[Image via Disney] Animated films may be ruling the box office this year and especially this summer, but it’s hard to avoid looking at some of the bombs that have come forth.
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Pets has opened to a massive $103.2 million (£79.7 million) in the U.S., while Inside Out opened to $90.4 million (£69.8 million) previous year.
“Secret Life’s” debut is also the biggest opening ever for an original film, animated or otherwise, supplanting last year’s “Inside Out” ($90.4 million).
Comedy superstars Louis C.K. (Trumbo), Eric Stonestreet (Modern Family) and Kevin Hart (Central Intelligence) make their animated feature-film debuts in The Secret Life of Pets, which co-stars Jenny Slate (Obvious Child), Ellie Kemper (Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Lake Bell (Million Dollar Arm), Dana Carvey (Wayne’s World), Hannibal Buress (Spider-Man: Homecoming), Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live), Steve Coogan (Tropic Thunder), and Albert Brooks (Defending Your Life).
“Illumination has been building a consistency of vision, and now they have become what every studio covets – a draw”, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box office tracker comScore.
The main draw, though, was likely in the simple and appealing premise: What do your pets do when you’re not around?
Finding Dory, which landed the biggest animated opening of all time earlier this summer with $135.6 million, and Pets continue the animal-themed craze.
The “Pets” opening numbers are also a huge win for Illumination Entertainment. Universal is adding to its animation prowess with the proposed $3.8 billion purchase of DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
That adventure will be familiar to anyone who has seen director Chris Renaud’s “Despicable Me” and its sequel, as it follows the Illumination Studio formula: slapstick humor, a colorful palette of colors in the animation, great music and an all-star voice cast.
Coming in second place was The Legend of Tarzan, which had a solid second weekend gross of $20.6 million with only a 46% drop. The horror pic, costing just $10 million to make, is another win for Blumhouse, Platinum Dunes and Universal.
“The Purge: Election Year” rounded out the top five with $11.7 million.
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The family-friendly tale The Secret Life of Pets looks at what pets do when humans aren’t around.
