‘The Bride!’ Bombs as ‘Hoppers’ Surges: 4 Takeaways From a Busy March Box Office Start

The start of the March box office brought some much-needed good news for one studio and a hard fall for another that had been flying high over the past year.

For the first time in nine years, an original animated movie earned a $40 million-plus opening weekend. Disney/Pixar’s “Hoppers,” enjoying strong critical and audience reception, earned an estimated $46 million domestic launch with a global start of $88 million. With three weeks before “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” arrives, it...