Damn. It’s officially the year of animation. Last year you had the comic book films taking over the box office, and now you have films like Zootopia, Finding Dory, and The Secret Life of Pets taking over. Out of the three huge hits, Finding Dory had the biggest opening with $135 million, but Illumination Entertainment’s Secret Life of Pets wasn’t too far behind.
The film, which has scored an impressive 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, dominated the box office this weekend with a $103.2 million opening. It’s just the sixth animated feature to open above the $100 million mark. What makes the success even more surprising is that the film was made for just $75 million, which is pretty cheap compared to what most major studios spend on animated movies.
Honestly, this is about more than just great opening weekend numbers. A new franchise has been created, and you can bet every kid in the world is going to want a stuffed animal of their favorite character.
Senior media analyst at comScore told Fortune the following…
“Somebody at Illumination is popping the champagne and pouring out the Kibble. The love that people have for their fish, their bird, their dogs, or their hamsters is demonstrated by their insatiable appetite for a movie like this.”
Meanwhile, Finding Dory continues to perform well at the box office. After spending three weekends at number one before being kicked out of the spot by Secret Life of Pets, the Pixar sequel has earned a domestic total of $422 million, and is in prime position to be the highest grossing film of the year.
