“The Secret Life of Pets” shatters expectations with $103.2 mln openingJuly 11, 2016 - 12:51 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Illumination Entertainment and Universal Pictures’ “The Secret Life of Pets” made an estimated $103.2 million during its three-day debut, earning the sixth-biggest opening weekend of all time for an animated feature — ahead of Disney-Pixar’s “Inside Out”, TheWrap reports. The animated original easily dethroned Disney-Pixar’s “Finding Dory” from the top spot and far surpassed even the highest predictions. The studio initially expected “Pets” to open north of its “Despicable Me” numbers from 2010 ($56.4 million), but experts were putting its debut weekend somewhere north of $80 million. The lead character in “Secret Life of Pets” is a terrier named Max, voiced by Louis C.K., who embarks on an odyssey through New York City with his newly adopted roommate Duke — a massive furry brown dog voiced by Eric Stonestreet. The rest of the film is dedicated to their attempt to get back home. The film, which played over the weekend in 4,370 locations, has a favorable Metascore of 61 from Metacritic, which weights an average score among top critics. The animated feature also has a strong A- Cinemascore. Fox’s R-rated comedy “Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” also beat expectations, grossing an estimated $16.6 million from 2,982 locations. Forecasts initially had the film opening in the low double digits. The movie starring Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza was made for $33 million before marketing costs. Director Jake Szymansk’s debut feature stars Kendrick and Plaza as a couple of hapless friends who agree to be the wedding dates for two guys played by Efron and Adam Devine. Their main motivation is the free trip to Hawaii that comes with the job. The film has a mixed Metascore of 51 and a B Cinemascore. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Government reveals details from Pashinyan’s meeting in border village Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has met with a group of residents of a border village in Armenia’s northern Tavush province Narek Manasyan wins European Boxing Championships silver for Armenia Armenia’s Narek Manasyan (92kg) won Armenia’s second silver medal at the European Boxing Championships 2024 on April 28. Blinken urges Azerbaijan to continue negotiations with Armenia Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken has urged Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to continue negotiations with Armenia. Pashinyan, Blinken talk Armenia-U.S. ties over the phone Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 28, Pashinyan’s office reports. |