CNNWF - DC's 'Super-Pets' to leap atop box office with single bound

The summer movie schedule is getting quieter heading into its last month, but there are still a few decent-sized releases taking their shot - and the focus of a usually superhero-heavy film calendar this weekend is on the heroes' pets.

Animated feature DC League of Super-Pets ( NASDAQ: WBD ) is likely to take over the box-office lead this weekend, with gross projections settling into the $25M-$30M range, similar to another family film from April: The Bad Guys ( NASDAQ: CMCSA ) pulled $24M in its opening then. Super-Pets drew a healthy $2.2M in Thursday previews leading into this weekend.

In any case, with horror films typically giving up more of their business in following weekends than other genres, Super-Pets should be good enough to surpass last week's leader, Jordan Peele's horror/sci-fi thriller Nope ( CMCSA ) - which likely will be stretching to hit $20M again after $44.4M last weekend.

Super-Pets ( WBD ) - with voice talent from Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, John Krasinski and Keanu Reeves - opens in 4,300 theaters.

It's taking advantage of some recent success found by family films arriving later in the COVID-19 pandemic. The youth-targeted films were postponed heavily as younger viewers were among the last age groups to have COVID-19 vaccinations approved for use (Minions: The Rise of Gru was postponed two years, from a planned summer 2020 release).

Also competing for some scraps this weekend are a couple of smaller entries. Vengeance ( CMCSA ) has The Office veteran B.J. Novak writing, directing and starring in a comedic mystery that gets a semi-wide opening (but in a fraction of the theaters of Super-Pets). And indie adventure Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) gets a re-release in theaters with extra footage; it's grossed $68.2M to date.

Rooting hard for the pet superheroes this weekend are the usual crop of exhibitors: AMC Entertainment ( NYSE: AMC ); Cineworld ( OTCPK:CNNWF ); Cinemark ( NYSE: CNK ); ( IMAX ); Marcus ( MCS ); Reading International ( RDI ); Cineplex ( OTCPK:CPXGF ); National CineMedia ( NCMI ).

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