This weekend’s box office belonged to Spider-Man: Brand New Day once again, although the Marvel blockbuster predictably saw a substantial drop after its enormous $355 million opening. Even with the decline, its $145 million second weekend was more than enough to leave the competition in the dust. Elsewhere, The Odyssey continued its strong run, while Super Troopers 3 arrived well below expectations and barely managed to crack the top five.
With Spider-Man still consuming a massive portion of the available audience, the rest of the weekend was largely a fight for scraps. That’s not necessarily a bad thing for the films that remain in theatres, but it does make the current box office landscape look rather one-sided.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Holds Strong
Spider-Man: Brand New Day earned $145 million in its second weekend.
After opening to an astonishing $355 million, a significant second weekend decline was inevitable. The important question was whether the film would retain enough momentum to continue behaving like a genuine event movie. A $145 million weekend answers that question pretty decisively.
The film has now demonstrated that its opening wasn’t simply the result of an enormous fan rush. Even after millions of people had already seen it during opening weekend, another $145 million worth of audiences showed up. That puts Brand New Day firmly in the territory occupied by the biggest theatrical releases of the modern era.
Marvel will obviously be pleased with the result, particularly after the studio spent the past several years dealing with questions about superhero fatigue. Audiences clearly haven’t abandoned the genre; they just appear to be demanding a reason to care. Spider-Man remains one of the few characters who can provide that reason almost automatically.
The Odyssey Continues Its Impressive Run
The Odyssey added $31.5 million.
Christopher Nolan’s epic continues to perform exceptionally well despite having the unfortunate timing of being released immediately before one of the biggest Spider-Man openings in history. A $31.5 million weekend in any other circumstance would probably be the weekend’s headline.
Instead, The Odyssey has spent the past two weeks watching Spider Man absorb most of the industry’s oxygen. Fortunately for Universal, the film has already established itself as a major theatrical success and continues to demonstrate impressive staying power.
One Night Only Finds Its Audience
One Night Only earned $5.7 million.
The film landed in third place with a modest $5.7 million, but its position is somewhat misleading given the enormous presence of the two films above it. With the top of the chart effectively locked down by Spider-Man and The Odyssey, simply finding an audience in the current marketplace is an accomplishment.
Super Troopers 3 Underperforms
Super Troopers 3 opened with just $4 million.
This was a clear miss compared with last week’s prediction. The film was tracking between $6 million and $9 million, with an estimated opening of around $8 million and a likely third-place finish. Instead, it made exactly half of that prediction and landed in fourth.
The franchise does have a loyal cult following, but that audience apparently wasn’t large enough to overcome the current box office environment. Going up against a phenomenon like Spider-Man: Brand New Day was always going to be difficult, although the size of the shortfall suggests that limited interest in the sequel played a role as well.
Toy Story 5 Rounds Out the Top Five
Toy Story 5 collected $3.9 million.
At this point, Pixar’s latest is entering the late stages of its theatrical run. The film has already enjoyed a substantial summer, and its continued presence in the top five is more a testament to the strength of the franchise than anything else.
Next Weekend’s Predictions
Next weekend brings The End of Oak Street, which is currently tracking for an opening between $30 million and $35 million. The film should benefit from the lack of another major tentpole entering the marketplace, although Spider-Man: Brand New Day will still have plenty of momentum. I’m expecting an opening around $32 million, which should be enough for a second-place finish.
PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie is tracking between $15 million and $20 million. The franchise has a dependable audience among younger moviegoers, and a debut of around $18 million seems like a reasonable expectation. That should put it somewhere between third and fourth place, with The Odyssey potentially deciding where it ultimately lands.
As always, we’ll find out next week.
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