This weekend’s box office was considerably quieter than the summer’s earlier weeks, but Spider-Man: Brand New Day still had enough left in the tank to claim another victory. Coyote vs. Acme opened in second with $15.5 million, while The Odyssey continued its unusually durable run in third. Insidious: Out of the Further and The Dog Stars rounded out the top five.
Last week’s predictions produced a mixed bag. I expected The Dog Stars to open around $20 million and finish second, but its $8 million debut landed well below expectations. Coyote vs. Acme, meanwhile, performed much closer to the upper end of its projected range, although its $15.5 million opening was not quite enough to reach the $18 million prediction.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Continues Its Dominance
Spider-Man: Brand New Day earned $22.2 million in its fifth weekend.
The Marvel blockbuster is finally showing some signs of slowing down, but another $22.2 million weekend is still enough to keep it comfortably ahead of everything else. After the absolutely ridiculous $355 million opening it posted five weeks ago, nobody should be surprised to see the numbers gradually come back down to Earth.
What remains impressive is how long the film has controlled the top of the chart. Even as newer releases arrive, Brand New Day continues to collect enough business to stay in first place. The summer’s biggest theatrical event isn’t quite ready to surrender its throne yet.
Coyote vs. Acme Opens in Second
Coyote vs. Acme debuted with $15.5 million.
Last week, I predicted an $18 million opening based on the film’s early buzz, with that number sitting at the very top of its $12 million to $18 million tracking range. The actual result came in $2.5 million lower, but it still represents a respectable debut and was enough to secure second place.
The early reaction clearly helped the film find an audience, although the enthusiasm did not quite translate into the breakout opening I was expecting. Still, landing above the midpoint of the tracking range gives Coyote vs. Acme a decent starting point, particularly with the box office beginning to clear out around the summer’s biggest releases.
The Odyssey Keeps on Sailing
The Odyssey brought in another $14.3 million.
Christopher Nolan’s epic has now spent weeks competing against everything from Spider-Man to horror sequels and family fare, and somehow it keeps hanging around. Another $14.3 million gives it third place and continues what has become one of the more impressive legs of the summer.
The film’s premium format business remains an important part of the story, but audiences have also shown a willingness to keep returning to the theatrical spectacle. While The Odyssey may not be dominating any individual weekend, its consistency has made it one of the summer’s most reliable performers.
Insidious: Out of the Further Holds Fourth
Insidious: Out of the Further earned $10.1 million.
The horror sequel slipped to fourth in its second weekend, but another $10.1 million represents a reasonably solid hold. The film opened with $25.3 million last weekend, giving it enough momentum to remain ahead of most of the competition.
Horror continues to prove that it doesn’t necessarily need to compete with the biggest blockbusters on their terms. Insidious has carved out its own audience and is now settling into the kind of steady run that could make its theatrical performance a respectable one.
The Dog Stars Falls Well Below Expectations
The Dog Stars opened with just $8.0 million.
This was easily the biggest miss in last week’s predictions. The Dog Stars was tracking between $18 million and $25 million, and I expected it to make around $20 million and finish second. Instead, it barely managed to stay inside the top five.
A $12 million difference between the prediction and the actual opening is substantial, and it suggests the film struggled to generate the kind of broad audience awareness needed to compete with the established titles around it. The second place prediction was particularly optimistic in hindsight; the movie never came close to challenging Coyote vs. Acme.
Next Weekend’s Predictions
Next weekend brings By Any Means, which is tracking between $7 million and $10 million. I’m expecting it to land toward the bottom of that range at around $7 million. With the current box office lacking another obvious breakout contender, that could still be enough to put the film somewhere in the top five.
There isn’t currently any meaningful tracking available for Onslaught, making this one considerably more difficult to call. I’m going to take a swing and predict a $10 million debut. That’s admittedly more of a calculated guess than a tracking-based forecast, but sometimes you have to make the call before the numbers decide to cooperate.
As always, we’ll find out next week.
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