New Movies July 8: Pets and Wedding Guests
by EG
Finding Dory has been cruising for the last three weeks, easily beating every other new movie at the box office since its debut in early June. This week it gets competition from a raunchy comedy and another animated family-oriented film. The box office will also continue to be crowded with a healthy crop of hold-overs.
The new animated film this week is The Secret Life Of Pets, a comedy about talking pets who create havoc when their owners are away. The film is getting good reviews from critics and social media buzz is strong, making it virtually certain that Pets will be the new number-one film this week.
The second and final new wide release this week is Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, a comedy starring Zac Efrom, Adam DeVine, Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick. This one, probably obviously, is trying to tap into the popularity of films like Bridesmaids, The Hangover and Wedding Crashers. It's getting mixed reviews and is projected to earn in the vicinity of $15 million over the weekend.
Last week's new releases - The BFG, The Legend of Tarzan and The Purge: Election Year - are likely to be locked in a slugfest with each other to see which movies claim the remaining spots in the top five after Pets, Dory and Mike and Dave split up the box-office spoils.