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Unsurprisingly it was a quiet weekend due to the Super Bowl.

While this is hailed as one of the best Super Bowl weekends post-COVID, it gets less great when you read between the lines and see how most of these films floundered. Dog Man easily held the top spot, but it's looking clear that the film is proving to be front-loaded. Two newcomers dared to open on the weekend and it was a mixed bag; Heart Eyes had a fine start, while Love Hurts flopped.

But the real story was in China, where Ne Zha 2 broke the $1 billion barrier in the country alone. A feat never accomplished before.

The Top 10 earned a combined $46.4 million this weekend. That's up a massive 59% from last year, when Argylle topped a slow weekend while Lisa Frankenstein flopped.

DreamWorks' Dog Man stayed on top on its second weekend, adding $13.8 million this weekend. That represents an awful 62% drop from last weekend, which is one of the steepest for an animated film. That's almost on par with Lightyear (64.1%) and only a bit better than The Simpsons Movie (66.1%).

While the Super Bowl often causes films to have larger-than-usual drops, Dog Man was already looking iffy before the weekend started. The film had a colossal 91.3% drop on Monday (animated films usually drop 70%, with 80% or higher in extremely rare scenarios), a feat not seen before on a major animated film. The Friday-to-Friday drop was horrible (70%), and Saturday's was also bad (52%). Basically, if Dog Man's Sunday had a similar drop to last week, its second weekend drop would still be $15.41 million, which would mark a 58% drop. Even with the Super Bowl, the film should have dropped 50% at worst.

Through 10 days, the film has earned $54.2 million domestically. We predicted a $150 million domestic run, but that's just not feasible now. Depending on how it holds next week against Paddington in Peru, there's a strong chance that Dog Man could finish with less than $100 million domestically, making it one of the most front-loaded animated films ever.

Sony's Heart Eyes debuted with $8.3 million in 3,102 theaters. That's much better than last year's Lisa Frankenstein ($3.8 million), another rom-com horror. It's not that far off from last month's Wolf Man ($10.8 million) either.

That's a solid start, especially considering the rom-com and horror combo does not have the bext track record at the box office (Warm Bodies is a rare exception to the rule). In an attempt to boost the box office, Sony lifted the review embargo a week earlier and it paid off; it's currently at a pretty good 80% on RT. A sign that couples could show up.

According to Sony, it was equally split between men and women, and 63% was 25 and over. 40% of the audience were couples. They gave it a middling "B–" on CinemaScore, which isn't that bad for a horror title. It should hold well next week thanks to Valentine's Day, and it could finish with around $25 million domestically.

In third place, Universal's Love Hurts flopped with just $5.8 million in 3,055 theaters. That's a very poor start, managing to debut even below Nobody ($6.8 million), which was released in very bad conditions.

The film was sold basically as a perfect antidote to the typical rom-com; how about adding action to the mix? While intriguing, the trailers offered solely action scenes without any interesting story in sight. The audience watches movies like this for the action scenes, but they still need an interesting story to come along. Ke Huy Quan made a comeback with Everything Everywhere All At Once, but it's clear his name cannot open a movie. And neither can his co-star Ariana DeBose, who is coming off a huge string of critical and commercial duds. The reviews (18% on RT) were the final nail in the coffin.

According to Universal, 54% of the audience was male, and 50% was in the 18-34 demographic. The only thing that hurts more than those reviews is the audience's reviews: they gave it a poor "C+" on CinemaScore, which is a dead sentence for an action movie. With poor reception and competition on the way, the film is set to finish with less than $15 million domestically.

Mufasa was barely affected by the Super Bowl. It eased just 36%, grossing $4 million this weekend. That takes its domestic total to $235.2 million.

Companion fell all the way to fifth place, adding $3 million this weekend. That's a horrible 68% drop; even for Super Bowl weekends, that drop is larger-than-usual. Through 10 days, the film has earned $15.4 million, and it won't make it much further than $20 million domestically.

In sixth place, Sony's One of Them Days dropped 52%, earning $2.8 million. The film's domestic total stands at $39.2 million, and it should close with around $45 million domestically.

The documentary Becoming Led Zeppelin had an impressive debut, despite just playing in 369 theaters. It hit the seventh spot, earning $2.5 million this weekend. This made it the biggest IMAX debut for a concert film.

Flight Risk dipped 53%, adding $2.5 million this weekend. The film has amassed $25.1 million and should finish with around $30 million domestically.

Paramount's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 dropped 45%, for a $1.7 million weekend. The film has earned $233.1 million domestically.

Moana 2 rounded up the Top 10 with a 44% drop, adding $1.6 million. With this, the film has amassed $456.1 million.

Searchlight's A Complete Unknown is slowing down, after dropping 47% and adding $1.2 million this weekend. The film has earned $68 million so far.

Sony expanded Best Picture nominee I'm Still Here into 704 theaters, but the film made barely $1 million this weekend. The film has made $2.2 million so far.

Neon re-released Bong Joon-ho's Parasite in 193 screens. The film made $356,727, taking its lifetime total to $53.7 million domestically.

OVERSEAS

Alright, the real deal is here. Ne Zha 2 has crossed $1 billion in China alone. Not content with breaking so many opening weekend records, the film is now the highest grossing film in any country. And it's just getting started; it's projected to hit at least $1.5 billion, and could get close to $2 billion in China alone. Absolutely bonkers. Makes you wonder what "impossible" record can be broken next.

Mufasa added $8.5 million this weekend, taking its worldwide total to $671 million. The best markets are France ($40.5M), the UK ($37.7M), Germany ($30.5M), Mexico ($30M) and Italy ($23.5M).

Paddington in Peru added $7.5 million this weekend, crossing $100 million overseas. It's hitting North America this weekend.

Dog Man is failling to attract interest in the rest of the world. The film earned $6.6 million this weekend from 41 markets, taking its worldwide total to $66.2 million. Sounds good, except it isn't. $4 million of that money came from the UK, which means it flopped in pretty much every other market. It's clear this is gonna massively skew domestically.

FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK

• 24 years in the making, Gladiator II has closed with $461.5 million worldwide. The fact that it's slightly above the original Gladiator is impressive. Less impressive is that its budget was $250 million, putting the break-even point far higher. Despite middling audience response, the film still held well enough, finishing with a 3.13x multiplier. Definitely a flop, but you can't say it didn't go out without a fight.

THIS WEEKEND

Marvel is back in theaters.

The film is Captain America: Brave New World, the 35th film in the MCU, and the first with Anthony Mackie as Captain America. To boost the film, Marvel got Harrison Ford attached as Thaddeus Ross, who transforms into Red Hulk. Despite some bad press over the past years, the film has launched a successful marketing campaign and pre-sales are looking good as of now. The only question left is if the film will deliver quality.

It's Valentine's Day weekend, and there's a British icon returning to the big screens. That's Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the fourth installment. This franchise has been the most profitable rom-com ever, with all films accumulating to $756 million worldwide. It's gonna make a killing in theaters… except in North America. As the franchise has lost power in the country (the third film made just 11.4% of its money in North America), Universal has decided to send the film to Peacock instead. But this is a very powerful franchise that it can survive this.

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