Universal/DreamWorks Animation’s feature take of Dav Pilkey’s Dog Man bit $1.36M in previews yesterday which comps to DWA’s previews for The Bad Guys ($1.15M) and Trolls Band Together ($1.3M), those movies respectively opening to $23.9M and $30M.
Dog Man is expected to be the first notable opening of the year, north of $20M. Quorum reports “Dog Man has been on the rise. Two weeks ago, it was tracking behind Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, which opened to $23M. Today, awareness and unaided awareness are much higher than Paw. Could Dog reach $30M? It certainly seems possible.” Dads and moms under 35 are the strongest as far as those who’ll pay to see the movie in a theater. Dog Man is 4 1/2 stars with kids and parents in Screen Engine/Comscore PostTrak exits. The movie is booked at 3,885 theaters. Previews started yesterday at 2PM in 2,950 venues. The animated pic is 77% fresh with Rotten Tomatoes critics.
New Line’s R-rated horror film Companion is on fire in exits with a solid four stars on PostTrak, and 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and 95% certified fresh with critics. However, the BoulderLight Pictures, Drew Hancock written and directed femme bot movie is only suppose to do $8M-$11M. Thursday previews which began at 3PM were $1.1M; that total number being $1.7M including Monday Mystery screenings. Quorum notes, “Three weeks ago, just before Warner Bros. kicked the campaign into high gear with a trailer and poster, Companion was tracking to open below $5M. Since then, awareness has tripled, and interest has climbed ten points.”
As far as comps, Universal’s R-rated Violent Night posted $1.1M on its way to a $13.4M opening back in 2022. Last year’s Blumhouse PG-13 title Night Swim made $1.45M in previews before opening to $11.7M, while more recently, R-rated Wolf Man made $1.4M before continuing on to $10.8M. M3GAN, the ultimate femme bot movie, did $2.75M in previews before seducing a $30.4M opening; that movie being PG-13.
The rest of the week went like this:
1.) Flight Risk (LG) 3,161 theaters, Thu $767K (-48% from Wed), Week $14.6M/Wk 1
2.) One of Them Days (Sony) 2,675 theaters, Thu $743K (-39%), Week $10.68M, Total $27.8M/Wk 2
3. ) Mufasa (Dis) 3,420 theaters, Thu $605K (-30%), Week $10.5M, Total $222.9M/Wk 6
4.) Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Par) 3,097 theaters, Thu $367K (-36%), Week $6.4M, Total $227M/Wk 6
5.) Moana 2 (Dis) 2,550 theaters, Thu $287K (-26%), Week $5.1M, Total $450.8M/Wk 9