Jungle Cruise‘s box office revenue from preview screenings has sailed past those of fellow live-action Disney movie Cruella. Set to open officially on July 30, Jungle Cruise is based on the Disneyland attraction of the same name. The film follows Emily Blunt’s Dr. Lily Houghton, who enlists Dwayne Johnson’s Frank Wolff to sail her down the Amazon to seek the magical tree of life. The pair are joined by Houghton’s younger brother Macgregor, played by Jack Whitehall, and opposed by Jesse Plemons’ Prince Joachim, who leads a German imperial mission.
Like Cruella, which released in May, Jungle Cruise is set to be releases both in theaters and via Premier Access on Disney+. The film was originally set for release in October 2019 before being moved to July 2020, where it was delayed further as a result of the pandemic. Reviews for the film have been mixed, with many praising the chemistry between Blunt and Johnson and its fun atmosphere, but criticizing its over-reliance on CGI as well as stating it feels derivative of numerous other adventure films including The Mummy and Indiana Jones.
These reviews haven’t stopped the film from starting strong at the domestic box-office however. According to THR, Jungle Cruise accrued $2.7 million from previews on Thursday night. This represents a marked increase from Cruella‘s preview takings of $1.4 million ahead of earning $26.5 million over the Memorial Day weekend. Jungle Cruise is expected to earn somewhere between $25 million and $30 million, which still remains lower than standard for a big Disney release but comes amidst a slowing of box-office returns due to a rise in COVID-19 cases.
These figures also don’t account for profits earned via Disney+, with Cruella earning an estimated $20.5 million over its opening weekend via the streaming platform. While this amount was behind Mulan, which released solely via Disney+, it still represents a significant earning for Disney which they don’t have to share with the box office. Considering that Black Widow earned $60 million worldwide from its digital release, it’s possible that Jungle Cruise may earn something closer to that figure.
Yesterday, Black Widow’s Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit against Disney for alleged breach of contract over Black Widow’s digital release and loss of earnings from box-office revenue. Cruella’s Emma Stone is rumored to be considering a similar lawsuit over the film’s release. Blunt had previously been greatly opposed to Jungle Cruise releasing simultaneously in cinemas and on Disney+, preferring Paramount’s windowed release strategy of A Quiet Place Part II, which saw the film come to streaming platform Paramount+ 45 days after its theatrical release. It’s theorized that the actress may be keeping a close eye on Jungle Cruise‘s box-office numbers to determine if she will take steps akin to Johansson.
The hope is that Jungle Cruise will allow Disney to launch a franchise similar to Pirates of the Caribbean, so the box-office figures would ordinarily be instrumental in determining if this is a viable option. That said, considering that Disney executives appear to be more interested in streaming figures, as is Wall Street, the box-office performance may not be the metric by which to judge the success of Jungle Cruise as it once was.
