Box office: ‘DC League of Super-Pets’ debuts in first place with soft US$23m

DC League of Super-Pets, an animated adventure about the 4-legged friends of superheroes, opened in first place at the domestic box office with US$23 million from 4,313 theatres.

Though the Warner Bros movie sold enough tickets to dethrone Jordan Peele’s Nope on North American charts, it’s a mediocre start given the film’s US$90 million price tag. Sure, the Legion of Super-Pets aren’t as recognisable as Superman or Aquaman, but DC League of Super-Pets could have resonated with audiences a little more given its affiliation with DC Comics and its high-wattage voice cast in Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart.

In pandemic times, DC League of Super-Pets is yet another kid-friendly film that has struggled to wow in its box office debut. Movies aimed at family audiences have been a mixed bag as of late, which is concerning because it’s a demographic that has always been a reliable source of revenue. In terms of opening weekend revenues, DC League of Super-Pets arrived behind Pixar’s Lightyear, which debuted to US$51 million, and Universal’s Minions: The Rise of Gru, which opened to US$107 million. But its start falls in line with other pandemic-era family films like The Bad Guys (US$23.9 million), Sing 2 (US$22.3 million) and Disney’s Encanto (US$27 million).

However, DC League of Super-Pets doesn’t have much competition on the horizon, which could work to its advantage. It helps that audiences liked the film, which landed an “A-” CinemaScore.

“This is a moderate opening by animation series standards,” said David Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Recently, several animation movies have extended their runs to 6 weeks, generating healthy domestic multiples.”

As Gross notes, although several animated movies have started slower, many have shown a lot of endurance at the box office. For example, The Bad Guys and Encanto each ended their theatrical runs with US$96 million in North America. And Sing 2 had especially long legs, tapping out with US$162 million.

This weekend’s other new nationwide release, BJ Novak’s true-crime inspired dark comedy Vengeance, barely cracked the top 10. The R-rated film opened in line with expectations, pulling in a lacklustre US$1.75 million from 998 theatres. Novak, who also wrote the screenplay, portrays a New York City-based journalist and podcaster who travels to Texas to investigate the death of a girl he was only casually dating. The well-reviewed Vengeance appealed to mostly male audiences (men accounted for 55 per cent of ticket buyers), who gave the film a “B+” CinemaScore.

With DC League of Super-Pets easily winning the weekend, Nope slid to second place with US$18.5 million from 3,807 venues. So far, the UFO thriller - starring Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer - has generated US$80.5 million in North America. Nope hasn’t opened yet at the international box office.

Disney’s Thor: Love and Thunder took the No 3 spot with US$13.1 million from 3,650 locations in its fourth weekend in theatres. Those ticket sales push the Marvel adventure past US$300 million at the domestic box office, with its current tally at US$301 million. Internationally, the fourth Thor movie has grossed US$361 million, which brings its global tally to US$662 million.

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Minions: The Rise of Gru landed in fourth place, bringing in US$10.8 million from 3,578 cinemas in its fifth outing. The latest Despicable Me instalment has been one of the few kid-friendly success stories at the pandemic box office, with ticket sales at US$320 million in North America and US$710 million worldwide.

Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick rounded out the top five with US$8.2 million in its 10th weekend of release. After 2 months on the big screen, Tom Cruise’s blockbuster has grossed US$650 million at the domestic box office and has managed to stay in the top 5 on weekend charts since Memorial Day weekend. Sometime soon, it’ll surpass Titanic (US$659 million) and Jurassic World (US$653 million) to become the seventh-highest grossing movie in domestic box office history.

Elsewhere, A24‘s multiverse adventure Everything Everywhere All at Once has cleared a major box office milestone, crossing US$100 million in global ticket sales. It’s the first A24 movie to hit that box office benchmark. The film, which was re-released in domestic theatres over the weekend, has become a sleeper hit, earning US$68.9 million in the United States and another US$31.1 million internationally. REUTERS