Disney's adaptation of the 1967 animated favorite The Jungle Book gathered a staggering $50 million during its three-day opening in China, coming in second after Kung Fu Panda 3's $52 million opening.

The Jon Favreau-directed live-action/CGI hybrid also landed on the second spot as the biggest April debut in China next to Furious 7, which snatched an estimated $63 million on its opening day on April 12, 2015 and later on raced its total to $392 million.

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Despite giving the film a solid 8.1 rating on Douban.com and first-rate critical reviews, Chinese audience were still not as expressive they have been with Disney's Zootopia, which amassed a par excellence 9.3 Douban rating. 

"When you combine really high-quality filmmaking and the reception you hoped for from critics and consumers enjoying it, the momentum started to snowball," Dave Hollis, Disney's distribution chief, told Los Angeles Times. 

The Jungle Book, starring newbie Neel Sethi, still has a couple of weeks to savor before other predators such as Captain America: Civil War and other blockbuster films are uncaged early next month.

The film is the second best April opening in North America at $103 million. It topped the largest opening weekend chart with $16 million (nett) in India. It also rallied big debuts in Russia with over $14 million, the United Kingdom with nearly $14 million, and Australia with almost $8 million.

Although no released dates have been confirmed yet, Forbes reported that there are still possibly four more Disney films coming to China this year, including Alice Through the Looking Glass, Finding Dory, Pete's Dragon, The BFG and Star Wars Rogue One.  

TagsDisney, The Jungle Book, animated film, zootopia, Movies, china