Box office: 'Ghostbusters' can't compete with 'The Secret Life of Pets'
The new take on the classic comedy opened in second place behind holdover animated movie 'Pets.' 'Ghostbusters' stars Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon.
'Ghostbusters' stars (from l.) Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, and Kate McKinnon.
Hopper Stone/Sony Pictures/AP
The animated movie 鈥淭he Secret Life of Pets鈥� came in first place at the box office again, grossing more than the new comedy 鈥淕hostbusters,鈥� showing that 鈥淧ets鈥� continues to have a wide appeal for moviegoers.
鈥淧ets鈥� took in more than $50 million this past weekend after opening the previous week, while the new 鈥淕hostbusters鈥� film starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon grossed about $46 million at the domestic box office.
The other highest-grossing movies at the weekend box office were movies that opened in previous weeks, including 鈥淭he Legend of Tarzan,鈥� starring Alexander Skarsg氓rd, Margot Robbie, and Samuel L. Jackson, which came in third and took in $11.1 million this past weekend, just ahead of the newest Pixar animated film, 鈥淔inding Dory,鈥� which placed fourth, grossing about $11 million. The comedy 鈥淢ike and Dave Need Wedding Dates鈥� grossed more than $7 million, placing fifth.
Another new movie, the Bryan Cranston drama 鈥淭he Infiltrator,鈥� opened in eighth place and took in more than $5 million.听
The performance of 鈥淕hostbusters鈥� in its opening weekend was acceptable, .听
鈥淭here was all this hoopla and all this chatter about the movie and now it's opened and it did just fine,鈥� Mr. Dergarabedian said.听
Meanwhile, what鈥檚 making 鈥淧ets鈥� do so well financially? Brent Lang of Reuters credits Americans鈥� interest in their animals.听
鈥淭he film deftly exploited dog- and cat-obsessed moviegoers to appeal to both parents and children,鈥� Mr. Lang writes of the movie鈥檚 opening weekend success.
And writes that Illumination Entertainment (which is owned by Universal), which released 鈥淧ets,鈥� has successfully staked out the weeks around the Fourth of July. Hits such as the 鈥淒espicable Me鈥� series were previously released at that time.听
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 deny the post-July 4th date worked in 'Pets' behalf,鈥� Mr. D鈥橝lessandro writes. 鈥淚n the wake of 鈥楧espicable Me 1 & 2鈥� and 鈥楳inions,鈥� audiences have come to expect a hysterical, satirical toon at this time of year.鈥