Spanish-Language Animated Film ‘Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos’ Shocks with $4.4M Weekend

The Spanish-language animated film Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos landed in seventh place on the US box office chart over Labor Day weekend, taking in $4.4 million over the holiday frame.

Un Gallo – in English, The Rooster with Many Eggs – earned the best per-theater average of any other release over the holiday weekend, taking in $11,140 from each of 395 screens, according to the Wrap. An “A+” CinemaScore will likely contribute to strong word-of-mouth and more box office business for the PG-13 rated family film.

The film is already a major hit in Mexico, where it has topped the box office for two weeks in a row and has taken in 100 million pesos ($6 million), according to Variety. The film’s success in Mexico convinced Pantelion CEO Paul Presburger that it could find success among Hispanic audiences in the United States.

“When you can be culturally relevant to a demo, I think there is an audience for this kind of film here,” Presburger told the Wrap. “That is what Pantelion’s mission is. We don’t compete with action, superhero or even horror pictures. But when we do comedy and family together – and most Latinos go to the movies as a family – we can do very well.”

The film is a major hit for Pantelion, a division of Lionsgate, which has now opened three straight successful films over Labor Day weekend, a frame that most major studios steer clear of as the summer draws to a close. Un Gallo becomes the second-highest Labor Day weekend earner for Pantelion after Instructions Not Included took in $7.84 million over the frame in 2013 on its way to a $44 million total.

Un Gallo con Muchos Huevos was written and directed by Gabriel Riva Palacio Alatriste and features voiceover work from Mexican crossover stars Bruno Bichir and Maite Perroni. Critics at rating-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes have given the film a 70% “fresh” rating.