Strays (2023 film)

Strays is a 2023 American comedy film directed by Josh Greenbaum and written by Dan Perrault. The film follows an abandoned dog (voiced by Will Ferrell) who teams up with several strays (voiced by Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park) to get revenge on his abusive owner (Will Forte). Harvey Guillén, Rob Riggle, Brett Gelman, Jamie Demetriou, and Sofía Vergara also star.

Strays was released in the United States by Universal Pictures on August 18, 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics and grossed $36 million on a $46 million budget.

Plot
Reggie is a naive Border Terrier who lives with his deadbeat owner Doug, who only keeps him around to spite his ex-girlfriend. When Reggie inadvertently destroys Doug's bong, Doug makes several attempts to ditch Reggie, which Reggie views as a game. Losing track of Doug in the city three hours away, Reggie meets a street-wise dog named Bug who teaches him how to be a stray after he defends him from a Rottweiler and a Doberman. After a night with Bug and his friends, an Australian Shepherd named Maggie and a therapy Great Dane named Hunter, Reggie finally realizes that Doug does not love him. He decides to get revenge by biting off Doug's penis, and the other strays accompany him for support. However, as Reggie has never been that far from Doug before, they are forced to rely on landmarks he saw, including a 'large hamster ball' (a carnival ferris wheel), a 'giant cone' (a hill), and 'the Devil in the sky' (a picture of a postman on a billboard).

During the journey, the group bonds as they get into several situations, culminating in getting caught by animal control after a hallucinogenic mushroom-induced high causes them to maul a family of rabbits, which they mistake for plushies. During their captivity, Bug admits that he used to have a family of his own but was forced to escape when they tried to euthanize him after he bit the daughter (though he fails to see exactly what he did wrong). In an attempt to escape, the dogs plan to use Hunter's erect penis to hook the kennel keys but are unsuccessful. Then in another attempt to escape, Reggie suggests that every dog defecate on the floor at the same time so when the security guard opens it, they can all run out, in which they are successful. After escaping the pound, however, Reggie convinces himself that he is to blame for Doug treating him poorly. This causes Bug to urinate on Reggie's bandana in a fit of anger and Reggie leaves the other strays. Making their way back to the city, Bug, Maggie, and Hunter stumble upon a lost girl scout and alert a search and rescue worker to her location.

Reggie returns to Doug's house, and after reminiscing about all the times Doug mistreated him, he finally sees what he was. He confronts and cuts ties with him. However, before leaving, an enraged Doug slams the door in front of him and attempts to kill Reggie while making explicit that he never even once cared about Reggie. The other strays intervene and, with their help, Reggie successfully bites Doug's penis off. Hunter also defecates in Doug's mouth, and during the altercation, Doug's house and pickup truck are burned down. Doug is taken to a hospital, where he went to surgery. Afterward, the strays move on: Hunter returns to being a therapy dog and starts a relationship with Maggie, the latter begins training as a police dog, the Girl Scout adopts Bug, and Reggie remains a stray and chooses to guide new strays, though still often spends time with the other dogs.

Cast

 * Will Forte as Doug, Reggie's former owner
 * Brett Gelman as Willy, an animal control officer
 * Dan Perrault as Dr. Hagen, a doctor seen in the mid-credits scene
 * Dennis Quaid as a birdwatcher
 * Jade Fernandez as Ashley, Doug's ex-girlfriend

Voices

 * Will Ferrell as Reggie, a Border Terrier
 * Jamie Foxx as Bug, a Boston Terrier
 * Isla Fisher as Maggie, an Australian Shepherd and Hunter's love interest
 * Randall Park as Hunter, a Great Dane therapy dog
 * Rob Riggle as Rolf, a rude German Shepherd police dog
 * Josh Gad as Gus, a Labrador Retriever.
 * Sofía Vergara as Dolores the couch
 * Jamie Demetriou as Chester, a bulldog
 * Greta Lee as Bella, a Pomeranian
 * Jimmy Tatro as Finn the Rottweiler
 * Harvey Guillén as Shitstain, a Chihuahua.
 * Jack De Sanz as Munchkin, a Bloodhound
 * Phil Morris as Bubsy
 * David Herman as underbite pound dog

Production
In August 2019, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller signed a first-look deal with Universal Pictures. In May 2021, Universal acquired the rights to Strays, an adult comedy about dogs written by Dan Perrault, with Lord and Miller attached to produce alongside Erik Feig and Louis Leterrier. The film is a co-production between Picturestart and Rabbit Hole Productions. Filming began in September 2021 in Atlanta, Georgia. Production concluded by December 2021.

Release
Strays was released in the United States on August 18, 2023, after being delayed from its original June 9, 2023 date. It was released on digital platforms on September 5, 2023, followed by DVD and Blu-ray releases on October 10, 2023.

Box office
, Strays has grossed $24 million in the United States and Canada, and $12 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $36 million.

In the United States and Canada, Strays was released alongside Blue Beetle, and was initially projected to gross $15–17 million from 3,223 theaters in its opening weekend. After making $3.4 million on its first day (including $1.1 million from Thursday night previews), weekend estimates were lowered to $8.5 million. It went on to debut to $8.3 million, finishing in fourth. The film made $4.9 million in its second weekend (a drop of 40%), finishing in sixth.

Critical response
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.