Although the critical reviews have been surprisingly solid, the movie was unable to take the top spot at the weekend box office, as The Secret Life of Pets remained the No. 1 movie in the country. For 5 weeks in release, “Dory” has amassed a grand total of $445.6 million in domestic receipts alone.
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That total, which is the biggest opening for star Melissa McCarthy and director Paul Feig, was roughly in line with industry projections for the comedy. That is a heck of a lot more than most comedies cost to produce. The cast features Melissa McCarthy (Tammy), Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live), Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live), Leslie Jones (Saturday Night Live), Charles Dance (Game of Thrones), Michael Kenneth Williams (Boardwalk Empire), Neil Casey (Adult Beginners), Elizabeth Perkins (Big), and Chris Hemsworth (Thor). “This is a restart of one of our most important brands”.
Falling on the second place is “Ghostbusters”, an all-female ghost busting group released by Sony Pictures.
“Unless it has massive legs, any opening under $50 million is not a triumph”, said Jeff Bock, an analyst with Exhibitor Relations. The film did not open much overseas with just three main territories for a $19 million opening and has a staggered roll out over the next month.
Finding Dory took $11m (£8.3m) over the weekend, overtaking Shrek 2 to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time in the US. But over the long haul it banked over $225 million, more than $575 million in today’s dollars, and was the second highest grossing movie that year. And Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates nabbed the fifth position, thanks to box office receipts of $7.5 million.
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On social media, where the remake had weathered a savage backlash that Feig described as “the worst misogynistic stuff you’ve ever seen in your life”, fans cheered the portrayal of women. Ouch! The movie has finally hit theaters and now all of you will get to be the judge on if that title was deserved or not.
