As Kung Fu Panda 4 Tops The Box Office, Jack Black's A-List Star Status Is Undeniable
"Kung Fu Panda 4" topped the box office over the weekend, managing to overtake last week's champion "Dune: Part Two." Make no mistake, nobody is crying for Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic as the sequel managed to stay atop the charts internationally over the weekend. But with the latest entry in the "Kung Fu Panda" franchise, Universal has yet another animated hit on its hands. More than that, the movie's success out of the gate has cemented Jack Black's status as an unquestionable movie star capable of putting butts in seats.
The latest from DreamWorks Animation pulled in $58.3 million over the weekend, easily giving it the number one spot over "Dune" ($46 million). It's impressive for a few reasons. For one, pre-release expectations had Black's return as Po the panda pulling in less than $40 million. So the fact that the film outperformed expectations en route to a chart-topping performance is great news for Universal and all involved.
Before we get into the larger picture in regards to one Mr. Jack Black, it's worth pointing out that all of these movies save for "Kung Fu Panda 2" opened at number one. The only one with a bigger opening was the original, which debuted to $60 million en route to a $632 million global finish. All told, the series has pulled in $1.9 billion worldwide and it will cross $2 billion sooner rather than later. Even with combined budgets exceeding $500 million, that makes this a hugely profitable franchise for DreamWorks.
Beyond the "Kung Fu Panda" of it all, this further shines a light on the enduring star power of Black.
Jack Black sells an awful lot of movie tickets
We tend to attach names like Tom Cruise and Will Smith to the term movie star but make no mistake, Black is in the upper rungs of actors who are capable of drawing a crowd. The hits in his career far outweigh the misses. When he misses, he tends to miss small, save for the occasional "Gulliver's Travels" or "Year One." But when he hits, he tends to hit very big. Again, we're right now talking about the fourth movie in a series of movies about an animated, ass-kicking panda atop the charts. That success is in no small part due to Black, in also acknowledging the work of directors Mike Mitchell and Stephanie Stine.
Looking elsewhere, it's not hard to see that Black's movies tend to do very well. Last year he played Bowser in "The Super Mario Bros. Movie," which wound up becoming one of the highest-grossing movies of 2023 taking in more than $1.3 billion. He also starred in both of the recent "Jumanji" movies, which made $961 million and $795 million worldwide, respectively. Sure, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan shared the credit there, but Black is undeniable added value.
Heck, even if we go back to "Ice Age" ($383 million worldwide), Black had a small role as Zeke. This is to say nothing of "School of Rock" ($132 million worldwide), a movie that was arguably a hit because of Jack Black. Oh, and did we even talk about Peter Jackson's "King Kong" pulling in $550 million back in 2005? The man helps make hits. Plain and simple. Not to say that Black doesn't get respect, and he certainly isn't hurting for work, but it's high time we recognize his sheer ability to sell movie tickets to the masses. It's damned impressive and he's been doing it for multiple decades. That's no small thing.
"Kung Fu Panda 4" is in theaters now.