The latest animated adventure set in the Captain Underpants universe, Dog Man, barks at the moon with $1.36M in Thursday previews.
Universal and Dreamworks Animation‘s Dog Man is taking a bite out of crime during its debut with $1.36M in box office previews. The beat-patrolling pooch’s silver-screen launch is on par with other Dreamworks preview earnings, including The Bad Guys ($1.15M) and Trolls Band Together ($1.3M). According to Quorum, Dog Man could be the first box office blowout of the year as families flock to theaters for the canine cop’s feature-length presentation. “Dog Man has been on the rise. Two weeks ago, it was tracking behind Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie, which opened to $23M. Today, awareness and unaided awareness are much higher than Paw. Could Dog reach $30M? It certainly seems possible,” said Quorum. According to other analysts, Dog Man, set in the world of Captain Underpants, could snag an impressive $40M based on the desire for family-friendly fare at the cinema.
The official synopsis for Dog Man reads: “When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together, and Dog Man is born. Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve—and fetch, sit and roll over. As Dog Man embraces his new identity and strives to impress his Chief (Lil Rel Howery), he must stop the pretty evil plots of feline supervillain Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson). Petey’s latest plan is to clone himself, creating the kitten Lil Petey, to double his ability to do crime stuff. Things get complicated, though, when Lil Petey forges an unexpected bond with Dog Man. When Lil Petey falls into the clutches of a common enemy, Dog Man and Petey reluctantly join forces in an action-packed race against time to rescue the young kitten. In the process, they discover the power of family (and kittens!) to bring even the most hostile foes together.”
Dog Man also stars Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers) as TV reporter Sarah Hatoff; Poppy Liu (The Afterparty) as Petey’s assistant, Butler; Stephen Root (Barry) as Grampa; Billy Boyd (The Lord of the Rings) as Sarah’s cameraman, Seamus; and Ricky Gervais (The Office) as Flippy the fish.
Elsewhere, Drew Hancock’s psychological thriller Companion nabbed $1.1M in Thursday previews. The twisted dark comedy starring Sophie Thatcher, Jack Quaid, and Harvey Guillén could bank $8M to $11M during its opening weekend, but thanks to great word of mouth, that total could change.
JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols loved Companion, giving the film a 9 out of 10 in his review. He says Companion excels at “delivering utterly fantastic performances” and features plenty of “twists and turns.” Damn. If I weren’t going to see Nosferatu a second time, I’d check out Companion this weekend. I also want to see Dog Man in the worst way. I am JoBlo’s resident animation freak, after all.
What do you plan to see at the cinema this weekend? Let us know in the comments section below.
