‘The Bride’ Bombs As ‘Hoppers’ Breaks Pixar’s 9-Year Box Office Streak

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The box office saw some big winners and losers this weekend. The new horror film, The Bride!, didn’t perform well, earning only $7.3 million in the US and $13.6 million worldwide, despite costing $90 million to make. These numbers were lower than what industry experts had predicted, who estimated a US gross of $10 to $15 million.

From the beginning, the high price tag for the film The Bride! seemed questionable, considering its unusual story: Jessie Buckley plays a woman brought back to life to be a companion for Frankenstein’s monster in 1930s Chicago. The pair then embark on a cross-country adventure reminiscent of Bonnie and Clyde, sparking a feminist movement along the way – and there are even musical numbers! The film is directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, known for her acting roles in films like Secretary and The Dark Knight. This is her second feature film after the critically acclaimed The Lost Daughter (2021). While The Lost Daughter was a smaller, intimate film that didn’t perform hugely at the box office, it also cost much less to make and was released on Netflix in the US, which doesn’t prioritize theatrical releases. Warner Bros. is facing potentially significant losses with The Bride!, which has received mixed reviews. Critics generally agree the film is ambitious and daring, but they’re divided on whether its ideas truly succeed.

According to Variety, Warner Bros. released a statement regarding the film’s box office performance. They argued that in the current movie industry, which often avoids risks, studios should be willing to take chances on original ideas, just like even the legendary 1927 New York Yankees weren’t perfect and still had 44 losses that year.

It’s good that the team is staying positive, even though Warner Bros.’ impressive run of nine successful movies – which began with A Minecraft Movie last year – has come to an end. While the studio has seen success with original horror films like Sinners and Weapons, The Bride! might be a bit too unusual to attract a large audience.

‘Hoppers’ is Pixar’s Best Performing Original Movie in Years

Despite being a new release, The Bride! only landed in third place at the box office this weekend. Scream 7 held onto second place, earning another $17.3 million domestically. While that’s a significant 74% drop from its opening weekend, the film has already made $149.4 million worldwide on a $45 million budget, meaning it’s performing well overall.

Pixar’s new animated film, Hoppers, was the clear hit of the weekend, earning $46 million domestically and $88 million worldwide. While it still needs to make back its $150 million production cost (which is relatively low for Pixar), its long-term prospects look good. Recent family animated films like Inside Out 2, Zootopia 2, and The Super Mario Bros. Movie have all continued to perform well in theaters weeks after their release, suggesting Hoppers will likely do the same. Another animated film, GOAT, about a goat with athletic dreams, is also proving successful, currently at $146 million globally with a budget of $80 million, even in its third week of release.

As a huge Pixar fan, I bet there’s a lot of cheering happening over there right now! While they’ve done really well with sequels like Toy Story 4 and Inside Out 2, their original movies haven’t been doing so hot. You could kind of understand it with films like Soul, Luca, and Turning Red – they were released straight to streaming during the pandemic, which is tough for any movie. Onward in 2020 also suffered a bit because of the pandemic’s early spread, even though it wasn’t directly released to streaming. But the problem seems bigger than just that. Elio in 2025 was a real disappointment, barely making back its budget. Even Elemental from 2023, which eventually did well, had a shaky start at the box office.

The new animated film, Hoppers, is getting a lot of positive attention. It’s about a woman named Mabel who has her mind transferred into a robot beaver so she can understand what animals think about the loss of their homes. With family films doing well in theaters right now, Hoppers seems to have been released at just the right moment.

As a total movie fan, I’m thrilled to hear Pixar’s new film is a hit! Disney’s Alan Bergman said it’s a really special, original movie and it’s awesome to see families and friends experiencing it together. Big congrats to director Daniel Chong, producer Nicole Paradis Grindle, the whole cast, and of course, Pete Docter, Jim Morris, and everyone else at Pixar for such a fantastic launch – they really knocked it out of the park!


Paramount Pictures

Weekend Box Office Top 10, March 6-8, 2026

Movie Box Office (Domestic) Box Office (Global) Weeks in Theaters
1 Hoppers $46 million $88 million 1
2 Scream 7 $93.3 million $149.4 million 2
3 The Bride! $7.3 million $13.6 million 1
4 GOAT $83.8 million $146 million 3
5 Wuthering Heights $78 million $213 million 4
6 Crime 101 $33.1 million $60.6 million 5
7 EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert $10.9 million $20.2 million 2
8 Send Help $62.7 million $91.4 million 5
9 I Can Only Imagine 2 $16.2 million $16.2 million 2
10 Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle $135.8 million $734.7 million 25

Next weekend looks like it will be dominated by the new romantic drama, Reminders of Him. The following weekend, audiences can look forward to Project Hail Mary, which is expected to be another big hit.

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2026-03-08 23:09