Well, this is quite something for the Pixar brand. Maybe this writer’s words from yesterday’s post were premature about Pixar falling into the same trap as Marvel. But, one step at a time…

Hoppers opened with $46 million in its debut, which is just below Coco‘s Fri-Sun debut of $51 million back in November 2017. Its launch just missed the inflation-counted debut of Onward, which released in February 2020, right before the world shut down. So, yeah, it’s been a little over six years since Pixar finally hit the right notes with a non-sequel toon under their umbrella, and most of that can still be attributed to COVID and the Disney+ ramifications that have plagued this once-coveted brand. Oh, and get this: they go into detail trying to claim the likes of Soul and Turning Red would not have made it anyway, even under conventional circumstances, which is the biggest load of bull****. You can play the cards Disney when you outline your business stance, but reality, as a purple titan claimed, is often disappointing.

Anyway, a 4x multiplier in line with The Bad Guys will have it fly over Elemental‘s legs in 2023. But an $88 million global debut so far is still a good start. Again, though, we’re not seeing an original until next year, while news circling the swamp about Toy Story 5, Incredibles 3, Coco 2, and Monsters Inc. 3 will simply take over for the time being. So small battle won, big war to come.

On a note to shriek about, Scream 7 tumbled with a 72.8% drop in its second weekend, netting only $17.3 million for the weekend. Yes, it’s domestically at $93.3 million and double its budget, but that is one heck of a fall with the likes of Friday the 13th (-80% in 2009) and A Nightmare on Elm Street (-72% in 2010) instead of its predecessors. The silver lining is that it’s already past $150 million worldwide, surpassing the global total of Scream V, and once it passes $169 million worldwide, it will surpass its predecessor in 2023. Negative reviews, akin to the issues that plagued Rise of Skywalker, seem to have put it in a rush to make its soda pop’s worth. But it has still earned its money and will probably finish as the highest-earning film in the series thus far.

And the other note is The Bride! simply caved with $7.26 million in its debut, which is an outright bomb for the $90 million budgeted feature. A C+ from CinemaScore and the fact that it’s a mess of a feature won’t justify the harsh proceedings ahead, so folks can make the case that it’s comparable to The Alto Knights‘ performance.

GOAT has passed $83 million domestic and will pass $150 million worldwide by tomorrow night. Wuthering Heights has passed $213 million worldwide (yay for WB!), and more good news: Paramount will be taking the proceeds from Netflix for purchasing, which is ecstatic news. Crime 101 has passed $60 million worldwide, while Send Help should be passing $100 million globally later this week.

I Can Only Imagine 2 and EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert have passed $16.2 and $10.9 million domestically, respectively.

Next weekend will see the release of Reminders of Him, Slanted, The Gates, and Bodycam.