411 Box Office Report: DC League of Super-Pets Wins With Mild $23 Million Start

DC League of Super-Pets may not have flown quite as high as expected, but it still won the box office this weekend. The DC animated film took the top spot with a $23 million opening weekend, a little behind the $25 million to $30 million expected take coming into the frame. While it’s nowhere near the level of the other two summer animated releases in Lightyear ($50.6 million) and Minions: The Rise of Gru ($107 million), the start does rank on par with the $23.9 million start of Sony’s The Bad Guys in April.

The opening is the first clear sign that we’re in the dog days of summer at the box office. Warner Bros. was originally going to premiere Black Adam this weekend to close July with a bang, but that film was pushed out to October to finish visual effects due to the backlog of such work at VFX houses. That resulted in League of Super-Pets, which was originally set for May, being moved into this spot. That shift meant that the film had to open in a less ideal position, which likely contributed to the lower box office.

The good news for Warner Bros. is that this film is likely to hold on fairly well. The critical reception has been decent with a 71% aggregate score on Rotten Tomatoes, and audience impression is very strong with an A- CinemaScore and a 89% audience rating on RT. League of Super-Pets had good holds throughout the weekend and that should help it as it tries to fight its way to profit. As of now the film has added $18.4 million overseas, which is not exceptional, for $41.4 million worldwide. The domestic total should be able to reach at least $75 million, but it will need to get higher than that to make back its $90 million production budget plus marketing.

Jordan Peele’s Nope held on about as expected, slipping 58% in its second weekend to bring in $18.5 million. The sci-fi horror film’s drop was slightly higher than Peele’s last directorial effort, 2019’s Us which fell 53% in weekend two. The film is currently performing fine as it sits at $80.6 million with no overseas numbers in as of yet. The film looks like it’s likely to finish out at a $110 million domestic take or so, and when the overseas numbers come in that will bring it to profit against a $68 million budget.

Thor: Love & Thunder finally stabilized a bit, down 53% in its fourth weekend to $13.1 million. The MCU film is now at $301.5 million domestically and $662.4 million worldwide, another hit (although a slightly more modest one) for Marvel Studios. The film is still well on track to top Thor Ragnarok’s $315.1 million to become the highest grossing solo Thor film to date, with a likely $330 million final domestic gross. The budget was a hefty $250 million, but this is still a money maker.

Minions: Rise of Gru was down 40% against the new big animated film, bringing in $10.9 million in its fifth weekend. The spinoff sequel is up to $320.4 million domestically and $710.4 million worldwide, and should pass the first Minions’ $336 million soon enough. A $350 million final domestic gross is not out of the question. The movie is a big money maker against a budget of $80 million.

Top Gun: Maverick was down just 20% in its 10th weekend as it stuck around in the top five, bringing in another $8.2 million. The Tom Cruise sequel now stands at $650.1 million domestically and a massive $1.321 billion worldwide. The film is just a tiny bit away from beating out Jurassic World ($652.3 million) and Titanic ($659.4 million) to become the seventh-highest domestic grossing film of all-time, and should come close to Avengers: Infinity War’s $678.8 million for #6. Whether it can pass that number does remain to be seen.

Where the Crawdads Sing had a great hold in its third weekend, down just 27% to $7.5 million. The drama is proving to have some legs as it’s now up to $53.5 million domestically and $62.2 million worldwide. This one was a low mid-budget movie at a $24 million budget and is proving to be a hit for Sony Pictures, with a likely $65 million to $70 million domestic take at this point.

Elvis is also holding on strong, slipping a mere 12% in its sixth weekend to $5.8 million. The Baz Luhrmann-directed music biopic has now totaled $129 million domestically and $224.3 million worldwide. It’s a likely money maker for Warner Bros., with a probable final domestic gross of $140 million or so.

Speaking of hits, The Black Phone eased just 29% in its sixth weekend to rake in another $2.5 million. The horror film from Universal is now up to $83.1 million domestically and $141.2 million worldwide, a huge profit against an $18 million budget. It should be able to hit around $90 million domestically.

Jurassic World: Dominion nosed down 33% in its eighth weekend to $2.1 million, bringing it to $369.5 million domestically and $942.6 million worldwide. The dino sequel is already in profitable against a $165 million production budget and should be able to end its domestic run at around $375 million.

Coming in at #10 was Focus Features’ Vengeance. The dark comedy from B.J. Novak was able to rustle up $1.8 million off the backs of some solid reviews (77% on RT) and decent audience word of mouth (83% audience reaction on RT). This film’s theatrical release is all extra, as it will hit PVOD in just a couple of weeks, so anything it can make here is positive. The movie should be able to top $5 million in domestic gross.

Next weekend will see the arrival of a new box office king as Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train targets around $30 million to $35 million. We will also see the release of Universal Pictures’ comedy Easter Sunday, hoping for a high single digit take, as well as A24’s new horror comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies in limited release.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. DC League of Super-Pets – $23 million ($23 million total, $41.4 million worldwide)
2. Nope – $18.5 million ($80.6 million total, $80.6 million WW)
3. Thor: Love & Thunder – $13.1 million ($301.5 million total, $662.4 million WW)
4. Minions: The Rise of Gru – $10.9 million ($320.4 million total, $710.4 million WW)
5. Top Gun: Maverick – $8.2 million ($650.1 million total, $1.321 billion WW)
6. Where the Crawdads Sing – $7.5 million ($53.5 million total, $62.2 million WW)
7. Elvis – $5.8 million ($129 million total, $234.3 million WW)
8. The Black Phone – $2.5 million ($83.1 million total, $141.2 million WW)
9. Jurassic World: Dominion – $2.1 million ($369.5 million total, $942.6 million WW)
10. Vengeance – $1.8 million ($1.8 million total, $1.8 million WW)