Pixar’s Hoppers achieved the studio’s strongest opening in years with $46 million domestically, while Maggie Gyllenhaal’s $80-90 million arthouse horror The Bride! stumbled to just $7.2 million, highlighting a dramatic divide in the current box office landscape.
The weekend box office delivered a tale of two studios: Pixar celebrated a triumphant return to form, while Warner Bros. faced one of its most significant recent failures. Pixar’s Hoppers earned $46 million in its domestic opening and $88 million internationally, marking the animation powerhouse’s best debut since Inside Out 2‘s record-breaking $154 million launch in 2024[Entertainment Weekly]. This performance is a remarkable turnaround for the Disney subsidiary, which had been reeling from a string of underperformers, including Soul (which barely scraped $1 million in 2024) and Elio (which grossed only $72 million over its entire theatrical run).
In stark contrast, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride!, a reimagining of the Bride of Frankenstein mythos starring Jessie Buckley, failed to gain any traction. The film managed just $7.2 million domestically and $13.5 million globally against a reported production budget of $80-90 million, not including its substantial marketing costs[Entertainment Weekly]. This result is particularly devastating given the film’s arthouse pedigree and the modest performance of Gyllenhaal’s previous directorial effort, The Lost Daughter, which recouped less than $1 million of its $5 million budget after a limited theatrical run. The flop also snaps a remarkable winning streak for Warner Bros., which had delivered consecutive hits with Barbie, A Minecraft Movie, and Superman.
Not all news was bad for Warner Bros. Discovery’s potential new owner, Paramount. Scream 7 continued its impressive run, adding $17.3 million domestically in its second weekend for a total of $32.9 million globally, securing the No. 2 spot on both charts. This performance validates the franchise’s record-breaking premiere the previous week[AOL]. Meanwhile, other holdovers like the animated sports comedy GOAT ($6.6 million this week, $83.8 million total) and the romantic drama Wuthering Heights ($8.7 million this week, $78.7 million total) demonstrated steady staying power in their fourth weeks.
Credit: Jessica Miglio/Pa
The battle for next weekend is already shaping up. Hoppers will face two distinct challengers: A24’s horror offering Undertone, which follows paranormal podcasters haunted by mysterious recordings, and the Colleen Hoover adaptation Reminders of Him, starring Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers. Competing directly with a proven Pixar hit is a formidable task, especially as family audiences have already signaled their approval with this weekend’s robust turnout.
The divergent fortunes of Hoppers and The Bride! underscore several industry truths. First, the untapped value of the family market remains a cornerstone for studios, with Pixar’s brand resilience proving that a well-executed original concept can overcome the recent malaise that plagued the studio. Second, even with a celebrated director and a classic literary foundation, a high-budget arthouse horror film faces immense difficulty competing against a beloved animation house, especially when the latter is enjoying a resurgence. The $7.2 million opening for The Bride! suggests that niche genre filmmaking, regardless of critical acclaim, struggles to find a broad audience without the built-in recognition of an established franchise.
For Warner Bros., the failure of The Bride! is a stark setback amid its pending acquisition by Paramount. The studio’s recent winning streak, built on crowd-pleasing franchises and icon revivals, has been interrupted by a project that likely will not recoup its total costs. This development may prompt a strategic reassessment of budget allocations for original, auteur-driven films within the studio’s pipeline.
Looking ahead, Hoppers appears positioned for a strong multi-week run, buoyed by positive audience reception and the lack of direct family competition. Its success provides a much-needed victory for Pixar and a blueprint for the kind of original storytelling that can thrive at the box office. Meanwhile, Scream 7 demonstrates the enduring power of established horror franchises, and the upcoming releases will test whether A24’s horror pedigree or Colleen Hoover’s devoted readership can dent Hoppers‘ momentum.
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