On an unusually crowded weekend at movie theaters that featured a pricey Viking epic and Nicolas Cage playing himself, DreamWorks Animation's The Bad Guys bested the field, signaling a continued resurgence for family moviegoing after a downturn during the pandemic. The Bad Guys, released by Universal Pictures, debuted with $24 million in US and Canada ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, the AP reports. That came despite steep competition for families from Paramount Pictures' Sonic The Hedgehog 2, which stayed in second place with $15.2 million its third week of release. It's grossed $145.8 million domestically thus far.
While studios have been hesitant to program many films against each other during the pandemic, the weekend saw a rarity: three new wide releases, all of them well-received, none of them sequels or remakes. The Bad Guys, based on Aaron Blabey's children's graphic novel series about a gang of crooked animals with a Quentin Tarantino-for-kids tone, fared well with critics (85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (an “A” CinemaScore). The weekend's other new releases—Robert Eggers' The Northman and the Cage-starring The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent—didn't do as well but still fared reasonably solidly in their first weekend.
Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- The Bad Guys, $24 million.
- Sonic the Hedgehog 2, $15.2 million.
- Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, $14 million.
- The Northman, $12 million.
- The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, $7.2 million.
- Everything Everywhere All at Once, $5.4 million.
- The Lost City, $4.4 million.
- Father Stu, $3.4 million.
- Morbius, $2.3 million.
- Ambulance, $1.8 million.
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