Hoppers vs The Bride!: Box Office Weekend Showdown — Pixar Rebounds With $40M as Maggie Gyllenhaal's Monster Misfires
Two major movies landed in theaters on March 6, 2026 — and the results could not be more different. Pixar's Hoppers is the comeback story the animation giant desperately needed, cruising toward a $40 million opening weekend and the best reviews for a Pixar original since Coco in 2017. Warner Bros.' The Bride!, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal with a reported $90 million budget, is limping toward an $8 million to $10 million domestic debut that has officially ended one of the most extraordinary studio winning streaks in Hollywood history.
Hoppers Box Office: Pixar's Best Opening for an Original Since Coco
Pixar's Hoppers is bound to give the Emeryville animation studio a massive lift with $88 million around the globe across 41 markets — the best start for a Pixar original movie since 2017's Coco. In North America, Hoppers is tracking toward $36 million to $40 million at 4,000 theaters with another $45 million to $50 million offshore.
Word of mouth is great on Hoppers, earning a solid A CinemaScore and a very good 75% definite recommend on PostTrak. The audience is female-leaning at 52%, with Female over 25 leading at 29%, men over 25 at 27%, women under 25 at 23%, and men under 25 at 21%. Premium large formats are driving 27% of the weekend gross.
Pixar's Hoppers nabbed $3.2 million in Thursday night previews alone — $2 million Thursday and the rest from Saturday previews the prior weekend. Family films have dominated the box office in recent months, and Hoppers is expected to continue the trend with its animal-centric adventure embraced warmly by critics.
What Is Hoppers: The Movie Everyone Is Talking About
In Disney and Pixar's all-new feature film Hoppers, scientists have discovered how to hop human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals, allowing people to communicate with animals as animals. The adventure introduces Mabel, an animal lover who seizes an opportunity to use the technology, uncovering mysteries within the animal world that are beyond anything she could have imagined.
Directed by Daniel Chong of We Bare Bears fame, Hoppers is Pixar's 30th animated feature film and runs 1 hour and 45 minutes. It is rated PG. The voice cast features Piper Curda as Mabel, Bobby Moynihan as King George, Jon Hamm as Mayor Jerry Generazzo, Kathy Najimy, Meryl Streep, Dave Franco, and Melissa Villaseñor.
Hoppers carries a 97% Certified Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes — matching Coco's critical reception exactly. The critical consensus reads: "An eager beaver for endearment that has the charm to back it up, Hoppers is a sprightly riot that might just be the funniest entry in the Pixar canon yet."
The Bride! Box Office Bomb: Warner Bros. Losing Streak Begins
The Bride! has ended Warner Bros.' historic run of consecutive No. 1 domestic debuts. The company recently had nine consecutive releases hit No. 1 on their respective opening weekends, including a record-shattering seven consecutive movies that premiered with $40 million or more domestically — something no studio in history had ever done before. The Bride! ends that streak with a projected $8 million to $10 million domestic debut against a $90 million budget.
The Bride! earned a C+ CinemaScore and a low 43% definite recommend on PostTrak — brutal audience metrics that suggest the film will struggle to hold in its second weekend. Some rival estimates put the opening as low as $6.5 million domestically.
What Is The Bride!: Frankenstein Reimagined in 1930s Chicago
The Bride! is a 2026 American Gothic romance film written and directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, drawing inspiration from the 1935 film Bride of Frankenstein. Set in 1930s Chicago, groundbreaking scientist Dr. Euphronious brings a murdered young woman back to life to be a companion for Frankenstein's monster. The ensemble cast includes Jessie Buckley in the title role, Christian Bale as Frankenstein's monster, Annette Bening, Penélope Cruz, Peter Sarsgaard, and Jake Gyllenhaal.
Critics are split. The Bride! sits at 61% on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus reading: "Concocted with all the restraint of a mad scientist's experiment, The Bride! lurches in so many creative directions that the overall effect is both sloppy and inspired." Both films are now playing exclusively in theaters nationwide.
