The Bad Guys Wins The Box Office With A $24 Million Domestic Haul

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An animated family film about criminal animals pretending to go good has managed to best a Viking revenge drama and a Nicolas Cage delight. Universal's "The Bad Guys" has earned an estimated $24 million at the domestic box office this past weekend, which is enough to top "The Northman" and "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent" at the box office. (via Box Office Mojo).

Interestingly, films prominently featuring animals of some sort have managed to dominate the domestic box office recently. The "Sonic the Hedgehog" sequel topped the box office a couple weeks ago, and it added another $15.2 million over the weekend, putting it in the #2 spot on the charts. (the film has already crossed the $145 million mark on the domestic level). Then we have "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore," which earned a disappointing $43 million in its Easter weekend debut last week, an all-time franchise low for movies set within the Wizarding World of the "Harry Potter" franchise.

Maybe they were the good guys this whole time

Described as a crime comedy, "The Bad Guys" is loosely based on Aaron Blabley's  book series of the same name, which deals with a group of criminal animals who wish to reform themselves after being caught. However, their plans for redemption are foiled by the emergence of a big bad, who has his own plans of disruption and villainy. Helmed by Pierre Perifel, "The Bad Guys" stars Sam Rockwell, Zazie Beetz, Richard Ayoade, Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos, and Marc Maron in voice roles.

The appeal of a comedic animated film, while not difficult to understand, towers over Robert Eggers' revenge epic "The Northman," which is a painstaking canvas portraying a tale of revenge as old as time. While "The Northman" opened to $12 million, the film has a long way to traverse the blockbuster status it truly deserves. On the other hand, the Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal starrer, "The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent," opened to $7.1 million domestically, and hopefully, the action-comedy can make its way towards achieving box office projections. However, these debuts aren't great, coming in at #4 and #5 on the charts respectively.

Meanwhile, "Everything Everywhere All At Once" continues to perform decently, adding another $5.4 million to its haul. That brings its total to $26.9 million at the domestic level so far, which is great, considering the film's indie leanings. It continues to show that there's still an indie audience somewhere that favors such high-concept genre mashups with great payoffs.

Other films that are still in the top 10 domestic box office run include "The Lost City" (which earned an additional $4.3 million last week), "Father Stu," "Morbius," and Michael Bay's "Ambulance." 

While it is difficult to state whether "The Bad Guys" will still maintain its numero uno spot in the coming weeks, it will surely continue to make money as an accessible family film for parents and kids. Whatever sparks joy, I guess.

"The Bad Guys" is currently playing in theaters.