3/13-3/15: HOPPERS Hops Along

Mar 15, 2026

Disney and Pixar’s animated feature HOPPERS held onto first place for the second weekend in a row, earning $28.5M in its second weekend. All films in theatres this weekend produced a box office of $84.0M, which was 61% higher than last year on this same weekend which managed only $52.2M led by the $8.8M opening of Paramount’s NOVOCAINE. This is the fourth consecutive weekend with higher box office totals than those earned in matching weekends in 2025. This weekend was 11% lower than last weekend’s $94.5M, which was boosted by the strength of HOPPERS’ $45.3M opening.

When considering the rise in this year’s Q1 box office compared to last year, it’s important to remember that the first quarter of 2025 was abysmal, especially during the final weeks of the quarter. In fact, it was the lowest-earning three-month period in the five years since the pandemic.

Next weekend, Amazon MGM’s PROJECT HAIL MARY will open in theatres. This original sci-fi feature starring Ryan Gosling has generated positive pre-release buzz ever since early footage was shown to exhibitors at last year’s CinemaCon conference. Now in the final week before its opening, a truckload of positive reviews from the critics is flowing in and advance ticket sales are soaring, including sellouts for early preview screenings. We expect to see ticket sales of $60M or more in its opening weekend, and this movie has the potential to become the highest-grossing movie of Q1, even though it will only have the last 12 days of the quarter to rack up those totals.

#1 – HOPPERS

The $28.5M earned by HOPPERS in its second weekend was only 37% lower than its first-place finish last weekend in its opening. After 10 days, the animated family film has taken in $86.8M domestically and $164.7M worldwide. Its success could have been predicted, and is a testament to the quality of the movie, which has earned sporting a 93% critics score and 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. We expect its total domestic box office to come in at a minimum of $150M. Once it earns $325M worldwide, it will cross over into profitability, which is typical for a Pixar film. If it were to finish at $325M worldwide, HOPPERS would be only the 24^th highest-grossing Pixar film out of the 29 features the studio has produced and released to theatres. That would put it just behind THE GOOD DINOSAUR, which earned $332M in 2015.

Most of its ticket sales will need to come in before the April 1^stopening of Universal’s THE SUPER MARIO GALAXY MOVIE. We have chosen to use THE GOOD DINOSAUR as our comparison film for HOPPERS, because both are Pixar movies and they could wind up in similar territory in terms of total box office.

HOPPERS vs. THE GOOD DINOSAUR after 10 Days

#2 – REMINDERS OF HIM

Universal’s romantic drama REMINDERS OF HIM finished in second place in its opening with a domestic box office of $18.3M. This is a movie adaptation of the Colleen Hoover romance novel of the same name published in 2022. This is the third Hoover book in the past three years to be turned into a movie, following IT ENDS WITH US in 2024 and REGRETTING YOU in 2025.

Hoover is one of the best-selling novelists of the century, having published more than 20 novels and novellas since 2012 that have sold over 50 million copies worldwide in print, e-book and audiobook formats. Her popularity exploded in 2021-2022 after reaching new audiences through TikTok’s BookTok community and later with the popularity of the movie adaptation of IT ENDS WITH US, which grossed $350M worldwide at the box office.

BookTok is a forum on TikTok where readers post short videos about book reviews, emotional reactions, recommendations, and reading lists. The hashtag #BookTok has generated tens of billions of views and has become one of the most influential forces in publishing. Users often film themselves reacting to dramatic scenes or recommending favorite novels, which can cause older titles to suddenly become bestsellers again. Sales of Colleen Hoover’s books have benefited enormously because of BookTok. Hollywood treats Colleen Hoover’s books in a similar way to Nicholas Sparks pipeline of the early 2000’s, supplying a steady stream of mid-budget romantic dramas which arrived in theatres with a built-in audience. Realizing that her strong fan following, known as the “Hooververse,” was an opportunity, Hoover created her own production company, Heartbones Entertainment, in 2023. Her goal was to maintain creative control over the film adaptations of her novels. Until then, Hoover had had limited involvement in the movies based on her novels and concluded that the movies would be better if she had a role in casting, scripts, and production decisions. After REMINDERS OF HIM, the next Hoover movie will be VERITY from Amazon MGM. Filming on the new movie has already been completed and it is scheduled to open in theatres on October 2^nd.

