Yahoo Lifestyle Box Office: ‘Dog Man’ Shows Bite With $36 Million Opening Weekend
“Dog Man” enjoyed a barking good start at the domestic box office, collecting a leading $36 million from 3,885 North American cinemas in its first weekend of release.
Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s animated canine-crime-fighting film, set in the “Captain Underpants” universe, opened at the higher end of expectations thanks to great buzz and pent-up demand for family offerings. Moviegoers awarded the film an “A” grade on CinemaScore, signaling a long tail in theaters.
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Another newcomer, Warner Bros. and New Line’s R-rated satirical sci-fi thriller “Companion” debuted at No. 2 with $9.3 million from 3,285 theaters. Those ticket sales are solid since “Companion” cost an economical $10 million to produce (not including its marketing spend). With stellar reviews (94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and solid audience feedback (“B+” on CinemaScore), box office watchers suggest the film could become a late-January/ early-February sleeper hit. Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid star in “Companion,” a pseudo-love story about group of friends whose weekend getaway descends into chaos after they find out that one of the guests is a companion robot.
“Dog Man” lacked bite at the international box office with $4.2 million from 29 international markets for a global tally of $40.6 million to start. However, the film carries a $40 million production budget, so it’s well-positioned in its theatrical run despite a softer-than-expected overseas turnout. “Dog Man,” not to be confused with “Wolf Man,” Universal’s horror film that released in theaters in January, is based on “Captain Underpants” author Dav Pilkey’s children’s graphic novel series. The film, featuring the voice cast of Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery and Isla Fisher, follows a human police officer who is fused together with his faithful dog after they’re injured on the job.
Exhibitors often lament a lack of family movies in the marketplace, and this weekend’s box office charts appear to demonstrate the weight of family-friendly options on the big screen. Disney’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” now in its seventh weekend of release, took third place with $6.6 million from 3,180 locations. After a so-so start in December, the Pride Lands-set prequel has endured in theaters with $230 million in North America and $630 million globally.
Meanwhile just outside of the top five, Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” and Disney’s “Moana 2” landed in sixth and seventh place with $3.2 million and $2.9 million, respectively. “Sonic 3,” which opened around of Christmas, has earned $230.5 million domestically. The “Moana” sequel, which landed ahead of Thanksgiving, has generated a massive $453 million in North America and more than $1 billion globally.
Elsewhere, Sony’s R-rated buddy comedy “One of Them Days” with Keke Palmer and SZA slid to fourth place with $6.3 million from 2,306 locations, a mere 21% decline from the prior weekend. With positive word-of-mouth, the $14 million-budgeted film has generated $34.7 million after three weekends of release.
And last weekend’s champion “Flight Risk,” an action thriller directed by Mel Gibson and starring Mark Wahlberg as a balding, unhinged pilot, nose-dived to fifth place with $5.3 million from 3,161 theaters. Ticket sales declined by 53% from its $12 million debut, bringing its domestic tally to $20.6 million.
So far, the overall box office has been on the upswing with ticket sales up 12.3% from the same point a year ago and 3.5% from 2023, according to Comscore. Though the year is young, Hollywood is hoping that 2025 will signal a rebound in fortune after the pandemic and two labor strikes have ravaged the box office.
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