‘Huntsman: Winter’s War’ Grosses $7.3 Million on Friday, Trails ‘Jungle Book’ by Far

Universal’s “Snow White” prequel gets crushed by Disney’s live-action remake in early weekend box office

The Huntsman Winter's War

“The Huntsman: Winter’s War” took in an estimated $7.3 million on Friday from 2,645 theaters.

Universal’s prequel to 2012’s “Snow White and the Huntsman,” starring Charlize Theron, Chris Hemsworth, Emily Blunt, and Jessica Chastain, didn’t come close to Disney’s “The Jungle Book” — which took in an estimated $16.5 million during Friday’s box office.

“The Huntsman” is on course to make $20- to $25 million by the end of the weekend. Though that’s less than half of the $56.2 million that the original, starring Kristen Stewart, grossed on its opening weekend.

By contrast, Jon Favreau’s live-action remake of the Rudyard Kipling story is making an expected strong showing during its second weekend in theaters.

“The Jungle Book” debuted with a massive $103.3 million first weekend, beating predictions by approximately $30 million. Returns are expected to drop off by 45 percent this weekend, which is in line with other Disney live-action remakes, including 2010’s “Alice in Wonderland” and 2015’s “Cinderella.”

The low 18 percent Rotten Tomatoes score for “The Huntsman” is dulling its competitive edge, not to mention the fact that Stewart isn’t around in the new version. “The Jungle Book” persists with a 94 percent score — still the best-reviewed live-action remake of any animated film.

“The Huntsman” marks Cedric Nicolas-Troyan’s directorial debut, and was produced by Joe Roth. The film revolves around a war between the Evil Queen Ravenna (Theron) and the Ice Queen (Blunt). Only Sara (Chastain) and Eric (Hemsworth) have the power to fight the evil queen.

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