Animated Battle: Will 'Dory' Limit 'Pets'?

It's a foregone conclusion that The Secret Life Of Pets is going to win the weekend at the box office, but some observers think that the animated family film could set records if it weren't for the competition from that pesky Pixar fish. The lingering Finding Dory won't be able to keep up with Pets, but it could slow the new film down enough to keep it out of the record books.

The most optimistic predictions for Pets' opening-weekend gross are in the range of $90 million. That's very close to the $90.4 million record for an animated film set last year by Inside Out. More conservative estimates, however, put Pets' opening closer to $80 million, a number big enough to give the film the all-time number-two position.

The biggest limiting factor in Pets' quest for success is the presence of Finding Dory in theaters. That film will probably only take in $20 or $25 million this week, but those dollars come directly from Pets' potential audience. Dory ruled the box office for the three weeks prior to this one, and it's on track to soon become the biggest hit of the year so far.

Pets took in $5.3 million in Thursday-night previews. That's an impressive number, but it's well behind the $9.2 million that Dory earned on its first Thursday. No matter what happens, it's shaping up to be an interesting weekend.