‘Dog Man' bests ‘Heart Eyes,' ‘Love Hurts' at box office
On a quiet winter weekend at the box office, DreamWorks Animation's 'Dog Man' chased its own tail, repeating as the top movie in theaters.
The animated Universal Pictures release, adapted from Dav Pilkey's popular graphic novel series, collected $13.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Both new releases — the Ke Huy Quan action movie 'Love Hurts' and the Valentine's Day-themed slasher 'Heart Eyes'— were left nipping at the heels of 'Dog Man.'
Hollywood often largely punts Super Bowl weekend to the small screen. Last year, Apple's much-derided 'Argylle' debuted on the same weekend. Instead, the movie industry spends more energy pitching its blockbusters in trailers for the huge football audience on TV.
It wasn't a banner weekend for 'Dog Man.' It fell steeply, dropping 62% in it second weekend. But with a production budget of $40 million, 'Dog Man' has already tallied $54.1 million domestically in two weeks.
Coming in second was Spyglass Media Group's 'Heart Eyes,' released by Sony. The horror-rom-com mashup earned $8.5 million from 3,102 locations. Reviews have been good for the film, directed by Josh Ruben and starring Oliva Holt and Mason Gooding, though audiences were less impressed. Moviegoers gave it a 'B-' CinemaScore. Spyglass made 'Heart Eyes' for $18 million.
'Love Hurts,' the action comedy from 87North Productions ('John Wick,' 'The Fall Guy'), debuted with a paltry $5.8 million in 3,055 theaters. In his first big movie role since his Oscar-winning comeback in 'Everything All at Once,' Ke Huy Quan stars as a mild-mannered realtor with a hitman past. Ariana DeBose co-stars. It, too, was modestly budgeted at $18 million. Audiences, however, mostly rejected the movie, giving 'Love Hurts' a 'C+' CinemaScore.
Next weekend should bring Hollywood its biggest box-office weekend of the year with the release of Marvel's 'Captain America: Brave New World' and Sony's 'Paddington in Peru.'
Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. 'Dog Man,' $13.7 million.
2. 'Heart Eyes,' $8.5 million.
3. 'Love Hurts,' $5.8 million.
4. 'Mufasa: The Lion King,' $3.9 million.
5. 'Companion,' $3 million.
6. 'One of Them Days,' $3 million.
7. 'Becoming Led Zeppelin,' $2.6 million.
8. 'Flight Risk,' $2.6 million.
9. 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' $1.8 million.
10. 'Moana 3,' $1.5 million.
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Voice of America
09-02-2025
- Voice of America
‘Dog Man' bests ‘Heart Eyes,' ‘Love Hurts' at box office
On a quiet winter weekend at the box office, DreamWorks Animation's 'Dog Man' chased its own tail, repeating as the top movie in theaters. The animated Universal Pictures release, adapted from Dav Pilkey's popular graphic novel series, collected $13.7 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. Both new releases — the Ke Huy Quan action movie 'Love Hurts' and the Valentine's Day-themed slasher 'Heart Eyes'— were left nipping at the heels of 'Dog Man.' Hollywood often largely punts Super Bowl weekend to the small screen. Last year, Apple's much-derided 'Argylle' debuted on the same weekend. Instead, the movie industry spends more energy pitching its blockbusters in trailers for the huge football audience on TV. It wasn't a banner weekend for 'Dog Man.' It fell steeply, dropping 62% in it second weekend. But with a production budget of $40 million, 'Dog Man' has already tallied $54.1 million domestically in two weeks. Coming in second was Spyglass Media Group's 'Heart Eyes,' released by Sony. The horror-rom-com mashup earned $8.5 million from 3,102 locations. Reviews have been good for the film, directed by Josh Ruben and starring Oliva Holt and Mason Gooding, though audiences were less impressed. Moviegoers gave it a 'B-' CinemaScore. Spyglass made 'Heart Eyes' for $18 million. 'Love Hurts,' the action comedy from 87North Productions ('John Wick,' 'The Fall Guy'), debuted with a paltry $5.8 million in 3,055 theaters. In his first big movie role since his Oscar-winning comeback in 'Everything All at Once,' Ke Huy Quan stars as a mild-mannered realtor with a hitman past. Ariana DeBose co-stars. It, too, was modestly budgeted at $18 million. Audiences, however, mostly rejected the movie, giving 'Love Hurts' a 'C+' CinemaScore. Next weekend should bring Hollywood its biggest box-office weekend of the year with the release of Marvel's 'Captain America: Brave New World' and Sony's 'Paddington in Peru.' Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: 1. 'Dog Man,' $13.7 million. 2. 'Heart Eyes,' $8.5 million. 3. 'Love Hurts,' $5.8 million. 4. 'Mufasa: The Lion King,' $3.9 million. 5. 'Companion,' $3 million. 6. 'One of Them Days,' $3 million. 7. 'Becoming Led Zeppelin,' $2.6 million. 8. 'Flight Risk,' $2.6 million. 9. 'Sonic the Hedgehog,' $1.8 million. 10. 'Moana 3,' $1.5 million.
