‘Hoppers’ bounces to $88m debut at global box office; ‘The Bride!’ stumbles with $14m

Worldwide box office: March 6-8

Credit: Comscore. All figures are estimates.

‘Hoppers’ delivers biggest original animation opening since ‘Coco’

Disney’s Pixar has returned to winning ways for original animation, achieving an estimated $88m worldwide launch with Hoppers – breaking down as $46m in North America and $42m across 40 international markets.

The number represents the biggest global debut for a US-studio original animated film since 2017’s Coco (in like-for-like markets). Disney estimates that there have been 19 original animated films released between Coco and Hoppers.

For comparison, last June saw Pixar’s original sci-fi adventure Elio launch with a mild $35m globally, beginning simultaneously in North America and 43 international markets. Lifetime total is $154.3m according to available data.

Comparisons with Pixar’s Elemental are harder to frame, since the international rollout beginning June 2023 was more staggered. Initial numbers – a $44.5m opening across North America and 17 international markets – were considered disappointing, before sustained audiences carried the original animation to a $496.4m worldwide total.

Coco launched initially in Mexico only in October 2017, and achieved $823.3m worldwide lifetime.

Across Europe, Hoppers opened as the top (non-local) film in nearly all markets, and regionally it has delivered the second-highest opening weekend of 2026 to date. UK/Ireland leads the region – and all international markets – with an estimated $6.4m.

In Latin America, Hoppers opened as the top film in all markets, and delivered the highest opening of 2026 to date in nearly all territories. Mexico leads the region with an estimated $3.7m.

So far, Hoppers has landed in just five Asian markets, and South Korea leads with an estimated $2.1m.

The coming weekend sees the film arrive in Japan, Israel, Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam. To follow are China, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Malaysia.

Disney takes encouragement from the fact that Hoppers has achieved its launch numbers despite landing during a non-holiday period. Easter weekend is not until April 3-5.

David Chong (TV’s We Bare Bares) makes his feature directing debut, and screenplay is by Jesse Andrews (Luca). Hoppers tells the tale of a 19-year-old animal lover (voice of Piper Curda) whose favourite glade is about to be destroyed to make way for a freeway, and seeks to rally the local animal population after stumbling across technology that allows her to insert her consciousness (“hop”) into the body of a robotic beaver.

‘The Bride’ ends Warners Bros’ winning streak

The remarkable winning streak that saw Warner Bros debut with nine consecutive number-one hits has come to an end. The studio’s The Bride! has landed in fifth place in the worldwide weekend box office chart, with an estimated $13.6m – $7.3m in North America, and $6.3m across 69 international markets.

No international territory managed as much as $1m at the weekend – UK/Ireland led the pack with an estimated $950,000, ahead of Mexico ($753,000) and China ($538,000).

The Bride! in its opening session performed barely better than Warner Bros’ Wuthering Heights in its fourth weekend: Emerald Fennell’s film added an estimated $12.5m worldwide to take the total to $213.7m so far.

Maggie Gyllenhaal directs the darkly comic, horror-inflected romance, which stars Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, and is inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. The production budget is reported in the $80-90m range, meaning The Bride! looks set to be a significant cash loser for Warner Bros unless audiences rally, which at this point appears unlikely.

‘Scream 7’ nudges $150m total

Sequels in the Scream franchise have traditionally been front-loaded – as fans rush out to see the film on opening weekend, making it a tough challenge to sustain box office thereafter.

Scream 7 so far has followed the pattern, and has declined 73% in its second weekend in North America (with an estimated $17.3m). For international, the traction is better, with a 50% drop in holdover markets.

After two weekends of play, Scream 7 has reached $93.4m in North America, $56.1m across international markets, and $149.5m worldwide.

Despite the fairly rapid erosion, Scream 7 looks set to surpass the lifetime total of 2023’s Scream VI ($166.6m), and also overtake the top film in the franchise to date – the original Scream, which reached $173.0m worldwide in 1996.

Scream 7 is one of six US films in the worldwide weekend top 10 chart – alongside Hoppers, The Bride!, Wuthering Heights, Sony animation GOAT and Amazon MGM Studios thriller Crime 101.

Rounding out the top 10 are four Asian films: South Korean hit The King’s Warden (now at $72.0m); plus a trio of titles released in China for the Lunar New Year holiday, car racing comedy Pegasus 3, period martial arts epic Blades Of The Guardians and Zhang Yimou thriller Scare Out.

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