The Reminders of Him novel was published in 2022 and it has sold 6.5 million copies and been translated into 45 languages, which explains her global fandom. It is considered to be among her most emotionally intense novels. Hoover co-wrote the screenplay with producer Lauren Levine, which is unusual for novel adaptations. This is an example of the control she is exercising on movie adaptations of her novels through Heartbones Entertainment. The film tells the story of Kenna Rowan, a woman who has been recently released from prison after being locked up for being at fault in a fatal car accident. Rowan seeks to reconnect with her young daughter, who has been raised by the accident victim’s parents. The movie explores themes of redemption, motherhood, guilt and forgiveness. Hoover insisted that the screenplay stay faithful to the novel in order to satisfy her fans.

Vanessa Caswill, known for the romantic film LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT from 2023, directed the project. The lead character of Kenna Rowan is played by Maika Monroe, who is best known for her work in INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE from 2015. Rudy Pankow plays the deceased boyfriend whose death drives the story. Veteran TV and movie actors Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford take on the roles of the grandparents raising Kenna’s daughter. Country singer Lainey Wilson makes her feature film debut as an actress.

Critics are not thrilled with the movie, giving it a tepid 56% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences who have seen it are much more positive, giving it a 90% score, which is the highest for any of the movies made from Hoover’s books. Here is a sampling of what critics are saying. The Los Angeles Times offers up, “You can’t help rooting for Colleen Hoover heroines, bless their bruised hearts.” The Film Verdict says, “Thankfully, this latest adaptation of a Colleen Hoover best-seller has a secret weapon: actress Maika Monroe, whose film-noir eyes radiate the loss, hurt, and disappointment that ‘Reminders of Him’ is otherwise all too eager to paper over.” Us Weekly said, “Yes, you’ll cry. But as with all good redemption stories, viewers will also leave hopeful about future possibilities.” Finally, The Times UK takes a harder stance when it says, “The Colleen Hoover school of social realism is back — and this time it’s more idiotic than ever.”

REMINDERS OF HIM cost only $25M to produce, which is a key part of the winning formula for movie adaptations of Hoover’s novels. To hold down costs, principal photography took place in Calgary, Alberta, which stands in for the story’s American setting. It took less than 60 days to complete filming, running from April 16 to June 12, 2025. The movie will need to earn $63M worldwide to be profitable, which seems quite likely after IT ENDS WITH US earned $351.4M in 2024 and REGRETTING YOU earned $90.5M in 2025. Perhaps, the significant drop off from It ENDS WITH US to REGRETTING YOU indicates that the Hooververse is in decline. Studios will be watching the returns for REMINDERS OF HIM closely, to evaluate whether it makes sense to carry on with new movies based on Hoover’s novels. We will compare REGRETTING YOU with the last two movies based on Hoover’s books, fully expecting that the new one will fall somewhere between the last two.

REMINDERS OF HIM vs. Two Recent Movies Based on Hoover’s Books

#3 – UNDERTONE

A24’s ultra-low budget horror film UNDERTONE exceeded expectations to open with $9.3M, earning third place. UNDERTONE is unique in that it relies on sound over visuals to create its fear factor. Many of the terrifying events in the story are heard rather than seen, causing the audience to imagine what’s happening. The movie uses eerie recordings, whispers, and environmental noises to build suspense. Only the main character and her mother appear on screen, with all other characters heard through calls and recordings. Most of the film takes place inside one house, creating an intensely claustrophobic atmosphere. It is the first feature film directed and written by Ian Tuason, whose previous work has mainly been in immersive audio and short-form projects. The movie was created with a budget of only $500K, making it a micro-budget horror film even by indie standards. Much of the movie was filmed inside Tuason’s childhood house in Toronto. Despite the tiny budget, A24 bought worldwide distribution rights in a seven-figure deal, which was unusually large for a debut feature.

