Last weekend, Dreamworks Animation‘s Dog Man took a bite out of the top spot at the domestic box office while howling at the moon with $36M for its opening weekend. Drew Hancock’s psychological thriller Companion trailed behind Dog Man with a pooper-scooper despite favorable reviews (including one from JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols) for a $9.5M opening. As a spinoff of the Captain Underpants books by Dav Pilkey, Dog Man features a starry cast of voice talent, including Pete Davidson, Isla Fisher, Lil Rel Howery, Poppy Liu, and Ricky Gervais. The half-man, half-dog, all-cop animated comedy stands to lift its leg on the number one slot at the box office this weekend with an additional $16M-$20M, even as Super Bowl LIX looks to tackle a majority of audiences.
Chasing after Dog Man this weekend is the Jonathan Eusebio-directed action comedy Love Hurts, starring Everything Everywhere All At Once Oscar-winner and former Goonie Ke Huy Quan as a realtor thrust back into a world he left behind after a former partner-in-crime (Ariana DeBose) resurfaces with grim tidings. Despite starring the lovable Quan – responsible for one of Hollywood’s most incredible and endearing comeback stories – and presenting an electrifying and action-packed trailer, Love Hurts is likely headed for heartbreak with an $8M-$12M debut.
Nipping at the heels of Love Hurts is the Josh Ruben-directed romantic slasher film Heart Eyes, starring Jordana Brewster, Olivia Holt, Devon Sawa, Mason Gooding, Gigi Zumbado, and more. Heart Eyes is a genre-bending Valentine’s Day-adjacent romp about the exploits of the “Heart Eyes Killer,” who wreaks havoc on the heart-shaped holiday by stalking and murdering romantic couples. Early buzz suggests Heart Eyes is gruesome fun with creative kills, whodunnit twists, and engaging performances. Still, we expect Heart Eyes to break even with Love Hurts with an $8M-$12M launch. It’s worth noting that Heart Eyes has additional competition with Companion and Wolf Man, two spooky films that could pull audiences away from Ruben’s holiday-themed massacre.
Other films that could appear in the Top 5 include Disney’s enduring live-action animated prequel, Mufasa: The Lion King, Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk, and One of Them Days, starring Keke Palmer and SZA.
Here are our predictions:
- Dog Man: $20 million
- Love Hurts: $12 million
- Heart Eyes: $12 million
- Mufasa: The Lion King: $4 million
- Flight Risk: $2 million
Which movies do you think will rule the box office during Super Bowl weekend? Let us know in the comments section below.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed