Pixar's "Hoppers" slipped to third place at the domestic box office this weekend, earning an estimated $10-12 million in its third frame, displaced by the continued dominance of Amazon MGM's "Project Hail Mary." The Ryan Gosling-led sci-fi adaptation held to a projected $54.5 million second weekend — a decline of just 33 percent from its $80.6 million opening — making it one of the strongest second-weekend holds for a blockbuster-scale release in recent memory.

"Hoppers" had broken Pixar's run of box office disappointment when it opened to $46 million on March 7. Its second weekend of $28.5 million showed genuine legs. Its third weekend drop reflects not weakness so much as the force of what arrived to compete with it. "Project Hail Mary" is on track to become the highest-grossing domestic release of 2026 to date, with its cumulative domestic total approaching $140 million and its global total closing in on $300 million.

For Pixar, the picture remains essentially good. "Hoppers" has now earned over $86 million domestically across three weekends and more than $160 million globally. That is not a failure. But the theatrical conversation has moved on to Gosling's film and will stay there for at least another week.

The pattern here is familiar: a solid animated film with genuine craft gets outrun by the spectacle machine. "Hoppers" didn't fail. It just met something bigger in the road.

-- CAMILLE BEAUMONT, Los Angeles