DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda topped the weekend box office with a reported $60 million gross in more than 4,000 theaters, making it the studio’s best debut for a non-sequel and the company’s third-highest opening behind only Shrek 2 and Shrek the Third.
Panda exceeded expectations, which hovered in the $30 million to $40 million range, and handily out-grossed Sony’s You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, an Adam Sandler comedy that opened to an estimated $40 million.
Holdovers Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Sex and the City were neck and neck with $22.8 million and $21.3 million respectively.
Panda‘s performance was especially strong, with Variety reporting a per-screen average of $14,584 and a Friday gross of $20.3 million. The film also played broadly, with parents, teens and females all flocking to the film and giving it the film an A-minus from CinemaScore.
