‘Heart of the Beast’ Earns a Strong Cinemascore as Brad Pitt’s Dog Drama Looks for Box Office Legs

Brad Pitt is back on the big screen, and this time his co-star has four paws. Paramount’s survival thriller ‘Heart of the Beast’ opened in theaters on September 25, and all eyes are on whether the ‘Heart of the Beast’ CinemaScore and word-of-mouth can carry the film beyond a modest debut.

The movie reunites Pitt with his ‘Fury’ director David Ayer and follows a retired Special Forces veteran, James Belmont, and his combat dog Odin after their plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. German Shepherd Uber plays the loyal, three-legged Odin, while J.K. Simmons and Anna Lambe round out the supporting cast.

Now, opening-night moviegoers have weighed in, and the response is encouraging. CinemaScore revealed that ‘Heart of the Beast’ earned an A- grade from audiences, while the film’s poster promises that survival depends on the bond between man and dog.

That grade lands just shy of the benchmark some industry watchers set ahead of release. IndieWire’s Anne Thompson argued the film would need an A CinemaScore and strong word-of-mouth to reach its goals, given its budget and the crowded weekend competition.

Still, the reception from general audiences has been overwhelmingly warm elsewhere. The film holds an 88% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes alongside a 96% audience score, putting it among the best-received projects of both Pitt’s and Ayer’s careers.

Reviewers have largely embraced the film’s emotional core. Many critics praised it as an intense yet moving story about the bond between a veteran and his dog, with Uber’s performance singled out, though a few mixed reviews took issue with the melodramatic tone and the ending.

#TheGrade is in and it’s an A- for @heartofthebeast . Did you see the film tonight? What did you think? https://t.co/h6K6WjnUlV https://t.co/PmDqSYPxJF

— CinemaScore (@CinemaScore) September 26, 2026

The script comes from Cameron Alexander, whose screenplay landed on the 2017 Black List as one of the most-liked unproduced scripts. Ayer and Pitt also serve as producers alongside Marty Bowen and Olivia Hamilton, and the film was added to the San Sebastián Film Festival lineup ahead of its release.

The challenge for ‘Heart of the Beast’ is the competition. It faces a packed slate that includes ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore’, ‘Resident Evil’, ‘Primetime’, and ‘Forgotten Island’, making it difficult to claim the top spot.

First trailer for David Ayer's ‘HEART OF THE BEAST’, starring Brad Pitt.

The survival thriller follows a former soldier & his dog who battle for survival after a plane crash in the wilderness.

In theaters on September 25. pic.twitter.com/xTT9b9vFbN

— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) June 11, 2026

The film earned around $1.8 million from previews across 3,400 theaters in North America and is tracking for a $17 million to $20 million opening weekend. With an $82 million budget, some estimates suggest it will need to cross $200 million worldwide to break even.

That makes the audience grade especially important. A strong reception could help the movie build legs into October, when the marketplace is expected to clear ahead of the holiday season.

The stakes extend beyond this single release. Paramount has had a rough stretch at the box office, and over the summer both it and Warner Bros. fell behind A24 in domestic market share, with A24 grossing $237 million against Paramount’s $192 million.

For Pitt, ‘Heart of the Beast’ is his first feature since last summer’s hit ‘F1’, and it arrives as a far more intimate follow-up. Ayer’s recent action films ‘The Beekeeper’ and ‘A Working Man’ opened to $16.5 million and $15.5 million respectively, giving a sense of where this survival drama could realistically land.

If audiences keep recommending the film to friends and family, the A- could prove to be the start of a steady run. For now, Pitt and his furry co-star have the goodwill of critics and moviegoers on their side.

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