It has yet to have a box office miss-all six of its films have been (or, in the case of “Pets”, will be) profitable.
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Dory is now the all but certain box office champion of the entire summer, and of the entire year until Rogue One tries to beat it. Even Pets is unlikely to keep going at that pace, despite being just the third film to open with over $100 million this summer after Dory and Captain America: Civil War.
Secret Life of Pets, revealing what pets of all shapes and sizes do after their owners leave the house, boasts a voice cast that includes Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart (marking the first time the three have worked on an animated movie), Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Steve Coogan and Albert Brooks. Given the film’s A- CinemaScore, and the dearth of family competition over the next month, it seems clear that “Pets” will continue drawing in audiences in the weeks to come. And compared to Pixar, which usually spends about $200 million on its movies, Illumination makes its films for dirt cheap. “It’s a very charming way in for everyone to have fun with the concept of imagining their pets that way”. The 2004 animated top-grosser finished off its run in the box office with $436.7 million.
“The Legend Of Tarzan”, starring Alexander Skarsgard as the jungle hero, swung into second place with a second weekend gross of $20,6 million with only a 46 percent drop. However, Disney’s ostensibly triumphant one-two punch might just be countered by Illumination Entertainment – Universal’s wholly owned in-house animation house – with the release of The Secret Life of Pets. Family films are absolutely killing it this year! “That’s an audience who is always looking for content in a world filled with options for entertainment”.
According to Deadline Hollywood, people predicted “Finding Dory” to overshadow “Pets” and push the latter down to a mere $80-million range on its opening. The horror movie earned $11.7 million to round out the top five and bring its domestic gross to $58.1 million.
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Now, how long did the secret lives of pets and Minions begin to intertwine on-screen? “We’re running out of track”. It will expand into 4,329 theaters on Friday. Final Monday numbers will determine whether Tarzan or Doryprevailed (most box-office analysts have Dory ahead).
