Well it looks like Dory will finally lose her box office throne this weekend. However a new animated feature will be taking over. No, it’s not The BFG which is a quality film that suffered from poor scheduling sandwiched in between Dory‘s massive opening and The Secret Life of Pets which looks like it is going to at least have a huge opening weekend, but I doubt that it will have the kind of staying power that we saw from our favorite Blue Tang.
The Secret Life of Pets
Does anyone need to see this trailer? I have seen it more times that I care to admit. The film has created a huge amount of buzz, to the point last week that my daughter wouldn’t stop asking if we could see it instead of The BFG. I have to say that it broke my heart a little bit, because I have some serious doubts about this movie. Don’t get me wrong, I think kids are going to love it and parents are going to take them and it is going to make boatloads of money. But I just don’t think that it is going to be as good as the animated fare that we have been recently feasting on.
Metacritic is showing its score at 61 currently with 38 reviews in. That is significantly lower than Finding Dory (77), The BFG (66), and Zootopia (78). The folks at Universal/Illumination know how to play up the cuteness factor though and kids are going to love this one and turn out in droves with parents in tow. It doesn’t look like it is going to be bad enough to have parents scratching their eyes out, but it is definitely not one that I am looking forward to seeing.
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates
This is Zac Ephron’s 3rd R-rated comedy in a row. He has better potential than Neighbors, Dirty Grandpa and this. I have no interest in watching this. Unfortunately, it does appeal to a certain crowd that currently doesn’t have many options at the cinema and its marketing has been pretty strong so I think it will get a respectable opening week.
- The Secret Life of Pets – $86 Million
- Finding Dory – $24 Million
- The Legend of Tarzan – $18 Million
- The BFG – $12 Million
- Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates – $11 Million