Box Office: ‘Secret Life of Pets’ Continues Animation Domination With $103 Million

The Secret Life of Pets Crew: Producer Janet Healy, Actors Jenny Slate, Eric Stonestreet , Ellie Kemper, Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, and directors Chris Meledandri and Chris Renaud. (Getty)

For the fourth consecutive weekend, an animated film topped the box office. This time, it was Universal and Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets, which opened to an astonishing $103.2 million. Meanwhile, the raunchy Zac Efron comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates underwhelmed and might spark questions about Efron’s status as a movie star. Finding Dory also became the highest-grossing release of 2016 this weekend.

Illumination Isn’t Just the House of ‘Minions’

The Secret Life of Pets cast: Jenny Slate, Ellie Kemper, Eric Stonestreet and Lake Bell. (Getty)

The performance of The Secret Life of Pets proves that Illumination is a study to be reckoned with, since it isn’t just the group behind Minions and Despicable Me. Pets‘ $103.2 million opening made it just the sixth animated film to top $100 million in its opening weekend, according to Box Office Mojo statistics. It’s also the best opening ever for an original animated film, beating Inside Out‘s $90.4 million opening from last year.

One of the more remarkable aspects of Pets‘ opening was that it was only a hair lower than Minions‘ $115.7 million opening last year. It’s also a bit behind the total gross of Illumination’s only blemish, 2011’s Hop. That film grossed just $108.0 million during its entire run.

Another Pets stopped Dory‘s three-week winning streak, Dory did add $20.3 million, CinemaScore numbers show. The film is already at $422.5 million domestically, making it the top-grossing release in North America this year. (Yes, it’s even bigger than Captain America: Civil War, which ‘only’ made $406.2 million.)

‘Mike And Dave’ Need a Bigger Audience

Zac Efron and Adam Devine. (Getty)

The raunchy, R-rated Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates only opened with $16.6 million. That’s certainly not good news for Efron. The former High School Musical star has focused on raunchy R-rated comedies since Neighbors was a smash hit in 2014.

The Legend of Tarzan had a surprisingly strong second weekend, taking in $20.6 million and knocking Dory to third. It’s just a 46 percent drop, but the film’s incredible $180 million budget makes it hard to look at this as a surprise success story.

Here’s the Full Top 10 (Estimates as of July 10):