Want a box office hit this summer? Well, I'd suggest finding some famous people to voice some animal characters for a couple of hours.
Taking the No. 1 spot in dominating fashion is "The Secret Life of Pets," bringing in an estimated $103 million in its opening weekend. That's about $80 million better than this weekend's No. 2 movie and $40 million better than analysts predicted.
In a world where sequels, comic heroes and novel adaptations rule the box office, a movie not based on established material is a rarity — which makes "The Secret of Life of Pets" a particularly noteworthy success.
"The Secret Life of Pets" is pretty far down the list of best openings ever — at No. 35 domestically. But if you take away all the films based on comic heroes, sequels or novel adaptations, this is actually the best opening in modern film history.
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Oddly enough, the next best opening for an "original idea" film is another animated flick. "Inside Out" brought in more than $90 million in its opening weekend.
Taking the No. 2 spot is "The Legend of Tarzan," bringing in about $20.6 million in its second weekend. With a $135 million worldwide total, Tarzan and Jane still have a ways to go to make up for the flick's blockbuster budget, but it had a strong weekend showing nonetheless.
Despite eight nationwide releases and four weeks in theaters, Dory will not let go of her spot in the top three. Pixar's latest brought in $20.3 million this weekend, pushing its domestic total to just over $422 million.
That's the best domestic total this year — better than "Deadpool," "The Jungle Book" and even "Captain America: Civil War."
But it still has to catch "The Lion King" and "Shrek 2" to earn best animated film ever honors. As for next week, who ya gonna call?
