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Kung Fu Panda fights its way to top of box office
2008-06-09
Dreamworks' animated "Kung Fu Panda" kicked and chopped its way to the top of the North American box office over the weekend, though it did not quite match the "Shrek" series' smashing success. The adventures of Po, a kindly panda forced to become a kung-fu master to save his jungle from leopard villains, reeled in 60 million dollars in earnings on its opening weekend, preliminary figures out Sunday showed. Released on the same number of screens, "Kung Fu Panda" still trailed by far the box office gold of "Shrek the Third" which netted 122 million in its first days out. In second place was the Adam Sandler comedy "Don't Mess with the Zohan," in which a former Israeli spy finds a new life as a hairstylist with unlikely allies in New York. It earned 40 million dollars, a typical solid showing for a Sandler film according to Exhibitor Relations. On its third week of release, the latest in the Indiana Jones series -- starring Harrison Ford -- netted 22.8 million, taking its total receipts to 253 million dollars. The comedy big screen version of the television hit "Sex and the City" dropped to fourth place with 21.3 million dollars. Fright flick "The Strangers" drew 9.3 million, followed by "Iron Man", in which Robert Downey Jr plays an inventor who devises an ultra-tough armor to try to save the world, took in another 7.5 million for a total 289 million. Rounding out the list were "Narnia: Prince Caspian" with 5.5 million; "What Happens in Las Vegas" (3.4 million), "Baby Mama" (0.8 million) and "Made of Honor" (0.8 million).
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