Box Office: DC League of Super-Pets underwhelms in the top spot

DC League of Super-Pets finished at the top of the box office this weekend, but it shows that the summer movie season is beginning to cool off as it debuts below its tracking figures.

DC League of Super-Pets grossed $23 million over the weekend, below the $25-30 million the film had been tracking and the $30 million I predicted earlier in the week. Warners put a lot of marketing push into this film which is why most believed it could’ve surged beyond its initial tracking. Throw in the voice talents of Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart, we had a film that seemed destined for bigger box office success. It’s hard to pinpoint why the film underperformed a bit, but it should be noted that the opening is pretty solid for a piece of original animation in the marketplace right now. There are some comparisons to Dreamworks Animation’s The Bad Guys being made here, as that film opened to $23.95 million earlier this year and managed to leg it out to $96.6 million. It’s possible that DC League of Super-Pets could have similar legs or even better due to the target audience being out of school and more eager to catch the film during weekday showings. Super-Pets also received an “A-” CinemaScore, indicating solid word of mouth. Budgeted at $89 million, DC League of Super-Pets also grossed $18.4 million from 64 overseas markets for a worldwide opening of $41.4 million.

Falling to second place and mostly in line with my predictions is Nope, with a gross of $18.5 million. That’s a decline of 58%, which is pretty much the norm for the horror genre and even more so when the reaction to one of their films is a bit more mixed. To date, Nope has grossed $80.5 million at the domestic box office and a $100 million+ final gross is still very much in its sights.

In third place, we find Thor: Love and Thunder with a gross of $13 million, down 42% from the previous weekend. As expected, The Thor sequel is beginning to level off a bit after suffering steeper declines in weekends two and three. The good news is that Thor: Love and Thunder has crossed the $300 million mark with a current domestic total of $301.5 million. Globally, the film has also grossed a healthy $662.4 million at the worldwide box office.

Minions: The Rise of Gru holds steady against the presence of DC League of Super-Pets with a gross of $10.8 million. That’s a decline of 40%, which is pretty solid since it faced bigger kid-friendly competition this weekend. Minions: The Rise of Gru is truly the animation success story of the year as it’s the first animated film during the pandemic era to cross the $300 million mark. To date, Minions: The Rise of Gru has grossed $320.4 million at the domestic box office.

Rounding out the top five is Top Gun: Maverick, with another steady hold to gross $8.2 million. That’s another modest drop of 20% as the Top Gun sequel continues to be THE film of the summer. To date, Top Gun: Maverick has grossed $650.1 million domestically and has cleared $1.3 billion at the global box office.

What are YOUR thoughts on this weekend’s box office results?