By Tre’vell Anderson

Los Angeles Times

(TNS)

LOS ANGELES — For the third straight week, Disney’s “The Jungle Book” bested all others at the box office, pushing its worldwide gross to almost $700 million and continuing a hot streak for the Burbank entertainment giant.

The studio’s retelling of the classic Rudyard Kipling story pulled in an estimated $42.4 million in the U.S. and Canada, beating analyst expectations of $30 million to $35 million.

The $175 million live-action and computer-generated production, directed by Jon Favreau, has made $252.1 million domestically and $684.8 million worldwide.

Disney’s strong run at the box office is expected to continue next week as its latest Marvel Studios picture, “Captain America: Civil War,” hits American theaters. It already has grossed an impressive $200.2 million from international markets.

The company’s other 2016 blockbuster, “Zootopia,” finished in the No. 6 spot domestically in its ninth week and raised its global gross to about $932 million.

Like “Zootopia,” “The Jungle Book” has a shot at reaching the coveted $1 billion mark, analysts say. “The Jungle Book” had little competition over the weekend. Though Universal’s “The Huntsman: Winter’s War” was expected to be a blockbuster, the part-prequel, part-spinoff followed a less-than-stellar debut with just $9.4 million over the weekend, good enough for second place. The picture, made for $115 million, has grossed about $34 million domestically and $131 million worldwide.

Warner Bros.’ “Keanu,” Open Road’s “Mother’s Day” and Focus Features’ “Ratchet and Clank” debuted to unspectacular results.

“Keanu,” starring comic duo Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele from Comedy Central’s “Key & Peele,” finished third with about $9.4 million. Although analysts projected a gross of up to $15 million, the studio’s expectations were more modest, at about $10 million.

Key and Peele play friends trying to save a stolen kitten in the R-rated action comedy. Peele teamed with “Key & Peele” collaborator Alex Rubens to write the screenplay, which is directed by the show’s Peter Atencio.

Audiences and critics were relatively pleased with “Keanu.” Moviegoers gave it a B grade, according to polling firm CinemaScore, and 75 percent of Rotten Tomatoes critics rated the film positively.

The feature, in partnership with New Line, cost $15 million to make.

The romantic comedy “Mother’s Day” landed in fourth with $8.3 million, about $2 million less than analyst predictions. Banking on a primarily female audience, the film has an all-star cast including Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Jason Sudeikis, Kate Hudson and comedian and talk show host Loni Love.

Directed by Garry Marshall, the picture drew very different responses from audiences and critics. The movie earned a B-plus CinemaScore despite a horrific 8 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

In fifth place was Warner Bros.’ “Barbershop: The Next Cut.” The Ice Cube comedy pulled in another $6.1 million in its third week for a domestic gross to date of $44.7 million.

“Ratchet & Clank,” the animated big-screen version of a Sony PlayStation game, opened with an estimated $4.8 million, well below analyst expectations that went as high as $10 million.

Though audiences gave the cartoon a B CinemaScore, only 19 percent of Rotten Tomatoes critics liked the film.

Next week seemingly belongs to “Captain America: Civil War,” with no other major releases planned.

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