411 Box Office Report: Dog Man Leads Super Bowl Weekend, Heart Eyes Starts At #2

Super Bowl weekend is always slow at the box office, and this year is no exception as Dog Man won over the Valentine’s Day-themed new arrivals. The animated film brought in $13.7 million to claim the top spot, down a heavier-than-expected 62% from last weekend’s #1 start.

That’s a big drop for a mid-budget animated film, especially one that wasn’t disliked by most critics and which scored high marks with audiences. But that’s the nature of Super Bowl weekend, which always takes a hit on Sundays – an all-important day for family films. Dog Man isn’t exactly in deep trouble, as it now stands at $54.1 million domestically and $66 million worldwide against a $40 million budget. It should still be aiming for around $80 million domestically, which will make it profitable for Universal and DreamWorks Animation.

Coming in at #2 was the first of the new releases for the weekend in Heart Eyes. The romcom/slasher hybrid written by Michael Kennedy scored $8.5 million, right around what was expected for it. It’s just slightly less than the $9.3 million opening for Companion last week.

The opening is solid enough for the film, which came in with a fair amount of critical buzz at an 82% Rotten Tomatoes aggregated average. Sure, the number is well below the starts of the last couple of Scream movies, but it’s on par or higher than most recent original slashers like Thanksgiving ($10.5 million start in November 2023), In a Violent Nature ($2.2 million in May of last year), and X ($4.3 million in March 2022).

The other good news for the film is that audiences seem to like it for the most part, with a B- CinemaScore (the same as Thanksgiving) and a 79% RT audience score. Heart Eyes cost $18 million to produce and it should be in a decent position to make profit once the international numbers start to come in in the next week or so. Domestically it should be able to get to around $25 million.

The other major new release got off to a less optimistic start as Love Hurts disappointed with $5.6 million. That’s below the $8 million to $10 million that was hoped for by Universal Studios. The Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose action comedy may have done better than the last film in its hybrid genre, The Killer’s Game ($2.7 million start), but that’s demining with faint praise.

There are a number of reasons for Love Hurts falling short. For one, both it and Heart Eyes were competing for the same date night crowd and audiences just found the slasher more to their tastes. It doesn’t help that Love Hurts was savaged by critics with a brutal 18% aggregated average on RT, and word of mouth was not good with a 64% RT audience rating and C+ CinemaScore. There’s also been a bit of a glut of these comedically-tinted action flicks in the past few years like Bullet Train and Nobody that take a John Wick-like approach, and Hurts didn’t look to offer anything special.

Love Hurts is looking at a much lower chance at success, with the same $18 million budget as Heart Eyes but a lower start and marks all around. The film could always score overseas, a place where action tends to hit well, but those numbers aren’t in yet. It should end with around $16 million in the US.

Mufasa: The Lion King continues to show its legs at the box office as it slipped just 38% for $3.9 million in its eight weekend. The “live action” sequel is now at $235.2 million domestically and $671.1 million worldwide, a hit for the studio against a $200 million budget. It should still land at around $240 million stateside by the end of its run.

Companion felt the burn from the arrival of competition, down a higher-than-expected 68% to $3 million. That makes the satirical thriller more frontloaded than most believed it to be. The Drew Hancock-directed film is still looking to be successful though with $15.5 million domestically and $24.3 million worldwide against a budget of slightly less than $10 million and is likely to close out in the US with about $23 million or so.

One Of Them Days fell 49% in its fourth weekend to $3 million. The comedy is already a hit for Sony Pictures, having tallied up $39.4 million against budget of $14 million ahead of its digital release next week. It should finish off around $45 million.

The documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin ranked #7 in its first weekend with $2.7 million. That’s a very good opening for the genre, marking the best documentary opening since Piece By Piece opened to $3.9 million in October on a much bigger marketing push. The film on the iconic rock band sold itself on a “see it in IMAX” message and got by with a 67% RT critic aggregate, while audiences adored it with a 97% RT audience rating. Documentaries tend to fall hard after their opening weekends, but Sony Pictures Classics is likely quite happy with this result.

Flight Risk dropped another 52% in its third weekend, down to $2.6 million. The Mel Gibson-directed thriller has now brought in $25.2 million in the US and $33.6 million worldwide against a $25 million budget. It remains to be seen if it will ultimately be profitable off its theatrical run, but it’s still likely for $30 million domestically.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 grossed $1.8 million in its eighth weekend, down 46% from last weekend. The threequel is a hit with $233.1 million domestically and $472 million worldwide opposite a $122 million budget. The domestic total is probably going to be around $238 million.

Moana 2 closed out the top 10 with $1.5 million in its eleventh frame, down 46%. The animated sequel is a blockbuster hit with $456.1 million domestically and $1.038 billion worldwide. The US final gross looks to be about $460 million against a $150 million production budget.

Next weekend will see the box office bounce back as Captain America: Brave New World arrives targeting $80 million to $90 million for the three-day take. Paddington In Peru offers counterprogramming with a probable $15 million to $20 million.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Dog Man – $13.7 million ($54.1 million total, $66 million WW)
2. Heart Eyes – $8.5 million ($8.5 million total, $8.5 million WW)
3. Love Hurts – $5.6 million ($5.6 million total, $5.6 million WW)
4. Mufasa: The Lion King – $3.9 million ($235.2 million total, $671.1 million WW)
5. Companion – $3 million ($15.5 million total, $24.3 million WW)
6. One Of Them Days – $3 million ($39.4 million total, $39.4 million WW)
7. Becoming Led Zeppelin – $2.7 million ($2.7 million total, $2.7 million WW)
8. Flight Risk – $2.6 million ($25.2 million total, $33.6 million WW)
9. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 – $1.8 million ($233.1 million total, $472 million WW)
10. Moana 2 – $1.5 million ($456.1 million total, $1.038 billion WW)