'Bad Guys' finish first in North American box office

The animated comedy has collected $24 million from 4,009 North American theatres in its debut, enough to take the crown from "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore."

By Alican Tekingunduz

Apr 25, 2022

Produced by DreamWorks Animation, the film has a voice cast including Sam Rockwell, Craig Robinson, Awkwafina, Marc Ramon, Anthony Ramos and Lilly Singh.

Three new releases have helped fuel the North American box office this weekend, with Universal's animated action-comedy "The Bad Guys" on top with an estimated $24 million take.

"Bad Guys," a sort of animal-eye version of "Oceans 11," follows the exploits of a wickedly clever gang of creatures. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, the film has a voice cast including Sam Rockwell, Craig Robinson, Awkwafina, Marc Ramon, Anthony Ramos and Lilly Singh.

Overall, this was a good weekend for family-geared films – hit harder by the Covid effect than films targeting other demographics – with Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" again placing second, at $15.2 million for the Friday-through-Sunday period.

"Family moviegoing was certainly rocked by the pandemic, but families are returning now," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. "We're still far from pre-pandemic levels... but this is a good start."

Third spot went to "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" from Warner Bros., at $14 million, a fairly sharp drop from last weekend's $43 million opening for the Wizarding World film.

New releases

New releases claimed the next two spots.

"The Northman" from Focus Features took in $12 million. It tells the blood-soaked story of a Viking (played by a ripped Alexander Skarsgard) who seeks revenge on the man who killed his parents and usurped his father's throne.

Nicole Kidman, Ethan Hawke, Bjork, Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe round out the ensemble cast.

And in fifth was Lionsgate's very meta film "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," at $7.2 million. Nicolas Cage plays, none too seriously, a man named Nick Cage.

Rounding out the top 10 were:

"Everything Everywhere All at Once" ($5.4 million)

"The Lost City" ($4.4 million)

"Father Stu" ($3.3 million)

"Morbius" ($2.3 million)

"Ambulance" ($1.8 million)