The animated comedy The Secret Life of Pets has successfully dethroned the No. 1 holdover Finding Dory, with an enormous $103.2 million debut from 4,370 theaters.
The Illumination Entertainment and Universal film – which reveals what pets do after their human friends leave the house – includes the voice cast of Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet and Kevin Hart, Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Dana Carvey, Hannibal Buress, Bobby Moynihan, Steve Coogan and Albert Brooks.
“If any pets were wondering what their owners were doing this weekend, they were seeing this movie,” says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian, adding that Secret Life “overperformed massively,” thanks to a great title and an irresistible concept. “This proves if you have a truly original idea — not a sequel, not a franchise, not something already known — that you can still create a massive hit.”
Moviegoers gave the family flick an A-minus CinemaScore, while critics gave it a 76 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes. Pets, Universal’s biggest opening of the year, also ranks as the largest opening ever for an original animated film (domestically) – topping last summer’s Inside Out ($90.4 million).
The Legend of Tarzan settled in second place with $20.6 million, bringing its stateside total to $81.4 million. Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo, followed closely behind with $20.4 million for a third place finish, accumulating a grand total of $422.6 million. Dory has become the highest grossing film of the year domestically, surpassing Captain America: Civil War. It also ranks as the highest grossing animated film domestically, beating Toy Story 3.
Fourth place went to the raunchy newcomer Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates with $16.6 million from 2,982 theaters. The film follows two party animal brothers (Zac Efron and Adam DeVine) who place an online ad to find the perfect dates (Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza) for their sister’s wedding. The comedy received a 41 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a B CinemaScore from moviegoers.
“We were very opportunistic about this date,” said Chris Aronson, Fox’s domestic distribution chief. “This seemed to be a good time to release an R-rated comedy.”
Rounding out the top five is horror sequel The Purge: Election Year, which added $11.7 million to its $58.1 million domestic haul.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: July 8-10
- The Secret Life Of Pets — $103.2 million
- The Legend of Tarzan — $20.62 million
- Finding Dory — $20.4 million
- Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates — $16.6 million
- The Purge: Election Year — $11.7 million
- Central Intelligence — $8.13 million
- Independence Day: Resurgence — $7.7 million
- The BFG — $7.6 million
- The Shallows — $4.8 million
- Sultan — $2.22 million
