Moviegoers apparently had an appetite for irreverent, adult animation over the weekend, as Sausage Party managed to score the No. 2 box office slot for its opening run, beating low studio expectations and being beaten out only by Suicide Squad.
Produced by Canadian animation house Nitrogen Studios, Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures and Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg’s Point Grey Pictures, the R-rated Columbia release took in $33.6 million (including $3.2m from Thursday night) from 3,103 theaters. Sausage Party was reportedly budgeted at $19m.
Warner Bros.’ Suicide Squad came in at No. 1 in its second week, earning $43.7m but dropping 67.3% from its opening. Disney’s live-action hybrid remake of Pete’s Dragon opened in third place with an estimated $21.5m, despite receiving good reviews from critics ahead of its 3,702-theater release. Pete’s Dragon also opened in 12 international territories this weekend, for an extra $5.1m from Russia, Italy, U.K., et al.
In other animation box office news, Disney-Pixar’s Finding Dory has just surpassed Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in the all-time domestic chart, arriving at No. 7 with $476.8m, according to BoxOfficeMojo.
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