Illumination Entertainment is a force to be reckoned with, as their animation track record is perhaps now as impressive as Pixar's, and this is only their sixth production so far (and first original effort since The Lorax [or 2011's Hop]). The Secret Life of Pets beat every expectation this weekend, managing a very impressive $104.4 million from the widest release in animated movie history (and 7th-widest release period), 4,370 locations (the per-venue average was a strong $23,879). For animation altogether, Pets had the sixth-largest start ever behind Finding Dory, Shrek the Third, last year's Minions, Toy Story 3 and Shrek 2. More importantly and impressively, Pets beat Inside Out's $90 million start from last year to earn the biggest start ever for a movie that's not a sequel, remake, or based on any earlier property. Again, the kudos goes to the marketing campaign, in which distributor Universal was once again nearly-omnipresent in getting the word out (and they needed this win). And even more impressively, the budget on this one was just $75 million (!), half the cost of Kung Fu Panda 3 ($145 million) and around a third of the cost of Finding Dory (which apparently cost $200 million).Summer 2016 has been basically held up on the shoulders of animation, as this and Finding Dory have both outperformed expectations. And while long-term competition is a bit intense (Ice Age: Collision Course opens in two weeks, though with arguably less buzz), this will still do strong business during the week as kids are in the middle of school vacations. Overseas is off to a good start as well, with $42 million picked up so far from just six territories. With many still to open, I can imagine this finishing with at least $750 million worldwide, if not more (the $1 billion mark is not out of the question either). Reviews were good (74% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences gave the film an "A-" CinemaScore.
Narrowly remaining in second place, The Legend of Tarzan didn't drop as bad as it could have. The pricey CGI flick was off 45% in its second weekend to $21 million, for a $81.8 million gross in 10 days. Tarzan is continuing to outpace expectations, but its still not generating the numbers needed to generate profit for a $180 million budget. It's overseas numbers are only OK so far, with $56 million from 16 markets.
The arrival of Pets expectedly caused some families to flee from Finding Dory, as the blockbuster sequel was off 50% in its fourth frame to $20.8 million. That's still an impressive number for a fourth weekend, and the total domestic gross has climbed to an unbelievable $423 million in just 24 days. Dory passed the final (unadjusted) grosses of Toy Story 3 and The Lion King this weekend to become distributor Disney's biggest animated movie in their history. It currently ranks as the 15th-biggest movie of all-time domestically, and has earned $650 million worldwide with still some left to open.
Opening in fourth place with better-than-expected results was R-rated comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. The Zac Efron and Adam Devine comedy pulled in a solid $16.6 million, for a decent $5,576 per-venue average. For Efron, this is ahead of That Awkward Moment and Dirty Grandpa, and its actually pretty close to earlier this summer's Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising ($21 million). On a budget of $33 million, distributor 20th Century Fox should see a small profit on this one. Reviews were mixed-to-negative (40% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was a "B". This one may or may not get beaten up next weekend by the Ghostbusters reboot, we shall see.
Following its impressive start last weekend, The Purge: Election Year plummeted 61% to $12.3 million, for a strong $58.8 million pick-up in 10 days. Steep drops are typical for horror flicks, but Election Year managed to hold better than both previous Purge films' second weekends (the first two movies dropped 76% and 65%, respectively), and is outpacing both films through the same point also (both had $52 million through the same point). There's a strong chance this one finishes as the biggest-grossing installment in the trilogy to date.
Central Intelligence continued to find footing in its fourth frame, off 36% to $8 million, for a very good $108.2 million pick-up in 24 days, on its way to a $130 million finish. Kevin Hart has two movies in the Top 10 (he lent his voice to Pets). Meanwhile, the competition proved to be too much for The BFG, as the Disney-Steven Spielberg collaboration fell apart in its second weekend, down 58% to $7.8 million. The Roald Dahl adaptation is at a disastrous $38.9 million gross in 10 days, and will have a hard time reaching $60 million stateside. Overseas, its only earned another $10 million from just a few territories.
Independence Day: Resurgence continued its quick descent, off another 54% to $7.78 million, for a $91.6 million gross in 17 days. The first Independence Day had earned $95 million in its first six days. The sequel will probably finish around $110 million stateside, and overseas has chipped in another $200 million so far. A finish near $400 million worldwide might be enough to break even, or is it?
The Shallows followed with a 45% dip in its third weekend to $4.8 million, for a solid $45.8 million gross in 17 days. The Blake Lively shark thriller will approach $60 million by the time it finishes, a strong finish considering its $17 million budget. Rounding out the Top 10 is a Bollywood release, Sultan, which earned $2.4 million from just 283 locations (a solid $8,375 per-venue average). How it holds from here will depend on word-of-mouth.
And that's it. Next weekend will bring the highly-anticipated (or loathed?) debut of the all-female Ghostbusters reboot, and a drama called The Infiltrator. Can the box office continue to recover strongly? We'll see. Reviews for The BFG and The Secret Life of Pets will be posted either tomorrow or Wednesday.
