Box Office Predictions: Audiences Likely To Still Have ‘Heart Eyes’ For ‘Dog Man’
Box Office analysis is provided by Daniel Garris of BoxOfficeReport.com.
Weekend Box Office Predictions: Friday, February 7th - Sunday, February 9th, 2025
Universal and DreamWorks Animation's Dog Man shouldn't have a problem remaining in first place at the box office over the traditionally quiet Super Bowl weekend frame. Last weekend Dog Man was off to a very nice start with $36.00 million. Dog Man has gone over fairly well with critics and looks to be going over very well with audiences after receiving a strong A rating on CinemaScore. While Super Bowl LIX on Sunday will have less of an effect on family fare than it will on non-family films, it will still have a bit of an effect on Dog Man and other family films in the marketplace this weekend. Back in 2016, when going up against the Super Bowl, Kung Fu Panda 3 experienced a second weekend decline of 48.5 percent to gross $21.24 million. In addition, like 2017's Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, which had a second weekend decline of 48.9 percent to gross $12.18 million, Dog Man may also experience some initial front-loading, due in part to being based on a popular book series. Dog Man could decline a sizable 54.7 percent this weekend to take in a still healthy $16.3 million in its second frame.
This weekend sees two new wide releases enter the marketplace: Sony's Heart Eyes and Universal's Love Hurts. With neither film expected to light the box office on fire (which is typical for Super Bowl weekend); both films have a chance of taking second place this weekend. But as we enter the weekend, it appears that Heart Eyes will likely have the edge between the two modestly budgeted films.
Sony / Screen Gems' Heart Eyes is an R-rated horror film directed by Josh Ruben that stars Olivia Holt and Mason Gooding. The film is playing in 3,102 locations this weekend and has Thursday preview shows starting early at 2PM. Critical reviews for Heart Eyes have been quite strong, which may give the film a boost at the box office. Opening Heart Eyes just before the Valentine's Day holiday next week could also help initial holding power for the film going forward. Sony used a similar strategy with fellow horror film Thanksgiving back in November of 2023, which saw Thanksgiving debut with $10.31 million and finish its domestic run with $31.91 million. As for Heart Eyes this weekend, the film could get off to a promising start with $8.2 million.
Universal's Love Hurts is an R-rated action comedy directed by Jonathan Eusebio that stars Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose. Love Hurts is playing in 3,055 locations this weekend and also has Thursday preview shows beginning early at 2PM. Somewhat surprisingly, critical reviews for Love Hurts have been largely negative. There had been some hope for Love Hurts at the box office due in part to the film serving as Ke Huy Quan's acting follow-up to 2022's Everything Everywhere All at Once, but the negative critical reviews will make it much more difficult for Love Hurts to break out at the box office. In April of last year, Universal's Monkey Man debuted with $10.12 million. But ultimately, Universal's Nobody and its opening weekend take of $6.82 million back in March of 2021, may prove to be a better opening weekend comparison for Love Hurts this weekend. BoxOfficeReport is predicting that Love Hurts will debut with $6.7 million.
As for some of this weekend's other holdovers, Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King is likely to continue to hold up well. A decline of just 28.6 percent would transfer into $4.5 million for Mufasa: The Lion King this weekend, which would move the film past the domestic total of Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 in the domestic box office race between the two December releases. Although Warner Bros. and New Line's Companion has gone over well with critics and audiences alike, the horror film is still likely to experience a significant second weekend decline this weekend, due to a combination of the film losing its IMAX screens, the new direct competition from Heart Eyes and the Super Bowl on Sunday. Companion could decline a sharp 57.0 percent to gross $4.0 million this weekend. Sony's well-received One of Them Days could decrease a solid 35.4 percent to take in $3.8 million for the frame. That would move One of Them Days just past the $40 million domestic mark.
Read more at BoxOfficeReport.com.
