Hoppers Box Office: Pixar Hit Opens to $40M+ While The Bride! Flops
Pixar has delivered a much-needed win for original animated features with the opening of Hoppers, which is projected to gross over $40 million domestically in its debut weekend. The film, released on , is already being hailed as the biggest launch for a Pixar original since 2017’s Coco.
The film’s success comes at a critical time for the studio, which has faced increasing pressure to deliver commercially and creatively. Hoppers follows Mabel Tanaka (voiced by Piper Curda), an animal lover who uses new technology to transfer her consciousness into a robotic beaver, allowing her to communicate with animals and ultimately defend their habitat from a looming human threat, embodied by the smooth-talking mayor Jerry Generazzo (Jon Hamm). The premise, described as a “comedy-adventure,” has resonated with audiences and critics alike.
Early indicators point to overwhelmingly positive reception. As of Saturday morning, Hoppers boasts a 94% critics score and a matching 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. CinemaScore gave the film an “A” rating, and PostTrak exits awarded it a perfect five-out-of-five stars. Audience reactions from early screenings have consistently praised the film’s creativity and humor, with one particularly memorable scene involving a beaver accidentally squishing something eliciting a strong reaction from audiences at the El Capitan Theatre premiere.
The film’s director, Daniel Chong, and writer, Jesse Andrews, developed the story after Chong returned to Pixar in December 2020. The project was officially announced in August 2024, with Curda, Bobby Moynihan (voicing King George, a charismatic beaver), and Hamm among the first cast members revealed. Mark Mothersbaugh composed the score, and SZA contributed the finish credits song, “Save the Day.”
The strong opening for Hoppers is particularly notable given the current landscape of the box office. Globally, the film is expected to earn over $85 million in its opening weekend. This success is a welcome sign for original animation, which has struggled to consistently draw audiences in recent years. The film’s appeal to families and its positive word-of-mouth are key factors driving its performance.
However, the weekend isn’t a complete success story for Disney. Warner Bros.’ The Bride!, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, is facing a starkly different fate, currently tracking for an opening weekend of just $8 million to $10 million domestically. The film, starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, has received a “C+” CinemaScore and a 43% “definite recommend” on Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak, signaling a likely box office disappointment.
The contrast between the performances of Hoppers and The Bride! highlights the challenges facing auteur-driven genre films in the current market. The Bride!’s projected opening would be the lowest for Warner Bros. Since 2024’s The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. The film is too underperforming internationally, with a projected global gross of $16 million to $20 million.
Pixar’s return to form with Hoppers is being attributed to a renewed focus on “fun” and “funny” storytelling. According to reports, the studio has been encouraging filmmakers to create more broadly appealing narratives, moving away from the intensely autobiographical films that characterized some of its recent releases. The success of talking animal movies, following the popularity of Zootopia, is also seen as a contributing factor.
The film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles on , and was also screened at the New York International Children’s Film Festival on . Hoppers’s voice cast also includes Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Meryl Streep, Eduardo Franco, Aparna Nancherla, Tom Law, Sam Richardson, Melissa Villaseñor, and Isiah Whitlock Jr.
With a budget of $150 million, Hoppers has already earned $13.5 million as of early reports. The film’s strong performance is a positive sign for both Pixar and Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, demonstrating the continued appeal of high-quality animated storytelling.