Pixar’s Hoppers is expected to stay on top of the box office this weekend as two newcomers — the Colleen Hoover adaptation Reminders of Him and A24’s horror entry Undertone — attempt to break into the chart.
Hoppers is projected to earn roughly $25 million to $30 million in its second weekend from about 4,000 theaters. That would be a solid drop of around 40 percent from its $45 million debut — a healthy hold for a family film entering the early spring break corridor.
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The animated comedy continues to benefit from strong audience scores and minimal competition for family audiences. With spring break beginning for more schools across the country, the film appears well-positioned to maintain momentum through March if word of mouth continues to hold.
Universal is hoping to counterprogram with romance. The studio’s adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s bestselling novel Reminders of Him is tracking for a $10 million to $15 million debut from roughly 3,400 theaters.
The drama follows a young mother attempting to rebuild her life after prison while reconnecting with her daughter. Hoover’s novels have built a passionate fan base, and Hollywood has increasingly turned to her work following the success of adaptations like It Ends With Us and last fall’s Regretting You. The audience for Reminders of Him is expected to skew heavily female, which could help the film find a lane in a marketplace currently dominated by genre titles.
Meanwhile, A24’s horror entry Undertone could become the weekend’s sleeper. The film — about a paranormal podcast host haunted by mysterious audio recordings — is projected to open between $7 million and $9 million from roughly 2,500 theaters.
Horror remains one of the most reliable theatrical genres, and the film arrives with strong early reviews following festival play. Its release also coincides with Friday the 13th, a bit of timely marketing that could help draw in genre fans.
Elsewhere, holdovers should continue filling out the chart. Paramount’s Scream 7 is expected to take another sizable dip in its third weekend but should still land in the top five with roughly $7 million to $9 million as it pushes past the $100 million domestic mark.
Sony’s animated sports comedy GOAT should round out the top five with another mid–single-digit weekend as the family title continues its solid run.
New releases
Reminders of Him
Director: Vanessa Caswill
Distributor: Universal Pictures
After prison, a woman attempts to reconnect with her young daughter but faces resistance from everyone except a bar owner with ties to her child. As they grow closer, she must confront her past mistakes to build a hopeful future. The romance, starring Maika Monroe and Tyriq Withers, has a running time of one hour, 54 minutes, and is rated PG-13. Reminders of Him is certified “rotten” with a 59 percent score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “mixed” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 51 percent.
Undertone
Director: Vanessa Caswill
Distributor: A24
The host of a popular paranormal podcast becomes haunted by terrifying recordings mysteriously sent her way. The horror movie, starring Nina Kiri and Adam DiMarco, has a running time of one hour, 33 minutes, and is rated R. Undertone is certified “fresh” with a 76 percent score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “generally favorable” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 66 percent.
Here are Gold Derby’s predicted box-office rankings for the top five over the March 13 — 15 weekend:
1. Hoppers — $27 million
2. Reminders of Him — $12 million
3. Undertone — $8 million
4. Scream 7 — $8 million
5. GOAT — $5 million
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