Despite excellent reviews, Companion is having a weaker-than-expected opening weekend, with Dog Man a smash hit.

Earlier this week, we predicted that Dog Man was going to take a huge bite out of Companion’s opening weekend, and it looks like the gulf between both is getting wider as the weekend goes on. Dog Man, which is an animated spin-off of the Captain Underpants series, is opening much higher than we expected, with it likely to earn a massive $35 million at the weekend box office. By comparison, Deadline is revealing that Drew Hancock’s Companion might not break the $10 million mark this weekend, with it opening in a distant second place.

Now, the news isn’t all bad for Companion. Sporting excellent reviews (including from our own Tyler Nichols), and a solid B+ CinemaScore (very high for a horror flick), word of mouth should be good. Horror fans might discover this one in the coming weeks, although it will have steep competition from the gory rom-com, Heart Eyes (which we also enjoyed), next weekend. However, the budget is said to be a tight $10 million, so there’s a good chance this will still turn a profit for the studio, especially once it hits streaming (expect a MAX debut in about six weeks or so). 

Meanwhile, the weekend’s other major opener, Valiant One, starring Outer Banks’s Chase Stokes, is barely making any impact at all, with it likely only on track for a $700k weekend. It won’t even make the top 10. As expected, last weekend’s champ, Flight Risk, is losing altitude at the box office, although given the bad word-of-mouth, the week-to-week decline of 53% isn’t bad, with it looking at about $5.5 million for the weekend. With a total above $20 million, this micro-budget thriller directed by Mel Gibson should turn a much-needed profit for Lionsgate.

Check back tomorrow for our full box office round-up!