Family-friendly movies are off to a promising start at the 2025 box office.
DreamWorks Animation’s “Dog Man” opened over the weekend with $36 million in earnings at the domestic box office — making it the biggest movie debut of 2025, per Box Office Mojo.
“Dog Man” — which is based on a children’s graphic novel series by Dav Pilkey — is now the second-highest earning animated movie with a January opening, trailing behind 2016’s “Kung Fu Panda 3″ which raked in $41 million, reports Deadline.
“‘Dog Man’ is an incredibly charming film from our partners at Dreamworks Animation who excel at storytelling for all ages. The box office this weekend and the reaction that audiences of all ages are having to ‘Dog Man’ point to a very long, successful run this spring,” said Universal Domestic Distribution Chief Jim Orr, per Deadline.
In 2024, PG-rated movies made up one-third of domestic box office ticket sales, the highest percentage since 1995, according to data from The Numbers.
“The PG animation family film wave that was so prevalent in ’24 continues in ’25,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, per The Associated Press.
The highest-grossing movie of 2024 was “Inside Out” with domestic earnings of more than $652 million, per Box Office Mojo. PG-rated movies “Wicked,” “Despicable Me 4,” and “Moana 2″ were also among the highest-grossing movies last year.
If the early success of “Dog Man” offers a vision into 2025 movie trends, it could be another big year for family-friendly entertainment.
The three top performing movies of 2025 so far are also family-friendly flicks. According to Box Office Mojo, these are the three highest-earning movies of the year.
- “Mufasa: The Lion King”
- “Sonic the Hedgehog 3″
- “Moana 2″
Reviews: What critics are saying about ‘Dog Man’
Less than a week after making its theatrical debut, “Dog Man” is maintaining mostly positive responses from both critics and moviegoers.
“Dog Man” boasts an 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 78% critic score.
Here are early reviews of “Dog Man.”
- “A silly, hyperactive, generally sweet kids’ movie that should prove diverting to its intended audience and not totally grueling for the parents who have to go along,” writes The Wall Street Journal.
- “It may come from a bestselling series, but a family film this thoughtfully constructed is actually an antidote to soulless, IP-oriented entertainment,” praises The Wrap. “It takes a lot of work to be this ridiculous. And — pay attention, studios — it’s totally worth it."
- “Your kids will rejoice while you secretly hope they’ll forget this headache-inducing movie exists once it hits streaming. Get ready for repeat viewings galore,” panned The Boston Globe.
- “Mostly, it’s a visual pleasure: The computer renderings have just enough texture, and the movements enough jittery tactility, to give the film a handmade feel,” The New York Times wrote in a review. “The splashy color palette keeps the eye engaged.”
- “Something is missing. The Hollywoodization — like a ray blasted from a typical Pilkey lumbering robot — has leveled-out the idiosyncrasy and overstuffed the narrative,” criticizes The Associated Press. “Newcomers may be stunned — and not in a good way.”
- “The vocal performances are entertainingly pitched to such an energetic level that the recording booth must have been well stocked with energy drinks,” per The Hollywood Reporter.