‘The Cat In The Hat’ Beats Predictions But Opens Below Seuss Predecessors As ‘Wildwood’ Holds Strong In Week Three

Warner Bros. Pictures Animation’s The Cat in the Hat opened with an estimated $30.5 million worldwide this weekend, including $20.5 million at home, according to Comscore/Rentrak figures.

The latest Dr. Seuss adaptation, directed by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, finished second at the domestic box office behind the VFX-heavy monster flick Godzilla Minus Zero, which earned $31.61 million domestically and $63 million worldwide.

The Cat in the Hat opened stronger than many industry outlets had forecast, most expecting a debut in the high teens, but well below previous animated Dr. Seuss adaptations. Universal’s The Lorax opened to $70.2 million in 2012, while Illumination’s The Grinch debuted to $67.5 million in 2018.

A more recent opening-weekend comp is Pixar’s Elio, which opened to $20.8 million before reaching $72.9 million domestically. The key difference here is that The Cat in the Hat carries a considerably smaller budget, reportedly under $90 million compared with Elio’s $150 million-plus price tag. The bar, therefore, is far lower for this colorful kids’ book adaptation, which could also leg out the pre-holiday period thanks to strong word-of-mouth. The film boasts an A CinemaScore and an 81% positive rating from PostTrak respondents.

‘Wildwood’ Holds Strong In Third Weekend

Meanwhile, Travis Knight’s Wildwood continues to boast impressive holding power, earning $7.21 million in its third domestic weekend, down just 20% from its $9.02 million sophomore frame. This comes despite distributor Fathom Entertainment dropping 13% of its theaters in week three, from about 3,100 to 2,693 locations.

After 17 days, Wildwood has grossed around $40.05 million domestically, already surpassing the entire North American theatrical runs of Laika’s Missing Link ($16.6 million) and The Boxtrolls ($17.3 million). The film is also tracking ahead of Kubo and the Two Strings ($48 million) at the same point in its release and looks likely to surpass ParaNorman‘s $56 million domestic total before its time in theaters has passed.

Wildwood finished sixth overall in North America, with a $2,680 per-theater average. Its notably small weekend declines suggest strong word of mouth is sustaining the film’s theatrical run, and plenty of runway ahead.