DIS Walt Disney Co

By Ben Fritz 

It appears that the only thing audiences like as much as a Disney animated film is a live-action remake.

Accelerating a string of hits for Walt Disney Co. in an unusual niche, a new version of "The Jungle Book" opened this weekend, topping the box office with a very strong $103.6 million in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates.

That's more than the company's other recent live-action remakes, such as "Cinderella" and "Maleficent," which is based on "Sleeping Beauty," but behind the $116 million opening of "Alice in Wonderland" in 2010.

"The Jungle Book," which started playing a week earlier in some foreign countries, brought in $136.1 million overseas, earning a world-wide gross of $239.7 million. It has performed particularly well in China, where it fetched $50.3 million. In India, where the film is set, it collected $20.1 million.

That's a very strong start for the 3-D movie, which cost about $175 million to make. Disney already has a sequel in the early stages of development.

The Disney studio has several other live-action remakes of its animated classics in the works, including "Beauty and the Beast," "Dumbo" and a spinoff focused on Tinkerbell from "Peter Pan."

A sequel to "Alice in Wonderland" is scheduled for release in May.

Because of their consistent success, such movies have become a focus for the company's Walt Disney Pictures label, whose other recent releases include disappointments such as "The Finest Hours" and "Tomorrowland."

Remakes of animated fairy tales are helping to give Walt Disney Pictures a brand identity akin to the company's other labels, such as Lucasfilm and Marvel Studios.

Like "Cinderella," "The Jungle Book" repeats most of the same story as its animated predecessor, but has been modernized by giving the characters more complexity and amplifying the drama.

Directed by Jon Favreau, the movie stars Neel Sethi, a young newcomer, as the protagonist Mowgli, who plays against computer-animated animals voiced by, among others, Bill Murray, Idris Elba and Scarlett Johansson.

Other studios have tried to remake classic fairy tales, including Time Warner Inc.-owned Warner Bros., which had a recent flop "Pan." But Disney appears to have a unique advantage since it made so many of the animated originals.

"The Jungle Book" received overwhelmingly positive reviews and an average audience grade of A, according to market-research firm CinemaScore.

The movie succeeded by drawing children during the day and adults at night. According to exit polls, 49% of ticket buyers were families, and 43% paid extra to see the movie in 3-D.

"I don't know that I've ever seen a movie that was so balanced," said Dave Hollis, Disney's executive vice president of distribution.

With no other major family movies opening for the next few weeks, "The Jungle Book" appears well-positioned to ride positive word-of-mouth to strong grosses in the weeks to come.

A pair of low-budget movies also over the weekend. "Barbershop: The Next Cut," starring Ice Cube, opened to $20.2 million. That's less than the opening weekend gross for "Barbershop 2" in 2004, when average ticket prices were 26% lower.

The movie was produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. and Warner Bros.' New Line Cinema label and released by Warner.

Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.'s "Criminal," starring Kevin Costner, opened to a weak $5.86 million.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 17, 2016 15:44 ET (19:44 GMT)

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