Weekend Box Office: 'Pets' Runs Away with Record

The Secret Life Of Pets proved over the weekend that the market for animated family films is practically limitless. The new release effortlessly took the top spot at the weekend box office, pushing ahead of its major competition, the defending champion Finding Dory. In the process, Pets set a new record for the opening-weekend gross of an original animated film.

By early Sunday, Pets was on track to earn more than $100 million for the weekend, a significant increase over the previous record set by Inside Out last year. Finding Dory, the top movie for the previous three weekends, was expected to slow Pets' momentum, but that scenario didn't materalize; Dory will probably, however, take second place for the week with earnings of about $20 million.

Also in the mix is hold over The Legend of Tarzan, which came close to sneaking into second place. The tight race for the second-place spot, in fact, could be a photo finish that won't be settled until actual ticket-sales figures come in early in the week.

Fourth place will likely go to the week's other new release, the R-rated comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. That film outperformed expectations and took in approximately $17 million, a relatively strong opening but hardly the sign of a big hit; in comparison, the disappointing Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising earned $21 million back in May.