Weekend Box Office: 'Lego Batman' Hovers, 'Rock Dog' Flops

One animated film did well, another did not.

The Lego Batman Movie slipped down to #2 and dipped 41%, showing that at this rate, it probably won't have The Lego Movie's legs. That's fine, for it still has already made nearly 3x its budget. The Lego Batman Movie now sits at $133 million domestically and $226 million worldwide. Some places around the globe haven't gotten it yet. Australia, where most of the movie was made, hasn't even gotten it yet. China's getting it soon, along with Japan.

Down in 11th place is Rock Dog, opening with a paltry $3 million. This comes as no surprise, because Lionsgate doesn't put any marketing oomph into pretty much every animated film they release. Reviews suggest that this Chinese animated picture is a cut above the likes of The Wild Life and Norm of the North, but they did little for it. The film also sadly flopped in its own country due to a complicated problem concerning the theater chains over there. Perhaps this one will find a new life.

Moana eased 21% and fell to fifth place, with the physical media (meaning, Blu-ray and DVD) release right around the corner. To date, the picture has made $246 million stateside and $580 million worldwide. Six-oh-oh, here we come!

Sing fell to #21, stabilized and sunk 37%. It's up to $267 million here, and $550 million everywhere.

The Red Turtle saw a little expansion because of the Oscars, domestically the pic has only made $595k. Unfortunate, but expected for a film like this. It's playing in no more than 115 theaters.

Monster Trucks still exists. Down to #35, slipped 45%, $32 million here and $61 million everywhere.

GK finally released the nominated Swiss-French stop-motion film My Life as a Zucchini here. Playing in 2 theaters, it collected $28k.

Trolls' gross hasn't been updated since the 23rd. Apparently it's still showing somewhere, despite being on all the formats. What's the verdict on this one, DreamWorks bean counters?

Short Rocker: New, Brief 'Rock Dog' Trailer Surfaces

With a little more than two months to go, Lionsgate has released a new trailer for Rock Dog...

A refresher: Rock Dog is an American-Chinese co-production that hit theaters in the Middle Kingdom this past summer. Reel FX, the good folks who gave us The Book of Life, was contracted to do the animation for the film. Lionsgate will be releasing it here in February.


Like I've been saying, I'm digging this. The short trailer is pretty decent, ping-pongs a bit here and there, but the movie I think looks and sounds promising.

It looks like a fun The Gods Must Be Crazy-type adventure story set in an all-animals world (that setting really did dominate 2016's animated feature field, didn't it?), and both trailers haven't left me disappointed. I've heard some word on the street, saying that it indeed is something to look out for. Makes me wish Lionsgate didn't get it, because they normally don't put much effort into marketing their animated releases - good or bad.

Anyways, yes, I'm still on board. What say you?

Rockin' Around the Corner: US Trailer for 'Rock Dog' Debuts

Ever since it was announced that Lionsgate picked up Reel FX's Chinese co-production Rock Dog for distribution in the US, some wondered when a trailer would drop...

Now one is here, and the film is still on track to open in late February of next year... Judging by this scattershot trailer, this looks like another one that Lionsgate is going to toss off.


It's weird because the first half, while a bit noisy, does a decent job at giving you the gist of the story. I was always interested in this picture because it looks to be a sort of The Gods Must Be Crazy-like story set in an all-animals version of our world, taking place in a Chinese village that's akin to an Amish community, and how one of its own ventures off into the modern world. Reel FX did the animation work, while this is mostly a Mandoo Pictures/Huayi Brothers film.

Lionsgate, however, has a history of dumping animated movies in theaters. They manage to get them wide, 2,000+ theater releases... But their marketing does little to sell them. It isn't just because of quality, they did this to Aardman's Shaun the Sheep Movie last year, and that had one of the highest scores of any movie released last year. Completely. Dumped. It. They've always been unsuccessful with feature animation, whether it's picking up less-than-desirable flicks or doing nothing with decent ones.

Anyways, at least we're getting this feature on the big screen. It looks stronger than Lionsgate's other non-Shaun movies, and I like the premise, so hopefully it's pretty decent. Sadly, due to theater politics, it bombed in its home country. I don't see it doing any better here.

What say you?

Box Office Report: 'Storks' Flies Low, 'Kubo' Lingers, 'Wild Life' Dead

Results are in, Warner Animation Group's second didn't quite soar.

However, Storks is far from doomed. The movie only cost around $70 million to make, as it was done by Sony ImageWorks in Vancouver. WAG's projects aren't animated in-house, hence their name: Warner Animation Group. The Lego Movie was a co-production between Animal Logic (also out of town) and a few other houses, while the upcoming Smallfoot will mostly be done at Sergio Pablos' Madrid studio. Smart strategy, but...

Why did Storks not open much higher than $20 million? Warner didn't seem to put much effort into marketing this one, methinks, putting all the love into Suicide Squad. Understandable in a way, if they were so disappointed with how Batman v Superman did ($872 million, in this day and age, is a disappointment... Because of an astronomical high budget and marketing costs... Let that sink in...), they were absolutely banking on the villain team-up to save them from an overall lousy year. Storks was much lower budget, so they probably figured a ho-hum campaign would be enough for it.

Anyways, $140 million is double the film's budget, should make that worldwide and should be all set. I'm confident it won't flop. It doesn't have much family competition up until Trolls hits, so it should do the usual multiplier for an animated family film. Word of mouth seems good, so we'll see how high it flies from here on out. As long as it's profitable, no worries, but c'mon WB. You coulda put more oomph into the non-Lego movie. Heck, you've felt The Lego Batman Movie's presence (which is opening in February, no less) more than Storks'. I know, I know, not every animated film is meant to pull those huge numbers out of a hat, regardless of their quality. At least WB was smart in not making this some $100 million-costing goliath. They'll win in the end.

Kubo and the Two Strings hangs in the top 10, losing 500+ screens, dropping 56%, and landing at $45 million domestically. Worldwide, it has collected $58 million, still quite below the other LAIKAs, but a few countries just got the picture, and quite a few more markets are left. Can it at least crack $100 million worldwide? We shall see.

The Secret Life of Pets still has some staying power, landing ahead of later films like Sausage Party and The Wild Life. Fell 45%, is now at $364 million domestically and $820 million worldwide. Hit-makers, Illumination's folk are. Watch Sing really soar this holiday season.

Sausage Party fell 52%, as it slowly crawls to the big one oh oh. $96 million here, $122 million everywhere. The Wild Life lost over 1,400 screens and dropped a massive 85%... Its third weekend. Curtains. No matter, the Belgian picture is at $29 million worldwide, it has doubled its tiny budget. Distributor Lionsgate will probably dump Rock Dog like this as well, come late February.

What say you?