411 Box Office Report: Hoppers Soars To #1, The Bride Falls Short

Pixar found its way back to the top of the box office, as Hoppers leaped to #1 while The Bride missed its modest expectations. The animated film opened to $46 million, racing past expectations that had it in the high $30 million range coming into the frame. It’s the best start for a non-sequel Pixar film since Coco took in $50.8 million in its three-day opening over Thanksgiving weekend of 2017. (Inside Out 2 opened to $154.2 million, but that was an established property.)

It’s a moment of return to form for Pixar, which has had a rough go since the pandemic. Onward opened to $39.1 million just before lockdown, while post-lockdown releases have fallen short like Luca ($ million), Lightyear ($50.8 million — again, an established property), Elemental ($29.6 million), and Elio ($20.8 million). Elemental ultimately proved slightly profitable but the rest lost money.

Hopper seems likely to avoid that fate. The animated tale is riding high on a wave of critical acclaim, with a 94% critic aggregate on Rotten Tomatoes, and is scoring with audiences too at a 94% RT audience rating and an A CinemaScore. Those are metrics that hearken back to the animation studio’s glory days.

Hopper is at a strong start overseas as well, where it has $42 million for an $88 worldwide start. When you factor in that the film cost less than all recent Pixar films at $150 million, this should be able to make its way to profit. Following Pixar trends, even for its less well-received entries, the domestic total is likely to get to at least $150 million and international numbers will pull it to profit.

Meanwhile, Scream 7 suffered a precipitous (and somewhat expected) fall. The slasher sequel brought in $16.7 million in its second weekend. That’s down a hefty 73% from last weekend’s $64.6 million start. The drop is the biggest second-weekend fall in the franchise to date, beating the 62% that Scream 4 shed in 2011.

In complete fairness, this was not unexpected. Scream 7 is both the most divisive of the franchise to date and had the largest overperformance. The more you beat expectations, the more likely you are to be frontloaded. The negative buzz around the film was always going to result in it dropping off. But Paramount isn’t too upset; as of now, Scream 7 has $93.6 million stateside and $149.5 million from a $45 million budget so it’s already tasting profit. In fact, it has surpassed the worldwide totals of Scream 4 ($97.1 million) and 2022’s Scream ($138.9 million) and is homing in on the franchise record — the original film’s $173 million — without a sweat. Domestically it still looks likely to finish around $130 million, which would again be a franchise record with ease.

The other big horror film had less positive news as The Bride was left at the altar. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s unique take on The Bridge of Frankenstein was DOA, opening to just $7.3 million. That’s well below the $15 million that Warner Bros. was hoping for.

Warner Bros. knew they were making a big swing with this film, which is set in 1930s Chicago and is only loosely inspired by the Universal classic. Period horror is hard; period gothic romance that does its own thing is nigh-impossible. The film has divided critics and fans with a 59% RT critic score, a 73% audience score, and a C+ CinemaScore.

The issue was simple: no one really knew what to make of the film and Warner Bros. didn’t market it particularly well, as tends to be the case when a movie goes outside of traditional narrative grounds. The problem is the cost. The Bride had an $80 million production budget, making this an official bomb. Overseas numbers aren’t great either; it brought in just $6.3 million, which is abysmal for a film that was expected to take in around $20 million internationally. The worldwide take is $13.6 million. At this point, it’s unlikely to get over $25 million in the US, and may even fall short of those low numbers.

GOAT felt a little bit from Hoppers but mostly held up well. The Sony Pictures Animation film added $6.6 million to its domestic total, down a solid enough 45% in its third weekend. The family film now has $83.8 million domestically and $146.3 million worldwide, pretty good numbers as it seeks to make back an $80 million budget. It should close out around $95 million or so in the US.

Wuthering Heights held decently in its third weekend, off 44% to $3.8 million. The romantic drama is doing very well, in large part due to overseas totals, and has grossed $78.8 million stateside and $213.7 million worldwide. It’s looking at profit against its $80 million budget and should finish around $90 million domestically.

Crime 101 continues to try and minimize theatrical losses as it slipped 41% in its fourth frame. The film, a loss leader for Amazon MGM Studios, tallied up $2.1 million. It now has $33.6 million in the US and $60.6 million worldwide. It’s not profitable in its theatrical run considering the $90 million budget; $40 million remains its endgame here.

Send Help was off 44% in its sixth weekend, taking in $1.6 million. The Sam Raimi dark comedy/thriller is profitable with $62.7 million stateside and $91.4 million worldwide on a $40 million production budget. $66 million seems to be its likely final number.

I Can Only Imagine 2 dropped 52% in its third weekend to gross $1.5 million. The faith-based drama sequel has now totaled $16.2 million, solid enough for its $8 million budget, and is probably ending around $18 million.

EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert continues to perform solidly for a documentary. The film shed 57% of its audience in week three for $1.5 million. It now has $10.9 million domestically and $20.7 million worldwide, profitable against a $10 million budget.

Coming in at #10 was a re-release as last year’s anime hit Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle took in $1.3 million. Sony Pictures Releasing but the well-received film back in 832 theaters and it took in $1.3 million. That brings the film, which was already a smash, to $135.8 million in the US and $734.8 million worldwide.

Hoppers will likely lead the box office again next weekend. The biggest new release is Reminders Of You, with the romantic drama targeting a mid-teens opening. A24’s aural-heavy horror film Undertone is looking at a mid-single digit start, while Bleecker Street’s body horror comedy Slanted is hoping for the very low single digits.

Box Office Top Ten (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)

1. Hoppers – $46 million ($46 million total, $88 million WW)
2. Scream 7 – $17.3 million ($93.4 million total, $149.5 million WW)
3. The Bride – $7.3 million ($7.3 million total, $13.6 million WW)
4. GOAT – $6.6 million ($83.8 million total, $146.3 million WW)
5. Wuthering Heights – $3.8 million ($78.8 million total, $213.7 million WW)
6. Crime 101 – $2.1 million ($33.6 million total, $60.6 million WW)
7. Send Help – $1.6 million ($62.7 million total, $91.4 million WW)
8. I Can Only Imagine 2 – $1.5 million ($16.2 million total, $16.2 million WW)
9. EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert – $1.5 million ($10.9 million total, $20.7 million WW)
10. Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle – $1.3 million ($135.8 million total, $734.8 million WW)