The Secret Life of Pets

Hollywood has enjoyed a long tradition of casting animals in the starring role of big-budget and indie productions going as far back as 1905 with the silent movie, Rescued by Rover.   Other heroes followed such as Rin Tin Tin in 1923 (with a re-imagined version in 2007), as well as Old Yeller in 1957.

Two previously successful franchises opened their most recent titles this past weekend – and failed. One of them – Universal/Illumination’s The Secret Life of Pets 2 – technically became a franchise with this sequel and, apparently, went fine, taking the top of the North American (the US and Canada) box office with $47.

This late August box office session was pretty slow and offered no quarter for newcomer Ben-Hur. MGM and Paramount’s remake of the Hollywood golden-age classic failed to throw Suicide Squad off its perch.

Suicide Squad murdered the box office this week with a record smashing $135 million home market debut. It took 2014 Guardians of the Galaxy’s August opening crown, grossing almost 50% more than Marvel’s global hit.

Four years after he let go of Jason Bourne and allowed Jeremy Renner to take over, Matt Damon has reclaimed the character created by Robert Ludlum of the indomitable CIA assassin who does not remember where he comes from. Damon has teamed up again with Paul Greengrass.

Two weeks of terrible news and horrific events are likely the reason why audiences worldwide opted for cute talking animals over any other cinematic offer. Internationally, Fox’s Ice Age: Collision Course took the number one spot for the second consecutive frame, amassing $53.

2016 may go down in history as the year when Hollywood came to the unsettling conclusion that sequels are no longer a guarantee of success and audiences had enough of seeing movies that so often look and feel the same. Sequelitis, they call it.

The Secret Lives of Pets take its cue for a simple and clever conceit: what do the little critters get up to all day while their urbanite humans go to work? It’s the perfect invitation to let the imagination run wild and Chris Renaud is more than happy to oblige. Backed by the team behind Illumination Studios’ Despicable Me franchise Renaud crafts a suspenseful whodunit that sees the pets set forth from their Manhattan apartments for an urban caper that plays like a Homeward Bound adventure for the Internet age.