Race Comedy Has Charm If Not Focus

Legendary Entertainment/Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two won Thursday with $4.4M, -1% from Wednesday for a second week of $65.1M at 4,074 theaters and a running total of $176.1M. The sci-fi ensemble, fueled by Imax and PLFs, is expected to be down in the -40% range in Weekend 3 with a take of around $27M.

Kung Fu Panda 4 was very close to Dune 2‘s Thursday take with $4.390M, +5% from Wednesday with a first-week haul of $77.7M at 4,035 theaters.

Third for the week is Lionsgate/Blumhouse’s Imaginary, with a first week of $13.5M after an estimated $807K Thursday, -1% from Wednesday at 3,118 venues.

Angel Studios’ Cabrini at 2,840 theaters saw $592K on Thursday, -11% from Wednesday, for a first week of $10.1M.

Fifth belongs to Paramount’s Bob Marley: One Love at 2,764 theaters, with a fourth Thursday estimated at $372K for a fourth week of $5.8M and running total of $91M.