Voice of America
19-01-2025
- Voice of America
Keke Palmer's ‘One of Them Days,' ‘Mufasa' race for No. 1
The Keke Palmer buddy comedy 'One of Them Days' opened in first place on the North American box office charts on a particularly slow Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend. The R-rated Sony release earned $11.6 million from 2,675 theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday, beating Disney's 'Mufasa: The Lion King' by a hair. By the end of Monday's holiday, 'Mufasa' will have the edge, however. 'One of Them Days' cost only $14 million to produce, which it is expected to earn by Monday. The very well-reviewed buddy comedy stars Palmer and SZA as friends and roommates scrambling to get money for rent before their landlord evicts them. Notably it's the first Black female-led theatrical comedy since 'Girls Trip' came out in 2017 and it currently carries a stellar 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. But the marketplace was also quite weak overall. The total box office for Friday, Saturday and Sunday will add up to less than $80 million, according to data from Comscore, making it one of the worst Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekends since 1997. 'For an individual film like 'One of Them Days' this was a great weekend,' said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. 'You can still find success stories within what is overall a low grossing weekend for movie theaters.' The Walt Disney Co.'s 'Mufasa' was close by in second place with $11.5 million from the weekend, its fifth playing in theaters. Globally, the Barry Jenkins-directed prequel has made $588 million. It even beat a brand-new offering, the Blumhouse horror 'Wolf Man,' which debuted in third place with $10.6 million from 3,354 North American theaters. Writer-director Leigh Whannell's monster tale starring Christopher Abbott and Julia Garner did not enter theaters with great reviews. It currently carries a 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews don't generally affect the success of horror movies in their first weekend, but audiences also gave it a lackluster C- CinemaScore in exit polls. The Blumhouse production and Universal Pictures release cost a reported $25 million to make and is expected to reach $12 million by the close of Monday's holiday. 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3" was in fourth place with $8.6 million and 'Den of Thieves 2' rounded out the top five with $6.6 million. In specialty releases, Brady Corbert's 215-minute post-war epic 'The Brutalist' expanded to 388 screens where it made nearly $2 million over the weekend. A24 reported that it sold out various 70mm and IMAX showings. The studio also re-released its Colman Domingo drama 'Sing Sing' in theaters and prisons, where over 1 million incarcerated people in 46 states were able to view the film. The Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend has seen major successes in the past. Dergarabedian noted 'Bad Boys for Life,' which had a three-day opening of $62.5 million in 2020, and 'American Sniper,' which earned $89.3 in its first weekend in wide release in 2016. 'This is a year that's going to get a big boost starting with 'Captain America: Brave New World' and 'Paddington in Peru' in February,' Dergarabedian said. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. 1. 'One of Them Days,' $11.6 million. 2. 'Mufasa: The Lion King,' $11.5 million. 3. 'Wolf Man,' $10.6 million. 4. 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3,' $8.6 million. 5. 'Den of Thieves 2: Pantera,' $6.6 million. 6. 'Moana 2,' $6.1 million. 7. 'Nosferatu,' $4.3 million. 8. 'A Complete Unknown,' $3.8 million. 9. 'Wicked,' $3.6 million. 10. 'Babygirl,' $2 million.
