FRIDAY PM: Pixar is set for its best opening since 2017’s Coco with Hoppers expected to achieve a great $40M opening weekend across 4,000 theaters. The film’s first day and previews are projected to reach $12.7M (possibly $13M by night’s end), surpassing the Friday previews of 2020’s Onward ($12M, $39.1M opening), 2023’s Elemental ($11.7M, $29.6M opening), and last summer’s Elio ($8.96M, $20.8M opening). While official audience scores are still pending, reports indicate they are aligning with the film’s impressive critical rating, currently at 93% certified fresh. Great job, Hoppers!
We’re in a better spot with the top opening film this year compared to last year’s Warner Bros’ Mickey 17, which underperformed with a $19M opening.
According to social media analytics from RelishMix, Hoppers has a significant social media reach of 363.6M on platforms like Facebook, TikTok, X, Instagram, and YouTube, just shy of Pixar’s Toy Story spin-off Lightyear (371M), and well ahead of Onward (284M), Elemental (301.3M), and Elio (272.5M). Overall, Hoppers‘ social media activity is “13% above a wide range of new family animated genre norms,” states RelishMix.
Conversations around Hoppers seem positive, with audiences responding well to its family-friendly sci-fi concept and self-aware humor. The film is being marketed as a mashup with taglines like ‘Over the Hedge plus Avatar equals this’ and ‘Open Season meets Avatar.’ The adorable marketing is resonating, with comments like ‘They’re really making me hyped for a beaver’ and ‘I need a plush of the beaver, it looks so squishy.’ The humor from the trailers has been a standout feature, and the animation style is praised for its uniqueness.
On the contrary, Warner Bros’ The Bride!, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, is significantly underperforming, projected to earn $3M today and aiming for a total of $8M-$10M opening at 3,304 locations, against a reported production budget of $80M. Scream 7 is predicted to take second place with $5.5M today, totaling $18M over the weekend, with a cumulative total of $94M by end of Sunday. The audience score for The Bride! stands at 66%, close to the critics’ score of 61%.
The Bride’s social media presence is falling short at 178.2M, “running -14% behind horror franchises/remake norms across platforms,” indicates RelishMix. Word of mouth feedback reveals mixed views, with concerns over the film’s concept drifting towards self-parody and skepticism about its reimagining of classic stories. Critics are divided, with some praising the film while others criticize it as disappointing.
