According to a recent study, German Shepherds claim the top spot when it comes to box office smashes.
The pet insurer, Everypaw, analysed the top 50 live-action films starring dogs to better understand if there was a link between breed type and film earnings. Of the 35 breeds, pedigrees appeared in 97% of the box office hits, including the Catalan Sheepdog that was the second highest earner despite featuring in just one film – Back to the Future.
Overall, Beagles were the most popular breed to appear in films such as John Wick, Top Dog and Cats & Dogs. By contrast German Shepherds, Jack Russell Terriers, St. Bernards and Golden Retrievers were second to the top spot at 8%. When it came to comparing dog and actor takings, Beasley, a Dogue de Bordeaux, who starred in Turner and Hooch raked in £1.4million more on average at the box office than high profile co-star Tom Hanks, and Clyde, the yellow Labrador from Marley & Me pipped Jennifer Aniston to the post by a whopping £170million. And, it’s a dog eat dog world where gender comes into play. The researchers noted most male dogs (78%) starred in the top-ranking films, and grossed higher box office takings than females by more than £4.6million.
Previous studies have highlighted how film can influence the popularity of certain breeds amongst the general public. These latest findings illustrate that dogs with easily distinguished features are most likely to feature in top titles.
See below for a list of the top grossing dog films by breed, and highest grossing films featuring man’s best friend.
Top 10 highest grossing dog films based on breed:
1. German Shepherd – £893mil
2. Catalan Sheepdog – £843mil
3. Jack Russell Terrier – £688mil
4. Pug – £684mil
5. Mixed breed – £633mil
6. Border Terrier – £574mil
7. Cairn Terrier – £469mil
8. St Bernard – £450mil
9. Beagle – £324mil
10. Chihuahua – £261mil
Top ten ranking of highest grossing live-action films featuring dogs:
1. Back to the Future
2. Men in Black
3. I Am Legend
4. The Mask
5. There’s Something about Mary
6. Wizard of Oz
7. The Grinch
8. Cats & Dogs
9. Marley & Me
10. Benji
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