Pixar has recorded its strongest opening weekend for an original film in nearly a decade, with Hoppers debuting to $46 million domestically and $88 million worldwide.
The result marks the biggest US launch for an original animated picture since Coco in 2017, ending a period in which Pixar struggled to match the commercial heights of its earlier work.
The comedy-adventure, directed by Daniel Chong, follows a young woman who transfers her consciousness into a robotic beaver to communicate with animals, voiced by a cast including Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Meryl Streep and Kathy Najimy.
Hoppers earned strong critical and audience scores, achieving 94% on both measures on Rotten Tomatoes, alongside an A CinemaScore and a perfect five-star PostTrak rating.
Warner Bros. faced a sharply contrasting weekend as The Bride!, directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, debuted in third place with $7.3 million domestically, well below forecasts of $16 million or more, and $13 million globally.
The gothic romance, a loose reimagining of the 1935 horror film The Bride of Frankenstein starring Jessie Buckley and Christian Bale, carried a reported production budget of $80 million and received a C+ CinemaScore.
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The result ends a year-long run of commercial success for Warner Bros. studio chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who nevertheless have two films, Sinners and One Battle After Another, competing for best picture at the Oscar ceremony on 16 March.
Scream 7, from Spyglass and Paramount, finished second domestically with $17.1 million in its second weekend, bringing its global total to nearly $150 million after ten days.