Voice of America
01-12-2024
- Voice of America
'Moana 2' has record $221 million opening, Hollywood celebrates moviegoing feast
Christmas came early at the box office this year. 'Moana 2' brought in a tidal wave of moviegoers over the Thanksgiving Day weekend, setting records with $221 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That, combined with 'Wicked' and 'Gladiator II,' made for an unprecedented weekend in cinemas and a confluence of blockbusters more like what's often found in late December. Expectations were high for Walt Disney Co.'s 'Moana 2,' but the film — originally planned as a series for Disney+ before it was redirected to the big screen — blew predictions out of the water. Its five-day opening set a new record for Thanksgiving moviegoing. (The previous best was $125 million for 'Frozen 2' in its second week of release in 2019.) 'Moana 2' added $165.3 million internationally; with $386 million worldwide, it's the second-best global launch of the year. At the same time, the sensation of 'Wicked' showed no signs of slowing down. The Universal Pictures musical brought in $117.5 million over the five-day weekend, pushing its two-week global total to $359.2 million. Not accounting for inflation, 'Wicked' is now the highest grossing Broadway adaptation over 'Grease.' (That 1978 film grossed $190 million, but factoring in inflation would put it past $900 million.) 'Gladiator II,' meanwhile, also held well, dipping 44% from its opening weekend. Ridley Scott's sequel to his Oscar-winning best picture original collected $44 million in its second weekend. While its steep price tag of $250 million will make profitability challenging, 'Gladiator II' has swiftly gathered $320 million worldwide. Those three films drove the overall box office to a record $420 million in overall Thanksgiving weekend ticket sales, according to Comscore — more than $100 million more than ever before. For an industry that has been battered in recent years by the pandemic, work stoppages and the upheaval caused by streaming, it was a triumphant weekend that showed the still-potent power of Hollywood's blockbuster machine. Before 'Wicked,' 'Moana 2' and 'Gladiator II' arrived in theaters, ticket sales were running about 25% behind pre-pandemic levels. Michael O'Leary, president and chief executive of the National Association of Theater Owners, said the weekend showed what's possible when 'all the pieces of the puzzle come together' in compelling big-budget movies with marketing muscle. 'We're very optimistic that this weekend is the start of what we believe is a full-on charge into the future,' he said. "The remaining quarter of this year looks very promising and then on into 2025 and 2026. We're hoping next year is the first kind of normal year this industry has had in a long time.' Like the last time such anticipated movies collided on the release calendar — 2023's much-ballyhooed 'Barbenheimer" — the movie industry again could see evidence of a rising moviegoing tide lifting all blockbusters. In recent years, studios have typically tried to space out most of their biggest releases. Earlier this fall, 'Venom: The Last Dance," for example, was the No. 1 film for three straight weeks, despite not being particularly successful. 'For a long, long time in Hollywood, there's been a belief that you don't put big blockbuster movies up against each other,' said O'Leary. 'But the truth of the matter is that competition is good. It's good for the movies. It's good for the studios. It's good for the theater owners. But it's particularly good for the moviegoing public.' 'Moana 2' was the nexus of a strategy shift for Disney. When it first began development, it was fashioned as a series for streaming. But when Bob Iger returned as chief executive, he reconsidered the balance between theatrical and streaming. The original 'Moana," after all, was the most streamed movie on Disney+ in 2023, with the added benefit of $680 million in box office in 2016. Only in February this year did Iger announce the release of 'Moana 2," with Auli'i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson returning as the voices of Moana and Maui. 'It just shows you that the big screen and small screen are not adversarial. They can be complementary and additive,' says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. 'Whoever made that decision to go big screen globally with 'Moana 2,' that was one of the greatest decisions ever.' And it helped lead a resurgence for Walt Disney Co., whose last two animated November releases — 'Strange World' and 'Wish' — fizzled in theaters. 'Moana 2' may become the third $1 billion-grossing movie for the studio in 2024, along with 'Inside Out 2' and 'Deadpool & Wolverine.' Though reviews for 'Moana 2" have only been 65% 'fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences gave it an 'A-' CinemaScore. 'Moana 2' is also part of a major rebound for family moviegoing. According to David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a newsletter for Franchise Entertainment, family moviegoing in 2024 is going to account for approximately $6.8 billion in ticket sales, roughly the sums of 2022 and 2023, combined. After such large debuts, 'Moana 2' and 'Wicked' are likely to continue to drive moviegoing through December. The only question will be if this year's Christmas movies — historically a much bigger holiday period for theaters — can come anywhere near the Thanksgiving lineup. Among the movies aiming for that holiday corridor are Disney's 'Mufasa: The Lion King,' Paramount's 'Sonic the Hedgehog 3" and Searchlight's 'A Complete Unknown,' with Timothee Chalamet as a young Bob Dylan. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore: 1. "Moana 2," $135 million. 2. 'Wicked,' $80 million. 3. 'Gladiator II' $30.7 million. 4. 'Red One,' $12.9 million. 5. 'The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,' $3.3 million. 6. 'Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin,' $2.4 million. 7. 'Venom: The Last Dance,' $2.2 million. 8. 'Heretic,' $956,797. 9. 'The Wild Robot,' $670,000. 10. 'A Real Pain,' $665,000.
