Two weeks ago, when "Ride Along 2" opened with $40 million – nearly equaling the $41 million that the first "Ride Along" film made in its opening weekend – it was safe to assume that "RA 2" would also earn, or come very close to the $135 million total that the first film made.

Well it looks like that’s not going to be the case. In fact, the film is struggling to make just half of what the first film made. That massive blizzard that hit the East Coast last week didn’t help, but "RA 2" has been dropping like a rock over the past two weeks. Bad word of mouth, too much Kevin Hart than audiences can take, or whatever the reason, it’s obvious that it’s not fun the second time around and that a "Ride Along 3" at this point looks very unlikely. And yet "RA 2" looks pretty solid for making at least $90 million domestically, which, in the scheme of things, ain’t all that bad. 

However that’s not the case for "The third film in the popular series since 2008, the "Kung Fu Panda" films are one of those odd movies that always turn out much better and more entertaining than you expect, as well as being some of the most action packed and visually dazzling animated films being made today. The third installment is no exception. The previous two films together have made some $1.3 billion worldwide, so there is no reason to expect that people are going to tire of them soon. And not surprisingly, it was the No.1 this weekend, grossing some $41 million.

There was was some head scratching as to why the Dreamworks Animation decided to release such a major film so early in the year when a late spring/early summer opening, like for the first two "Kung Fu Panda" movies, seemed more obvious. But actually it turned out to be a smart move, since there is practically no competition for family entertainment for the next few weeks, until Disney’s "Zootopia" which opens in early March, giving "KFP 3" in a field all by itself throughout February.

The big surprise to me has been the solid B.O. returns for "The Revenant." I would have thought that a 2 and half hour, grisly violent, pioneer survival period film would have a tough time at the box office. And not surprisingly it was a very difficult film to get the financing for. But audiences have really been taken by the film. And that is great as far as I’m concerned since I think Alejandro Inarritu’s film was the best film I saw last year. Coming in second with $12.4 million and $138 million domesticity and another $109 million overseas so far it’s looking like a solid hit.

As for the two other major releases this week, the sea rescue film "The Finest Hours" did a middling $10.3 million while Marlon Wayans’ spoof "Fifty Shades of Black" underperformed with just over $6 million. Though underperformed may not exactly be the right word since the budget for the film probably was what the film took in this weekend.

And you might be asking whatever happened to "The Hateful Eight"? The film is off the radar currently now in 18th place with $52.3 million total. That may sound like the film was a flop, but not until you take into account that the film has made another $51 million overseas so far, and with a lot more to come. It has yet to open in Asia and most of South America.