Given that a certain superhero movie (already doing big business here in the UK and elsewhere) is gunning for its position, this will likely be the last weekend that The Jungle Book spends on top of the US box office charts. But Jon Favreau and his Disney employers won't worry, since the latest iteration of Mowgli's adventures won a third week at the head of the charts with $42.4 million, according to studio estimates.
The Jungle Book has now stampeded past $252 million in America alone, with its worldwide total currently standing at more than $684 million and the movie showing little sign of slowing down – it fell around 31% this week, which is a fantastic hold.
Despite poor reviews and a less-than-enthusiastic audience turnout, The Huntsman: Winter's War managed to fight off some new competition to stay second, losing 51% of its opening weekend for $9.39 million. With a $115 million budget to earn back (not including the marketing spend), it seems unlikely to dash into profit, since it has earned just $33.9 million in the States and $130.9 million globally. Still, it's proving that it has stronger legs than some might have thought. New comedy Keanu, which finds talented TV comedians Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele as two men who pose as gangsters to retrieve a cat-napped kitten, couldn't quite overcome mixed reviews and earned $9.35 million for third.
That was still better than Garry Marshall's latest holiday-themed release, Mother's Day, which was savaged by critics and despite some starry faces in the cast, could only manage a fourth place launch and $8.3 million. It remains to be seen if the arrival of actual Mother's Day in the States helps generate any interest. Barbershop: The Next Cut slipped a couple of places to fifth with $6.1 million.
Zootopia was down a couple of places to sixth, but still managed to make $5 million, which was a better result than sci-fi 'toon Ratchet & Clank, which might have hoped to tap some of the family audiences who had seen the Disney movie once or twice. But it kicked off with a desultory $4.8 million in seventh place.
Eighth was Melissa McCarthy's The Boss on $4.2 million, while Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice fell three places to ninth and $3.8 million. Finally at 10th we find Criminal, which took in $1.3 million for a $13.4 million US total so far.