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The weekend box office is expected to be led by two very different films as Disney and Pixar’s Hoppers and Warner Bros’ The Bride! Arrive in theaters around the world. Early projections suggest that Hoppers will deliver a strong global debut of about $88 million, marking the best opening for a Pixar original film since Coco in 2017. Meanwhile, The Bride! Is projected to open to around $40 million worldwide.
Pixar’s Hoppers appears poised to give the studio a much needed boost for its original animated titles. The film is expected to collect between $36 million and $38 million in North America across about 4000 theaters. International markets are projected to add another $45 million to $50 million, pushing the global opening close to $88 million.
The strong early outlook places Hoppers among Pixar’s better launches for original films in recent years. Since the success of Coco, which opened to about $104.7 million worldwide in comparable markets, the studio has struggled to reach similar heights with original concepts. Onward debuted domestically with $39.1 million in 2020 but its theatrical run was quickly disrupted by the COVID pandemic, eventually finishing with $61.5 million in North America and $141.9 million globally.
Later Pixar originals faced even tougher starts. Elemental opened with $29.6 million domestically in 2023, while last year’s Elio began with just $20.8 million. Because of that history, industry watchers see Hoppers as an important test for Pixar’s ability to attract audiences with new ideas rather than established franchises.
The film has also received strong critical support. Early reviews place it at 97 percent certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, matching the high score that Coco achieved. That reception suggests the movie could benefit from strong word of mouth as family audiences head to theaters throughout March.
Interest in the film appears solid ahead of release. Presales have already passed $3 million and are tracking close to animated titles such as The Wild Robot and Dog Man, both of which opened in the mid $30 million range domestically. Advance screenings
were held in the United States over the weekend, with official preview showings beginning Thursday afternoon.
Internationally, Hoppers will roll out across 41 markets during its opening weekend. The film begins in several countries including Belgium, France, Indonesia, Korea, the Netherlands, the Philippines and Switzerland before expanding to a large group of territories across Europe and Latin America. Additional releases will follow in markets such as India, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
Major markets like Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Mexico are expected to perform especially well for the film, with family oriented animation traditionally drawing strong audiences in Latin America. Japan is not part of the initial launch as Disney has chosen to avoid competition with the opening of Wicked: For Good and the recent debut of a new Doraemon film. China is scheduled for release on March 20 while Australia will open later in the month.
Sharing large format screens with Hoppers this weekend is Warner Bros’ gothic drama The Bride!, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal. The film carries a reported production cost of about $80 million and is expected to open with $16 million to $18 million in North America and around $38 million to $40 million worldwide.
The Bride! Features a high profile cast that includes Jessie Buckley, Christian Bale, Penelope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard and Jake Gyllenhaal. The movie was originally scheduled for release in early October but was later moved to a slot closer to awards season. Media screenings only recently began around the time of its New York premiere, so review scores have not yet appeared.
Elsewhere at the box office, Paramount and Spyglass’ Scream 7 is entering its second weekend after posting a franchise record opening. The horror sequel is expected to drop about sixty percent while adding roughly $25.4 million, bringing its domestic total to more than $70 million after its first full week in theaters.
With strong reviews and broad audience appeal, Hoppers is expected to dominate the weekend box office and potentially signal renewed momentum for Pixar’s original
storytelling on the big screen. Meanwhile The Bride! Will test whether its star power and gothic style can attract adult audiences looking for something different in theaters.
