Unstoppable Dog Man Takes Box Office Crown – You Won’t Believe Who Came In Second!

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Amidst uncertainty and skepticism about box office success in the movie industry, animated films and family-oriented productions have been a reassuring constant. In 2024, six out of the top 15 domestic movies belonged to these categories, offering a sense of optimism. Fortunately, this trend appears to continue into the new year, with Peter Hastings’ Dog Man showing strong performance in its debut weekend.

In the last three days, the fresh animated film dominated the box office, but Director Drew Hancock’s initial horror movie, “Companion,” which premiered on Friday as well, managed to perform quite well. It appears that “Companion” is poised to generate some intriguing earnings in the upcoming weeks. Here’s the complete Top 10 list for your perusal; stick around for analysis afterward.

Dog Man Puts Up Strong Opening Weekend Numbers Comparable To The Wild Robot

With less brand recognition compared to Mike Mitchell’s “Kung Fu Panda 4”, Dog Man didn’t quite match its opening weekend earnings in 2024, but it has performed almost as well as Chris Sanders’ “The Wild Robot” from the previous fall. This places it in a strong position.

Based on initial reports from The Numbers, Dog Man has earned approximately $36 million over the past three days, which is quite similar to the $35.8 million that The Wild Robot made when it first premiered. While this opening might not guarantee that the movie adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s work will rank among the top earners of the year by December, it’s off to a promising start and seems destined for success. The Wild Robot eventually grossed a total of $324.8 million worldwide, placing it as the 23rd highest-grossing film of the year. If Dog Man manages to achieve a comparable outcome, it would be quite an achievement.

By February 2025, I found myself part of an audience that helped make our newly-released animated film the biggest opening weekend hit of the year thus far. Granted, it’s still early January, so this isn’t a massive milestone just yet. However, considering where we were at this same time last year, it’s undeniable that things have improved somewhat.

In 2024, it wasn’t until the first weekend of March and the premiere of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two that a film grossed more than $30 million in its opening three days. So, while we still have months to go before the box office really heats up, it’s safe to say that our start to the year has been stronger compared to last year.

Based on Variety’s report, the production cost of “Dog Man” was approximately $40 million (excluding marketing and promotion expenses). With the earnings it has already garnered overseas, it seems poised to be considered a financial success. In comparison, David Soren’s “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie” from 2017, which was the first adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s work for the big screen, didn’t fare as well. It earned $23.9 million in its debut but eventually grossed $126.4 million worldwide.

Will “Dog Man” continue to thrive in February? It remains uncertain at this point. Although CinemaScore surveys indicate that the quirky animated film is delighting audiences, its reception among critics has been more mixed (I rated it three stars in my TopMob review, pointing out its charm but also its lack of focus). As for competition, Dougal Wilson’s “Paddington in Peru” and Julius Onah’s “Captain America: Brave New World” are set to debut, with the former targeting young moviegoers and the latter aiming for Marvel Studios’ usual four-quadrant appeal.

With near certainty, I’ll be including the decrease in the box office sales of Dog Man from one weekend to the next in my report that will be published next Sunday.

Companion Settles For Second Place, But Word Of Mouth May Turn It Into A Big Winner

It was widely anticipated that “Dog Man” would triumph at the box office this weekend, while “Companion” has been labeled as a peculiarity. The movie generated significant excitement when it was screened towards the end of last year, and positive sentiment increased further as critics delved deeper into its analysis (I made sure to avoid spoilers in my four-star review for TopMob). As per Deadline, it was projected that the film would earn between $8-10 million in its initial three days, and it managed to achieve this by grossing $9.5 million over the past three days. It remains intriguing to observe how it will be received through word of mouth.

The Deadline report points out that Warner Bros. may have spent less than expected during the campaign, but given the film’s complex nature, promoting “Companion” was tricky because revealing too much about it could spoil the viewing experience. Now that audiences are watching and appreciating it, there’s speculation whether it will post impressive weekend-to-weekend numbers. While I don’t foresee it surpassing “Dog Man” in its second weekend, it might persist in the Top 5 for most of February. Considering its reported budget was under $10 million, if it continues to perform well, it will be viewed as another successful venture for original horror movies.

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2025-02-02 21:37