To compare, that opening is less than two other recent Dwayne Johnson movies: 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle at $36.1 million and 2018’s Rampage at $35.7 million.
In fact, Jungle Cruise’s projected opening is more in the ballpark of Johnson’s late 2000s/early 2010s movies Race to Witch Mountain ($24.4 million) and Journey 2: Mysterious Island ($27.3 million).
But the key thing to remember is that all these movies opened during times when there wasn’t a pandemic throwing everyday life into pandemonium.
Movie theaters may be open again after being closed for a significant portion of 2020 and the first chunk of 2021, but we’re still a long ways away from them operating like they did in the Before Times.