‘The Secret Life Of Pets’ Opens With Monster Friday At Box Office And Is Heading Toward Huge Opening Weekend

Finding Dory has won the first three weekends since it opened in theaters and it is still doing well, but its time in the box office top spot may have come to an end. Another animated film has opened up, and Universal Pictures have stepped up their game, as The Secret Life of Pets is easily heading toward winning the weekend box office. With an opening Friday estimate of $38.3 million, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be even close.

Yes, the animated films are taking over the summer of 2016 as The Secret Life of Pets opened with $38.3 million on Friday, which has it headed toward a weekend total of around $96 million. As reported by Box Office Mojo, new film Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is in second place as of now, but it brought in just $6.65 million on Friday.

This is easily leading The Secret Life of Pets to be one of the biggest original animated openings in history. Pixar’s Inside Out had an opening weekend of $90.4 million and as of now, Pets is well on its way to besting that box office total.

The Secret Life of Pets certainly seems like it won’t be a flash in the pan film, either, as it will likely earn a good deal of money for weeks. It’s landing at a great time during the summer as kids are out of school for at least another month and will keep heading to theaters.

Mike and Dave opened with a pretty decent $6.6 million on Friday and it is heading toward $17-18 million for the weekend. That is very good for its opening three days, but it may end up dropping a spot in the top ten before all is said and done.

Disney-Pixar’s Finding Dory is in its fourth week and it already has brought in another $6.2 million as it continues a very strong performance. It has now crossed the $600 million mark worldwide and it hasn’t even opened in all international markets as of yet.

Warner Bros. should be thrilled with the way The Legend of Tarzan keeps performing as it brought in another $6.1 million on Friday. That may help it land in the top three for the weekend.

Here are the estimated box office numbers for the top ten on July 3, 2016.

1. The Secret Life of Pets – $38.3 million
2. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates – $6.65 million
3. Finding Dory – $6.283
4. The Legend of Tarzan – $6.1 million
5. The Purge: Election Year – $4.01 million
6. Central Intelligence – $2.42 million
7. The BFG – $2.39 million
8. Independence Day: Resurgence – $2.175 million
9. The Shallows – $1.52 million
10. Sultan – $680,000

These are just the estimate numbers for Friday and the final weekend tally is going to be out sometime early on Monday. Things could change a little bit here and there, but there is no doubt that The Secret Life of Pets is going to take control of the box office for this July weekend.

Animated films may be ruling the box office this year and especially this summer, but it’s hard to avoid looking at some of the bombs that have come forth. Independence Day: Resurgence and The BFG are doing nowhere near the expectations that experts and studios had for them, but they can’t all be winners.

The Secret Life of Pets has been drawing a lot of attention for months now, and trailers kept getting everyone even more excited. Now, it has proven to be worth the hype, as the huge $38.3 box office on Friday shows that Universal has a true success on their hands. Finding Dory has done very well for Disney, but as always, another film comes about to take the top spot, and Pets looks to be heading toward a monster opening weekend.

[Image via Universal Pictures]