Looking at how much debate, discussion and discourse the whole ‘being sued by Scarlett Johansson’ thing has been generating online and in print, Disney could do with some good news this weekend, especially when other stars to have recently appeared in high profile releases for the studio are reportedly weighing up legal options of their own.
Luckily, a new blockbuster starring Dwayne Johnson can always be relied on to top the box office, even if Jungle Cruise is one of those pesky hybrid releases that might end up getting the Mouse House in some seriously hot water. The latest stab at adapting a beloved theme park attraction as a big budget adventure is on course to hit $32 million over the weekend, which is roughly on a par with the debut of Space Jam: A New Legacy a couple of weeks back, and well ahead of the $25 million or so that was projected.
Jungle Cruise doesn’t have an original bone in its body, but it’s the sort of diverting attention-grabber that can always be relied on to do decent business given that it packs plenty of star power, some splashy action sequences and an old school sense of fun that never goes out of fashion.
Should Jaume Collet-Serra’s latest hold firm and continue sailing to higher than expected returns, then it’ll end up topping Johnson’s Die Hard clone Skyscraper, which opened to under $30 million in the summer of 2018, making the hybrid of Pirates of the Caribbean, The Mummy and Indiana Jones The Rock’s most commercially successful ripoff over the course of its first weekend, even with the COVID-19 still hindering the box office from reaching its fullest potential.