Pixar’s ‘Hoppers’ bounds to No. 1 as Warner Bros.' ‘The Bride!’ is on life support

Disney and Pixar’s environmental adventure “Hoppers” topped the North American box office this weekend with $46 million in domestic ticket sales in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

After adding another $42 million from international showings, the film celebrated an $88 million global launch in total, the biggest for an original animated film since “Coco” came out in 2017.

But it wasn’t all good news for big studio fare at the multiplex: Maggie Gyllenhaal’s R-rated reimagining of the Bride of Frankenstein story is flailing. A Warner Bros. release, “The Bride!” starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, debuted to an estimated $7.3 million from 3,304 domestic locations. It cost around $80 million to produce, not including marketing and promotion expenses.

The two movies were hardly competing with one another for viewers — one being a PG-rated family pic, the other an audacious, R-rated, genre-blending ride. “Hoppers” arrived to a slew of good reviews, while critical responses to “The Bride!” were mixed to negative and its audience scores weren’t much better.

“Hoppers” win was much needed for Disney and Pixar following last year’s “Elio,” which was Pixar's worst opening ever. The studio’s only major successes lately have been sequels and franchises, while “Hoppers” is a win for original fare. It also opened higher than 2023’s “Elemental,” which eventually went on to become a sleeper hit (“Elio” did not).

“Hoppers” had a reported $150 million production budget and opened in 4,000 locations. Directed by Daniel Chong, the movie is about a 19-year-old environmentalist who infiltrates the animal world in the body of a beaver. It features the voices of Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm and Kathy Najimy.

“Hoppers” got a 94% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, 75% “definitely recommend” from PostTrak polling and an A CinemaScore, suggesting it should have a long and profitable run in theaters.

“This is a fantastic original film from the incredible team at Pixar, and it’s wonderful to see audiences coming out with their friends and families to enjoy it together,” said Alan Bergman, co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, in a statement. He also congratulated the filmmaking team on “a tremendous launch.”

“The Bride!” had a bit of a bumpy path to theaters, with edits being made after reportedly poor test screenings. Its release date was pushed back from September, possibly to give it some space versus Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” which played in theaters last fall before hitting Netflix.

Men made up a slight majority of the audience for “The Bride!” at 53%. The movie currently carries a “rotten” 59% on Rotten Tomatoes and a lackluster C+ CinemaScore. Only 43% of that audience said they would “definitely recommend.”

And it doesn’t seem like international audiences will be much help: It made only $6.3 million outside of the U.S. and Canada, bringing its global debut to $13.6 million.

“Unfortunately, we came in light,” said Jeffrey Goldstein, who oversees domestic distribution for Warner Bros., in a text message. “We have a tailored approach to our slate, investing strategically in talent, IP and original storytelling. It spans genres and budget levels and allows us to back bold, distinctive filmmakers … and sometimes things just don’t work out.”

Warner Bros.' other recent release, “Wuthering Heights,” meanwhile, has surpassed $213 million globally. And next week, the studio, which is staring down new ownership under Paramount, is expected to sweep the Oscars between “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners.”

“We’re coming off an incredible run of nine No. 1 openings in a row, and in an increasingly ‘risk-averse’ business like ours, we believe the business is better served with studios taking bold swings on originals like this one,” Goldstein said. “Even the 1927 Yankees had 44 losses that season.”

Paramount’s “Scream 7” landed in second place in its second weekend with $17.3 million, down a whopping 73% and bringing its domestic total to $93.4 million and its global total to $149.5 million. Sony's “GOAT” came in fourth place with $6.6 million while “Wuthering Heights” rounded out the top five with $3.8 million.

“When there’s this many holdovers in the top 10, it says we haven’t had enough horsepower in the newcomers to really get things moving,” said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore’s head of marketplace trends.

But he anticipates that will change when the Ryan Gosling-led sci-fi adventure “Project Hail Mary” hits theaters on March 20.

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Hoppers,” $46 million.

2. “Scream 7,” $17.3 million.

3. “The Bride!” $7.3 million.

4. “GOAT,” $6.6 million.

