<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">LOS ANGELES — “Kung Fu Panda 3” kicked its way to the top of the North American box office with a respectable $41 million, according to Rentrak estimates Sunday.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The DreamWorks Animation film cost a reported $145 million to make and earned a strong “A’’ CinemaScore from audiences — 70 percent of whom were families.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“It’s a bold move to take a franchise which has had great success in that summer corridor and move it into late January, which is generally considered a very slow time,” Rentrak’s senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian said.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The first film opened to $60.2 million in 2008 and the second to $47.7 million in 2011.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">For Fox, switching up the release was a no-brainer after seeing the successes of “The Lego Movie” and last year’s “The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water” in this time frame.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">“We know that when the market conditions are right, this business really is a 365-day-a-year business,” said Chris Aronson, Fox’s domestic distribution chief. “We saw an opportunity and we grabbed it. We’re thrilled with the results.”</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">There are a number of winter holidays coming up where kids will be out of school and “Zootopia,” 2016’s next big animated release, doesn’t open until March 4.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyBody">The animated sequel also fared much better than the weekend’s other new openers, like Disney’s Coast Guard adventure “The Finest Hours,” which debuted in fourth place with $10.3 million.</span>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing"><em>1. “Kung Fu Panda 3,” $41 million ($75.7 million international).</em></span>

<em><span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">2. “The Revenant,” $12.4 million ($24.3 million international).</span></em>

<em><span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">3. “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” $10.8 million ($12.6 million international).</span></em>

<em><span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">4. “The Finest Hours,” $10.3 million ($1.6 million international).</span></em>

<em><span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">5. “Ride Along 2,” $8.3 million ($5.1 million international).</span></em>

<em><span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">6. “The Boy,” $7.9 million ($3.5 million international).</span></em>

<em><span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">7. “Dirty Grandpa,” $7.6 million ($5.5 million international).</span></em>

<em><span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">8. “The 5th Wave,” $7 million ($13 million international).</span></em>

<em><span class="R~sep~ACopyListing">9. “Fifty Shades of Black,” $6.2 million ($200,000 international).</span></em>

<span class="R~sep~ACopyListing"><em>10. “13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” $6 million ($1.5 million international).</em></span><p>This image released by DreamWorks Animation shows character Mei Mei</p>DreamWorks Animation