CompanionandDog Manwill be competing for No. 1 at the domestic box office on the weekend of January 31. The latter is DreamWorks' spinoff from their 2017 movieCaptain Underpants, adapting Dav Pilkey’s graphic novel series of the same name. It will be the 50th feature film released by DreamWorks Animation and kick off a year that also includesThe Bad Guys 2. Written and directed by Peter Hastings, the movie features a star-studded voice cast that includes Pete Davidson, Lil Rel Howery, Isla Fisher, Poppy Liu, Stephen Root, Billy Boyd, and Ricky Gervais.

The former, which was written and directed by Drew Hancock, isthe latest horror offering fromBarbarian’s Zach Cregger, who produced alongside Roy Lee, Raphael Margules, and J. D. Lifshitz. TheCompanioncastis similarly star-studded, featuringYellowjackets' Sophie Thatcher,The Boys' Jack Quaid,Smile 2’s Lukas Gage,Never Have I Ever’s Megan Suri,What We Do in the Shadows' Harvey Guillén, andHomeland’s Rupert Friend. Although both movies have appeal in their own right, it remains to be seen which debuts at No. 1, and if either can surpass holdover hits that are still in theaters.

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Companion Opening Weekend Box Office Projections

It Could Be 2025 Horror’s First Hit

So far, early projections for theCompanionreleaseshow that it hasthe potential to earn the highest-grossing debut of any 2025 horror movie so far. It has been preceded by Blumhouse’sWolf Manremake, which had a surprisingly lukewarm $10.9 million debut despite coming from the director of their 2020 successThe Invisible Man, and Steven Soderbergh’sPresence, a reimagining of the haunted house genre that opened to $3.3 million during its quiet opening weekend, which was technically a wide release but only saw it run in 1,750 theaters compared toWolf Man’s 3,354.

Wolf Mancrashed in its second weekend, dropping a staggering 70.2%, which is unusual even by the standards of the horror genre, which typically has intense drops of 50% or more.

As of January 24, the long range forecast byBoxoffice ProsawCompanionopening at the domestic box office in a range between $7 and $10 million. However,Box Office Theory’s projections are more optimistic, showing it debuting between $10 and $15 million. This may be propelled by generally positive reviews that have earned the moviea near-perfect pre-release Rotten Tomatoes score of 93%.

Dog Man Opening Weekend Box Office Projections

Its No. 1 Prospects Are Strong

WhileCompanionis set up to be a success on its own terms, it is an R-rated movie with an audience limited by age, whereasDog Man’s PG rating and IP connection could help it top the chart. TheBoxoffice Proprojections show it earning between $25 and $30 million during its domestic opening weekend, a total that far exceeds even the upper bound ofCompanion’s most optimistic range.Box Office Procorroborates these numbers with a forecast showing a $21 to $28 million debut range for the animated movie.

Critics so far seem to be more mixed on the Dav Pilkey project…

Not enoughDog Manreviewshave been compiled for the movie to earn an official Rotten Tomatoes score at the time of writing. However, critics so far seem to be more mixed on the Dav Pilkey project, whichcould hamper the movie’s performance in a way thatCompanion’s reviews will not, especially if it falls significantly belowCaptain Underpants' Certified Fresh 87%.

Smaller Releases For January 31 & Box Office Projections

Kristen Stewart And Chase Stokes Both Have New Movies Debuting

AlthoughDog ManandCompanionare the two biggest releases debuting on January 31,there are several smaller movies that will be competing for attention that weekend. This includes the sci-fi romanceLove Me, where Kristen Stewart and Steven Yeun play the virtual human avatars of a satellite and a buoy who forge a relationship after the downfall of human civilization, and the action thrillerValiant One, which stars Chase Stokes and Lana Condor as part of a group of soldiers stranded in North Korea. Below, see a breakdown of the new releases and their box office projections, where applicable:

unknown

$2 million - $4.5 million

Round the Decay

Elsewhere in theaters, the horror movieRound the Decayand the crime thrillerLake Georgeare expected to debut, but they are not major wide releases and most likely will debut entirely outside of the domestic Top 10 and thus can not be considered serious contenders for No. 1. Whileeven the more star-studded of the smaller releases don’t show strong potential to debut at No. 1, they could draw portions of the audience away from either of the two major new releases, closing the gap between them as they compete for the top spot.

Flight Risk, Mufasa & One Of Them Days Aim For Strong Holds

Holdover Hits Pose A Threat

Another threat to the supremacy of eitherDog ManorCompanionis the ongoingFlight Riskrelease. The claustrophobic plane thriller, which was directed by Mel Gibson and stars Mark Wahlberg as an unhinged mob hitman, debuted at No. 1 the previous weekend with an $11.6 million haul. While it seems highly unlikely that it will earn more than that in its second weekend and thus probably won’t be much of a threat toDog Man, itcould potentially split the R-rated audience withCompanionand either keep it at No. 2 or knock it to No. 3.

Flight Riskalso starsDownton Abbey’s Michelle Dockery andThat ’70s Show’s Topher Grace.

Dog Manwould likely receive more direct competition fromMufasa: The Lion King, a Disney prequel that debuted before Christmas in 2024 but has held the No. 1 slot at the domestic box office for two nonconsecutive weekends so far in 2025. Another strong holdover presence is the Keke Palmer comedyOne of Them Days, which debuted at No. 2 on January 17, but had the best week 2 drop of the star’s career and maintained a strong position at No. 3 during its sophomore weekend.

Predicted Top 10 Box Office For January 31-August 07, 2025

Dog Man Will Probably Take The Lead

At the time of writing, it seemsentirely likely thatDog Manwill ultimately take No. 1. Its strong projections combined with the fact that it has less competition for its younger demographic put it in a favorable position heading into its opening weekend. However, a raft of favorableCompanionreviewscould very well see it giving a strong debut performance and taking No. 2. Below, see one way that the domestic Top 10 could look by the end of the weekend:

1

$25 million

2

$13 million

3

$7 million

4

$6.1 million

5

$5.2 million

6

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

$3.5 million

7

$2.9 million

8

$2.8 million

9

$2.5 million

10

Wolf Man

$1.6 million

With three new releases likely entering the chart, it seems highly probable that the bottom two movies,A Complete Unknown,The Brutalist, andDen of Thieves 2: Panterawill fall outside the Top 10. However, whileCompanionandDog Manwill almost certainly be in the Top 3,the makeup of the rest of the chart depends on other movies' week-on-week drops. For instance, ifWolf Manhas a similarly steep drop in its third weekend as it did in its second, it could vanish off the board entirely, leaving room for other titles to take its place.

Companion

Cast

Companion is an upcoming psychological thriller crafted by writer-director Drew Hancock.