5. “Wuthering Heights,” $3.8 million.

6. “Crime 101,” $2.1 million.

7. “Send Help,” $1.6 million.

8. “I Can Only Imagine 2,” $1.5 million.

9. “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert,” $1.5 million.

10. “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba Infinity Castlee,” $1.3 million.

Director Maggie Gyllenhaal attends the premiere of Warner Bros. Pictures' "The Bride!" at The Rose Theater Jazz at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, March 3, 2026, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

CHICAGO (AP) — Oil prices eclipsed $114 per barrel for the first time since 2022 on Monday as the Iran war intensified, threatening production and shipping in the Middle East.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, surged past $114 after trading resumed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. That was up 23% from its Friday closing price of $92.69.

West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, also was selling for about $114 a barrel. That’s 25% higher than its close Friday at $90.90.

The war’s toll on civilian targets grew early Monday as Bahrain accused Iran of striking a desalination plant vital to drinking water supplies, and oil depots in Tehran smoldered following overnight Israeli strikes.

The increases followed the U.S. crude price jumping by 36% and Brent crude rising by 28% last week. Oil prices have surged as the war, now in its second week, ensnared countries and places that are critical to the production and movement of oil and gas from the Persian Gulf.

Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil — about 20% of the world’s oil — typically are shipped every day through the Strait of Hormuz, according to independent research firm Rystad Energy. The threat of Iranian missile and drone attacks has all but stopped tankers from traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Iran.

Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE have cut their oil production as storage tanks fill due to the reduced ability to export crude. Iran, Israel and the United States also have attacked oil and gas facilities since the war started, exacerbating supply concerns.

The last time Brent and U.S. crude futures traded near the current level was in 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The global surge in oil prices since Israel and the U.S. attacked Iran on Feb. 28 has rattled financial markets, sparking worries that higher energy costs will fuel inflation and lead to less spending by U.S. consumers, the main engine of the economy.

Tokyo's benchmark Nikkei 225 index plunged more than 7% early Monday, while other markets also foundered.

In the U.S., a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $3.45 on Sunday, about 47 cents more than a week earlier, according to AAA motor club. Diesel was selling for about $4.60 a gallon, a weekly increase of about 83 cents.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright, speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” said U.S. gas prices would be back under $3 a gallon “before too long.”

“Look, you never know exactly the time frame of this, but, in the worst case, this is a weeks, this is not a months thing,” Wright added.

If oil prices stay above $100 per barrel, some analysts and investors say it could be too much for the global economy to withstand.

Iranian authorities said strikes by Israel on oil depots in Tehran and a petroleum transfer terminal early Sunday killed four people. Israel’s military said the depots were being used by Iran’s military for fuel to launch missiles. Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, warned that the war’s impact on the oil industry would spiral.

Iran exports roughly 1.6 million barrels of oil a day, mostly to China, which may need to look elsewhere for supply if Iran’s exports are disrupted, another factor that could increase energy prices.

The price of natural gas also has climbed during the war, though not by as much as oil. It was selling for about $3.33 per 1,000 cubic feet late Sunday. That’s 4.6% higher than its Friday closing price of $3.19, after rising about 11% last week.

U.S. stock index futures, a bellwether for the market, fell late Sunday, pointing to Wall Street's main indexes opening down on Monday. The future for the S&P 500 was down 2.2%, while the Dow’s fell 2.3%. The future for the Nasdaq composite was down 2.6%.

On Friday, the S&P 500 dropped 1.3% and the Dow plunged as many as 945 points before finishing with a loss of roughly 450. The Nasdaq composite sank 1.6%.

This story has been corrected to show that the Israel-U.S. attacks on Iran started Feb. 28, not March 1.

Fuel prices are shown on a gas pump at a filling station in Richardson, Texas, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

A person fills up their car at a gas station in Montreal on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov /The Canadian Press via AP)

Gas prizes are displayed at a gas station with the European Central Bank in background in Frankfurt, Germany, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Fuel prices are displayed at a gas station as cars drive by, Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

A thick plume of smoke rises from an oil storage facility hit by a U.S.-Israeli strike late Saturday in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)