Despite the TMZ videos and boycott threats, A Dog’s Purpose still managed to pull in family audiences, who apparently were not convinced of the significance of footage of a cowering German Shepherd being forced into rushing water.
The story of a dog who gets reincarnated, living through and playing “man’s best friend” to multiple masters, brought in $18.4 million in its opening weekend.
“It opened right in the sweet spot, if not on the higher end of expectations,” said Nick Carpou, Universal’s domestic distribution chief. “The fact that the film has worked so well speaks directly to its resonating message. The controversy surrounding the protests generated by a highly edited video is hard to ignore. However, the box office shows that this film rises above that.”
It opened right in the sweet spot, if not on the higher end of expectations
On another note, Blumhouse and Univeral’s Split managed to hold on to the top spot for the second straight weekend, earning $26.3 million. The low-budget thriller film has made $78 million domestically, and marks a return to form for M. Night Shyamalan. “Typically movies like this open big and then have a huge drop,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore.
“This was such a smart movie. It’s well acted and it’s a cut above a typical movie in this genre that you’re seeing that in its hold. It’s a pure reflection of the positive sentiment on social media.”
Sony’s Resident Evil: The Final Chapter debuted to $13.8 million for a fourth place finish. The latest instalment in the video game franchise has earned nearly $80 million worldwide. Sony worldwide marketing and distribution chief Josh Greenstein said the stateside opening was in line with the studio’s expectations and noted that the Resident Evil series tends to play better abroad. The previous two films made roughly 80 per cent of their grosses from foreign territories.
Fox’s Hidden Figures continued to pull in crowds, adding $14 million to its gross to push its domestic total to $104 million. The drama about African-American scientists in the early days of the space programme was nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award this week.