Seth Rogen is good at comedy, so it's no surprise that, Good Boys, which he produced, opened as the no. 1 movie in the country this weekend.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Good Boys exceeded the expectations of a $12-15 million opening weekend by pulling in close to $21 million. Not only did this beat out the other four movies that premiered this weekend, but it also gave the film the best original comedy opening of the year. Also, Good Boys is the first R-rated comedy to top the box office since 2016's The Boss.
Universal's streak of producing top comedies shows no signs of ending. In 2017 and 2018, the studio put out the two highest-grossing domestic comedies of their respective years with Girl's Trip (2017) and Night School (2018). With the success of Good Boys, Universal is now tied with Disney with six films to open at no. 1 in 2019. Universal's distribution chief, Jim Orr, praised the film's creators for putting together an intriguing story that helped the movie succeed.
"Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg flawlessly depict an awkward phase that everyone can relate to with not only outrageous laughs but quite a bit of heart as well," Orr told the Times. "Further, when you have Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the creative minds behind some of the most iconic comedies of the last decade, there’s no doubt people will be talking about this one for a long time."
Following Good Boys at the box office was another Universal film, Hobbs & Shaw ($14 million). Coming in third was Disney's The Lion King which generated $11.9 million in its fifth week of release, bringing its total to approximately $1.43 billion worldwide.
