Box Office: ‘Hoppers’ Holds Strong As ‘GOAT’ Nears $100M And ‘Pout-Pout’ Flops Like A Fish

Animation may have been overtaken in the top spot at the box office this weekend, but Pixar’s Hoppers continued to stand out in a market flush with big-budget live-action competition, as GOAT and The Pout-Pout Fish both also cracked a very weak top 10.

Phil Lord and Christopher Miller’s Project Hail Mary opened to a big $80.6 million and claimed the top spot, but Hoppers is holding better than most recent animated releases. Its week-to-week drops have been relatively modest, and it is starting to look like a film that could play well into spring rather than burn out quickly.

Directed by Daniel Chong, Hoppers took in an estimated $18 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total past $120 million. That’s a strong result for an original animated feature, especially at a time when audiences tend to favor sequels and established brands.

Internationally, Hoppers grossed $34.2 million, bringing its current global total to $242.6 million. With some major markets like Australia yet to debut, the film is already outpacing even the best post-Covid original-animation box-office results. After its third weekend, Elemental, the top-grossing animated original of the last six years, had only grossed $186.8 million.

Top Hollywood Original Animation Releases Post-Covid

1. Elemental (2023) – $496 million
2. Migration (2023) – $300 million
3. Encanto (2021) – $261million
4. Wish (2023) – $254 million
5. Hoppers (2026) – $242 million

That said, Hoppers does have some significant kids-and-family animation competition on the horizon that most of the others on the list didn’t have to deal with, with The Super Mario Bros. Galaxy Movie coming to theaters on April 1.

Domestically, Tyree Dillihay’s GOAT (Sony Imageworks) looks set to crack the $100 million milestone after a strong hold, with some schools already taking off for early spring break. After a $3.5 million international weekend, GOAT has reached $174.5 million globally. A $200 final isn’t out of the question, but seems unlikely at this point.

Back home, newcomer The Pout-Pout Fish debuted with just $1.5 million in North America, a quiet start that has become the norm for Viva Kids’ recent releases.