The Weekend Box Office Derby

Viacom's rebooted franchise of an old property tops the charts.

WEEKEND MOVIE GROSSES

1). Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (PAR), 4,071 theaters /$11.6M Fri. (includes $2M previews) / 3-day cume: $31.5M/Wk 1

2). X-Men: Apocalypse (FOX), 4,153 theaters / $6.4M Fri. (-76%) / 3-day cume: $22M (-67%) /Total cume: $116.1M/Wk 2

3). Me Before You (MGM/New Line/WB), 2,704 theaters / $7.6M Fri. (includes $1.37M previews) / 3-day cume: $18.4M /Wk 1

4). Alice Through the Looking Glass (Disney), 3,763 theaters (0)/ $3.15M Fri. (-68%) / 3-day cume: $11M (-59%)/Total: $51M/Wk 2

5). The Angry Birds Movie (SONY/ROVIO), 3,484 theaters (-448)/ $2.48M Fri. (-51%) / 3-day cume: $9M (-52%)/Total cume: $85.9M/ Wk 3

6). Captain America: Civil War (Disney), 3,084 theaters (-311) / $2M Fri. (-50%)/ 3-day cume: $7.2M (-53%) /Total cume: $388.5M/ Wk 5

7). Pop Star: Never Stop Never Stopping (UNI), 2,311 theaters / $1.7M Fri. (includes $322k previews) / 3-day cume: $4.45M/Wk 1

8). Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (UNI), 2,417 theaters (-999)/ $1.39M Fri. (-50%)/ 3-day cume: $4.57M (-51%)/Total cume: $48.4M/ Wk 3

9). The Jungle Book (DIS), 1,990 theaters (-533) / $1.18M Fri. (-34%) / 3-day cume: $4.5M (-36%)/ Total cume: $347.7M / Wk 8

10.) The Nice Guys (WB), 1,888 theaters (-977)/ $833K Fri. (-53%) / 3-day cume: $2.7M (-58%)/Total: $28.3M/ Wk 3 ...

The holds on box office for animated features has varied widely of late (Jungle Book drops a mere 34% in its eighth week, while Angry Birds declines 51% from second week to third. And Alice Through The Looking Glass -- not exactly animated but hey; it's Disney -- drops 59% in its second outing.)

The old axiom remains true: You need to have a picture that has a compelling story and connects with an audience. The Jungle Book and Zootopia owned those things. Alice, Angry Birds and (before them) Good Dinosaur seemed to have a shakier grip on those winning commercial qualities.