DC’s League of Super-Pets takes the top spot with $23 million

Summer camp showed signs of slowing down this weekend as the animated DC League of Super-Pets hit theaters across North America.

The superhero spin-off about Superman’s dog earned $23 million at 4,314 locations, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Although slightly less than expected, it was enough to take the top spot and knock Jordan Peele’s “Nope” into second place in its second weekend.

Analysts had projected “DC League of Super-Pets” to open at $25 million, which was the lowest for animated openings this summer. In June, $50.6 million for “Lightgod” was considered a small amount for a $200 million Disney/Pixar film. Then, in early July, Universal’s Minions: The Rise of Gru earned $107 million in its first three days.

But “Super-Pets” is more comparable to Universal’s “The Bad Guys,” which earned about $97 million after a $23 million opening, and much, much stronger than Paramount’s “Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank’s” (6 .3 dollars). million debuted a few weeks ago.

“This opening is a huge win for DC fans, the box office, the World Bank and our filmmakers,” said Jeff Goldstein, the studio’s president of domestic distribution.

“DC League of Super-Pets” was not planned as a mid-summer release. “Super Pets” was originally slated for May, while that weekend was reserved for Warner Bros.’ “Black Adam.” more Dwayne Johnson superhero photos. But delays in post-production due to backups at VFX houses forced “Black Adam” to be pushed back to October. Instead of giving up on the premiere date, the studio filled the open slot with a family title with an all-star cast including Kevin Hart, John Krasinski, Keanu Reeves and Kate McKinnon as the evil guinea pigs.

“Super Pets” has a few weeks of summer vacation left with little competition, and it is hoped that it will continue its steady growth thanks to positive responses from audiences this weekend. And with $18.4 million from international screenings, it has already grossed $41.4 million worldwide.

“The interest is very strong,” Goldstein said. “Young family films have been running for a very long time. With our CinemaScore A- and word of mouth, we’ll be around for a while.”

In second place was Universal’s “Nope,” which dropped 57% from last weekend’s debut and earned an additional $18.6 million. North American grosses for “Nope” now stand at $80.6 million before it begins its international expansion in August.

“Thor: Love and Thunder” finished third with $13.1 million in its fourth weekend, bringing its domestic total to $301.5 million. Its global total now stands at $662 million, excluding its China release.

“Minions: Rise of the Gru” ended up in fourth place in its fifth weekend with $10.9 million. It grossed $710.4 million worldwide.

And rounding out the top five is “Top Gun: Maverick,” which earned an additional $8.2 million in its 10th weekend, bringing its domestic total to $650.1 million.

Major new releases in theaters were limited this weekend, but gave moviegoers plenty of options. Focus Features debuted “Revenge” at 998 locations this weekend, where it grossed an estimated $1.8 million. The directorial debut of B.J. Novak tells the story of a podcaster (Novak) who travels from New York to West Texas to investigate the death of his girlfriend. The well-received thriller stars Issa Rae and Ashton Kutcher. And on Bleecker Street, the Sundance charmer Love Song , starring Wes Studi and Dale Dickey, opened in four theaters, earning an estimated $18,702.

On the eve of August, things slow down at the country’s box office, which is not uncommon. And there are more big movies to come, like Sony’s “Bullet Train” starring Brad Pitt, which is soon to hit theaters next weekend.

“July brought in more than $1 billion, and that’s impressive. This is the first billion dollar month since December 2019,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “That gives us a tailwind in August, but don’t expect any $100 million debuts for a while.”

According to Comscore, the estimated volume of ticket sales at theaters in the US and Canada from Friday to Sunday. Final internal data will be released on Monday.

1. “DC League of Super-Pets,” $23 million.

2. No, $18.6 million.

3. “Thor: Love and Thunder,” $13.1 million.

4. Minions: The Rise of Gru, $10.9 million.

5. “Top Gun: Maverick,” $8.2 million.

6. “Where the Crawdads Sing,” $7.5 million.

7. “Elvis”, $5.8 million.

8. “Black phone”, 2.5 million dollars.

9. Jurassic World: Dominion, $2.1 million.

10. “Revenge,” $1.8 million.