UNDERTONE follows Evy, a skeptical co-host of a paranormal podcast who moves back to her childhood home to care for her dying mother. When her podcast partner receives disturbing audio recordings from a couple claiming their house is haunted, Evy begins analyzing the sounds on the show. As the recordings grow more unsettling, featuring strange voices, lullabies, and unexplained noises, Evy’s rational explanations start to crumble. Soon, the phenomena appear to bleed into her own home, triggering paranoia and fear. As she digs deeper into the mysterious audio files, Evy realizes the recordings may be connected to a supernatural presence that is now targeting her. The film is essentially a one-woman performance by Nina Kiri, who has made a career playing roles in smaller Canadian independent productions. Critics have praised her performance, and this could be the breakout role that the 33-year-old actress has been looking for.

While critics are pleased with the picture, giving it a 76% score on Rotten Tomatoes, the public is not buying it, with only a 52% audience score. The Arizona Republic says, “It’s creepy as all get out and features a great performance from Nina Kiri.” The New York Times suggests, “It’s a properly scary movie, the kind that merits watching in a theater with a good sound system.” The Toronto Star chimes in with, “Ian Tuason’s film announces a promising career in pulling nightmares out of the airwaves and shadows, even if this first signal sometimes dissolves into static.” The Wall Street Journal has a more negative take by proclaiming, “The final sound the movie creates is a disappointed groan from the audience. Should Mr. Tuason get some writing help, though, he might become a formidable filmmaker.”

Made on a shoestring budget of $500K, it has already become wildly profitable after its first weekend. Some are comparing it to the 2009 breakthrough horror film, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, which was made for $15K and went on to have a domestic gross of $108M. Based upon UNDERTONE’s opening of 9.3M, it should more properly be compared to 2021’s THE NIGHT HOUSE, released by Fox Searchlight. Both films take place almost exclusively inside a house with a very small cast, relying on psychological terror and not driven by CGI.

UNDERTONE vs. THE NIGHT HOUSE

#4 – SCREAM7

SCREAM 7 fell into fourth place in its third weekend, bringing in $8.4M and dropping 51%. This brings its 17-day totals to $106.5M domestically and $177.0 M worldwide. Its third weekend drop of 51% is much improved over the 73% that it declined in its second weekend. This could indicate that interest in the movie has stabilized, and it will have the chance to play out over the rest of the month. SCREAM 7 is ahead of SCREAM VI’s box office after 17 days and could still wind up as the highest grossing SCREAM movie among the 7-film franchise. Competing horror films are opening against it, including this weekend’s UNDERTONE, READY OR NOT 2 next weekend on 3/20 and THEY WILL KILL YOU on 3/27. The SCREAM franchise overall has earned more than $1B in worldwide sales, and we are certain that many more chapters lie ahead.

SCREAM 7 vs. SCREAM VI after 17 Days

#5 – GOAT

GOAT from Sony continues to hold on to a top-five spot, finishing in fifth place in its fifth weekend with $4.7M in sales, which is a drop of only 27% from last weekend. This brings its totals after 31 days to $90.6M domestically and $162.8M worldwide, which is shy of the $200M it would need to be profitable. However, it will make more money in its streaming life, making it possible to justify a sequel. That said, we think that it could have done even better if Sony had chosen a later release date, perhaps timed to coincide with the NBA basketball playoffs and the beginning of summer school vacation. A release on May 29^th would have come three weeks before the June 19^th opening of TOY STORY 5, and that three-week stretch would have had very limited competition for the family film audience.

GOAT vs. SPACE JAM after 31 Days

Where Are We as of 3/12/2026

Starting last week, we have begun to report both the box office grosses and attendance numbers, comparing the current year to the last three years of 2025, 2024, 2023 and the last pre-pandemic year of 2019. Attendance is determined by dividing the box office gross by the average ticket price for each year. We are interested in your feedback, so please feel free to let us know your thoughts.

BOX OFFICE AND ATTENDANCE – 10 WEEKS YEAR TO DATE