Saturday Report: Universal reports this morning that The Secret Life of Pets scored an awesome $38.33 million on opening day Friday, sending it past Inside Out‘s $34.27 million opening day as the highest single day gross in the history of original (non-sequel) animated films.
Just as impressive is the fact that Pets only fell 17 shy of Minions‘ $46.04 million opening day on the same weekend last summer, a film that had a significantly stronger built-in audience thanks to the popularity of the Despicable Me films. Speaking of those, Secret Life came in 9.5 percent ahead of Despicable Me 2‘s $35.0 million opening day in 2013 (although that was a Wednesday, and one day before Independence Day) and 80 percent ahead of the original Despicable‘s $21.34 million in July 2010 — which was Illumination Entertainment’s previous original blockbuster.
For the weekend, we’re projecting Pets to ring up a stellar $96 million frame, which would send it past Inside Out‘s $90.44 million as the biggest debut ever by an original movie (animated or otherwise).
Coming in second place on Friday was the first day of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates as it took in an estimated $6.65 million. That easily beats pre-release expectations and puts the comedy in line to post a healthy $16.5 million opening weekend, which should be enough to consider a success given the reportedly modest budget.
Meanwhile, Finding Dory added $6.283 million on Friday to bring its domestic cume up to $408.5 million. The blockbuster Pixar sequel obviously faces new direct competition in Pets this weekend, but Dory‘s record animated run continues as it now stands 25 percent and 26 percent ahead of the 22-day cumulative totals of Shrek 2 and Toy Story 3, respectively. Dory will surpass the final $415 million lifetime total of the latter film this weekend to become Pixar’s highest grossing film to date.
Our early weekend estimates are below, to be followed by studio weekend estimates when they are reported on Sunday morning.
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Secret Life of Pets | $96,000,000 | — | 4,370 | — | $21,968 | $96,000,000 | 1 | Universal |
| 2 | Finding Dory | $21,000,000 | -50% | 3,871 | -434 | $5,425 | $423,229,243 | 4 | Disney |
| 3 | The Legend of Tarzan | $20,500,000 | -47% | 3,591 | 30 | $5,709 | $81,297,712 | 2 | Warner Bros. |
| 4 | Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates | $16,500,000 | — | 2,982 | — | $5,533 | $16,500,000 | 1 | Fox |
| 5 | The Purge: Election Year | $12,000,000 | -62% | 2,281 | -515 | $5,261 | $58,410,275 | 2 | Universal |
| 6 | The BFG | $8,400,000 | -55% | 3,392 | 35 | $2,476 | $39,534,762 | 2 | Disney / DreamWorks |
| 7 | Central Intelligence | $8,200,000 | -34% | 2,841 | -325 | $2,886 | $108,400,338 | 4 | Warner Bros. / New Line |
| 8 | Independence Day: Resurgence | $7,600,000 | -55% | 3,061 | -1030 | $2,483 | $91,395,582 | 3 | Fox |
| 9 | The Shallows | $4,300,000 | -51% | 2,406 | -556 | $1,787 | $45,325,279 | 3 | Sony / Columbia |
| 10 | The Conjuring 2 | $1,600,000 | -58% | 1,052 | -956 | $1,521 | $99,228,332 | 5 | Warner Bros. / New Line |
| 11 | Free State of Jones | $1,200,000 | -71% | 1,264 | -1517 | $949 | $19,136,708 | 3 | STX Entertainment |
| # | TITLE | WEEKEND | LOCATIONS | AVG. | TOTAL | WKS. | DIST. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sultan | $2,000,000 | — | 287 | — | $6,969 | $3,009,351 | 1 | Yash Raj Films |
| 2 | Now You See Me 2 | $1,300,000 | -56% | 864 | -924 | $1,505 | $62,129,213 | 5 | Lionsgate / Summit |
| 3 | X-Men: Apocalypse | $405,000 | -55% | 288 | -342 | $1,406 | $154,494,477 | 7 | Fox |
| 4 | Warcraft | $400,000 | -22% | 228 | -183 | $1,754 | $46,514,135 | 5 | Universal |
| 5 | Me Before You | $395,000 | -52% | 318 | -205 | $1,242 | $54,781,134 | 6 | Warner Bros. / New Line |
| 6 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows | $320,000 | -58% | 293 | -426 | $1,092 | $80,403,801 | 6 | Paramount |
| 7 | Captain America: Civil War | $315,000 | -59% | 238 | -129 | $1,324 | $406,248,164 | 10 | Disney |
| 8 | The Jungle Book (2016) | $290,000 | -55% | 197 | -97 | $1,472 | $360,200,883 | 13 | Disney |
| 9 | Alice Through the Looking Glass | $205,000 | -48% | 145 | -47 | $1,414 | $76,111,996 | 7 | Disney |
| 10 | Zootopia | $125,000 | -26% | 161 | -30 | $776 | $340,980,247 | 19 | Disney |
Friday Report: Sources report that The Secret Life of Pets bagged an excellent $5.3 million opening night on Thursday, setting the stage for a big debut weekend ahead. By comparison, that figure came in just 14.5 percent behind Minions‘ $6.2 million Thursday night launch on the same weekend last year. As an original film with positive reviews, Pets has a shot at holding up even better over the three-day frame.
Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates opened somewhat above expectations with $1.6 million last night. That bests the $1.2 million of Let’s Be Cops when it opened on a Tuesday evening in August 2014, as well as this past May’s Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising ($1.67 million). The R-rated comedy could be in line to significantly beat expectations this weekend if it holds up well starting Friday.
Meanwhile, Finding Dory crossed the $400 million domestic threshold on Thursday as it eyes a strong fourth weekend despite new competition for the family audience from Pets.
Official Friday estimates and early weekend projections will be published here on Saturday morning.
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