Disney and Pixar’s environmental adventure ‘Hoppers’ topped the North American box office this weekend with USD 46 million in domestic ticket sales in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.After adding another USD 42 million from international showings, the film celebrated an USD 88 million global launch in total, the biggest for an original animated film since ‘Coco’ came out in 2017.
‘Hoppers’ scores HIGHEST opening for an original film
With its USD 88 million global haul, ‘Hoppers’ beat out last year’s ‘Weapons’ collection of USD 71 million to take over the top spot of the highest opening for an original film. It also beat out ‘Onward’ which earned USD 68 million, ‘Sinners’ which scored USD 63 million and the animated film ‘Red One’ which earned USD 62 million. The film had a reported USD 150 million production budget and opened in 4,000 locations. Directed by Daniel Chong, the movie is about a 19-year-old environmentalist who infiltrates the animal world in the body of a beaver. It features the voices of Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm and Kathy Najimy.‘Hoppers’ win was much needed for Disney and Pixar following last year’s ‘Elio’, which was Pixar’s worst opening ever. The studio’s only major successes lately have been sequels and franchises, while ‘Hoppers’ is a win for original fare. It also opened higher than 2023’s ‘Elemental’, which eventually went on to become a sleeper hit (‘Elio’ did not). ‘Hoppers’ got a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, 75% “definitely recommend” from PostTrak polling and an A CinemaScore, suggesting it should have a long and profitable run in theaters
‘The Bride!’ tanks at US box office
But it wasn’t all good news for big studio fare at the multiplex: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s R-rated reimagining of the Bride of Frankenstein story is flailing. A Warner Bros. release, ‘The Bride!’ starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, debuted to an estimated USD 7.3 million from 3,304 domestic locations. It cost around $80 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion expenses.‘The Bride!’ had a bit of a bumpy path to theaters, with edits being made after reportedly poor test screenings. Its release date was pushed back from September, possibly to give it some space versus Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Frankenstein’, which played in theaters last fall before hitting Netflix. Men made up a slight majority of the audience for the film at 53%. The movie currently carries a “rotten” 59% on Rotten Tomatoes and a lackluster C+ CinemaScore. Only 43% of that audience said they would “definitely recommend.”And it doesn’t seem like international audiences will be much help: It made only USD 6.3 million outside of the U.S. and Canada, bringing its global debut to USD 13.6 million.
‘Hoppers’ vs ‘The Bride’
The two movies were hardly competing with one another for viewers – one being a PG-rated family pic, the other an audacious, R-rated, genre-blending ride. ‘Hoppers’ arrived to a slew of good reviews, while critical responses to ‘The Bride!’ were mixed to negative and its audience scores weren’t much better.
‘Scream 7 ‘ lands second on list
Paramount’s ‘Scream 7’ landed in second place in its second weekend with USD 17.3 million, down a whopping 73% and bringing its domestic total to USD 93.4 million and its global total to USD 149.5 million.
‘GOAT’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’ land in top 5
Sony’s ‘GOAT’ came in fourth place with USD 6.6 million while ‘Wuthering Heights’ rounded out the top five with USD 3.8 million. The film starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as the doomed lovers Cathy and Heathcliff from Emily Bronte’s classic novel, meanwhile, has surpassed USD 213 million globally.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:1. ‘Hoppers’ – USD 46 million.2. ‘Scream 7’ – USD 17.3 million.3. ‘The Bride!’ – USD 7.3 million.4. ‘GOAT’ – USD 6.6 million.5. ‘Wuthering Heights’ – USD 3.8 million.6. ‘Crime 101’ – USD 2.1 million.7. ‘Send Help’ – USD 1.6 million.8. ‘I Can Only Imagine 2’ – USD 1.5 million.9. ‘EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert’ – USD 1.5 million.10. ‘Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castlee’ – USD 1.3 million.
