"The Jungle Book" Dominates Weekend Box Office
The film "The Jungle Book" easily breezed through competing flicks over the weekend, dominating the box office with exact numbers listed at $103.6 million. The Walt Disney Company's latest blockbuster is a sign that the mass media corporation and film studio has no intentions of slowing down in converting their children's animated classics into multi-million dollar hit films.
Based on the collection of stories by author Rudyard Kipling, the film version has reportedly achieved the second-biggest April opening in history, and only "Furious 7" earned more with $147.2 million.
The Jon Favreau-directed fantasy adventure film is the latest addition to Disney's current trend of fairy tales that has the makings of creating their own franchise. Prior to this one, the studio also had huge success in "Alice in Wonderland," "Cinderella," and "Maleficient."
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In this film, an orphaned boy named Mowgli (to be played by newcomer Neel Sethi), takes on an adventure with the guidance of his animal companions that serve as his guardians. The adventure is described as a journey to discover himself and in the process combat the evilness of one Shere Khan. It features a star-studded voice cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Christopher Walken, and more.
Aside from the positive turnout in the opening, the film also received positive reviews from critics. Leading online movie review site, Rotten Tomatoes currently gives it a 95% "fresh" rating. This sure has been a good year for the Hollywood studio and they're not done yet. According to Variety, Walt Disney is also slated to release "Beauty and the Beast," which will feature Emma Watson in the lead role. The film is expected to be released in March of next year. Other anticipated flicks, according to the same report, include a movie based on the Cruella De Ville and Dumbo characters.
