UPDATE: 2025-07-21 08:04 EST BY BRENNAN KLEIN
Dog Man’s Harsh Drop Will Not Improve Over Super Bowl Sunday
This article was originally written Saturday AM and has been updated Sunday AM with up-to-date box office projections (in bold), a full chart, and further analysis.
The Super Bowl weekend box office has broken a record despite being slow, thanks to the combined might ofDog Man,Heart Eyes, andLove Hurts. TheDog Manreleasekicked off during the first weekend of February, with the DreamWorks animated movie taking in a smashing 3-day debut haul of $36 million at the domestic box office. Its sophomore weekend sees it competing with the romantic-comedy-slasher hybridHeart Eyesand the action-comedyLove Hurts, which stars Oscar winner Ke Huy Quan as a charming realtor whose past as a hitman comes back to haunt him.
PerDeadline, as of Sunday morning,Dog Manis projected to stumble during its sophomore weekendwith a 3-day domestic box office total of roughly$13.7 millionrepresenting a week-on-week drop of 62%. That is a rough blow when compared to the 49% week 2 drop of 2017’sCaptain Underpants, the movie from which it is a spinoff. However, thanks to the combined might of the two new releases, the overall box office is set to become the best Super Bowl weekend of the 2020s so far.
The weekend’s $57.8 million haul pushes it ahead of the previous record-holding Super Bowl weekend, which was 2022’s $53.8 million, propelled byDeath on the Nile,Marry Me, andJackass Forever.This 2025 Super Bowl total has been buoyed byHeart Eyes, which is projected to debut at No. 2 with an$8.5 milliontotal, andLove Hurts, which should debut at No. 3 with$5.8 million. Below, see the full Top 5 chart for the domestic box office this weekend:
1
$13.7 million
$54.1 million (weekend 2)
2
$8.5 million
$8.5 million (weekend 1)
3
$5.8 million
$5.8 million (weekend 1)
4
$4.2 million
$235.4 million (weekend 8)
5
$3.02 million
$15.4 million (weekend 2)
With two new releases taking up oxygen on the chart, there has been quite a bit of movement in the Top 5.Mufasa, which has turned out a stellar slow-and-steady performance after its lukewarm debut, has only dropped one spot, hitting No. 4 with a week-on-week drop of 33%. Meanwhile, the R-ratedCompanionhas scurried around it on its way down the chart,falling from No. 2 to No. 5 with a drop of 68%. This is a hard fall, but not unexpected considering the fact that the horror genre tends to suffer week 2 drops of 50% or more.
To make room for those new titles, theKeke Palmer comedyOne of Them Dayshas dropped two places, falling from No. 4 to No. 6 with a $3 million 3-day total seeing it drop 50%.This is the biggest drop yet for the movie, which has been floating gracefully down the chart over the past two weekends. It, like everything else, was probably hit by the Sunday slowdown. Most of America is watching the Super Bowl this weekend, not heading out to the movies.
Meanwhile,the Mark Wahlberg plane thrillerFlight Riskhas fallen three spots, from No. 5 to No. 8 with a $2.6 million haul seeing it drop 50%. It landed below the new release documentaryBecoming Led Zeppelin, which debuted with $2.62 million from 369 theaters. This represents a much better per-theater average, considering the fact thatFlight Riskis playing in 2,740 houses.
What This Means For The Domestic Box Office
Super Bowl Weekend 2025 Could Be A Great Sign
WhileDog Mantaking a tumble could be a bad omen for the DreamWorks movie’s prospects, the fact that the Super Bowl weekend is performing relatively well isreflective of the box office’s overall positive trend in 2025. The previous week,Varietyhad already reported that ticket sales for the first part of the year were up when compared to 2024 and 2023. This shows that the box office is continuing to recover after a damaging beginning of the decade, which has included major theatrical and production shutdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, followed by the 2023 Hollywood strikes.
The Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild both took to the picket lines to fight for fair pay in 2023.
An important sign of recovery is the fact thatthe box office seems to be rebuilding a “middle class” of movies. This is exemplified by theHeart Eyesrelease. Although the horror movie may not become a runaway hit, it only cost $18 million and is well on its way toward recouping that investment. 2025 has already been scattered with similar midbudget successes, includingDen of Thieves: PanteraandOne of Them Days, which could go a long way toward healing the box office, more than singular smash hits such asTop Gun: MaverickorAvatar: The Way of Water.
Our Take On The Weekend Box Office
February Is Uphill From Here
AlthoughDog Man,Heart Eyes, andLove Hurtshave already appealed to general audiences enough to achieve this Super Bowl record, the rest of the month is even more promising. The weekend of Valentine’s Day, for instance, sees the premiere of theupcomingCaptain America: Brave New Worldand the domestic debut ofPaddington in Peru, two franchise movies that could provide a huge shot of adrenaline to the market. However, mid-level releases like the Osgood Perkins horror movieThe Monkeyand A24’sThe Legend of Ochicould help continue to rebuild that middle class in the following weeks.
Dog Man
Cast
Dog Man is a family film where a police dog and his officer are fused into one being after an accident. Now a half-canine hero, Dog Man balances his duties to protect the city and impress his Chief while facing off against the cunning feline villain, Petey the Cat.
Heart Eyes
In Heart Eyes, two co-workers working late on Valentine’s Day are mistaken for a couple by the infamous Heart Eyes Killer. Directed by Josh Ruben and written by Michael Kennedy and Christopher Landon, the film stars Mason Gooding and Olivia Holt.
Love Hurts
Love Hurts: Released in February 2025, Love Hurts follows a realtor whose past life resurfaces when an old partner-in-crime brings an ominous message. As he faces pressure from his crime-lord brother, he is forced to confront the past and the secrets he thought were long buried.
