‘Dog Man,’ ‘Companion’ Bark Loudly in Box Office Openings

Dog Man barked plenty loud at the domestic box office over the Jan. 31-Feb. 2 weekend, where it easily topped the chart with $35 million in another resounding win for the family marketplace. Its global opening of $40.2 million means it has already recouped the money it cost DreamWorks Animation and Universal to make the Captain Underpants spinoff, excluding marketing.

In North America, it scored the second-biggest January start ever for an animated film behind DreamWorks Animation’s 2016’s Kung Fu Panda 3 ($41.28 million), not adjusted for inflation.

The movie, about a man and a cop who must share the same body after something goes horribly awry, is the first kids pic to open since Mufasa: The Lion King at Christmas and Moana 2 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 at Thanksgiving (all these weeks later, all three films remain in the top 10 chart, which is quite a feat). Universal’s PG-rated Wicked has also contributed to the family boom.

Dog Man follows a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner when they are injured together on the job. A harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born, swearing to protect and serve — and to fetch, sit and roll over. The film has been embraced by both critics and audiences, who gave it a coveted A CinemaScore.

Directed by Peter Hastings — who also voices the hybrid Dog Man — the PG-rated film’s cast also includes Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root and Billy Boyd. Compared to the relatively long running time of numerous films these days, Dog Man, like many family titles, runs a refreshing one hour and 29 minutes.

In keeping with Dav Pilkey’s graphic-novel series, Dog Man does not speak, although Hastings still provides plenty of barks and expressions. The graphic series has sold more than 60 million copies so far, with last year’s entry becoming the number one bestselling children’s book of the year.

New Line and Warner Bros. also did nicely by Companion, a sci-fi horror pic that goes horribly wrong during a weekend getaway to a remote cabin in the woods. The movie placed second domestically with $9.5 million. Like Dog Man, it made back its modest production budget in its opening weekend when factoring in a foreign start of $5.5 million for a global launch of $15 million (the film’s price tag before marketing is roughly $10 million.)

Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid, son of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, star in the film alongside Lukas Gage, Rupert Friend and Harvey Guillén in director Drew Hancock’s film.

Companion earned a B+ CinemaScore — which is like an A, considering that horror pics often receive a C Grade. The pic marks Hancock’s debut feature screenplay, as well as his first turn at directing. “The tyro director steps up to the plate beautifully, delivering an ingenious, fast-paced horror-thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat while also featuring generous doses of mordant humor,” The Hollywood Reporter writes in its review.

Both films say they are well set up to take advantage of the Valentine’s Day/Presidents Day Weekend (the former falls on a Friday this year).

Disney’s Mufasa, Sony’s One of them Days and Flight Risk rounded out the top five.

Overall domestic revenue was up a resounding 24 percent over 2023, and an impressive 16 percent over 2019.