Weekend Box Office: Moana Underwhelms but Comes Out on Top
Disney's latest live-action adaptation came in first but performed well below expectations, while Michael finally crossed $1 billion.
We’re at the point in the timeline again where tracking services cannot be trusted and studios may need to listen to what audiences are telling them. Executives and creatives may need some big ears (elephant-sized) after this weekend’s top movie came in at about half of what was being reported just weeks ago.
King of the Crop: Moana Underwhelms but Comes Out on Top
Just before Thanksgiving 10 years ago, Disney released an original animated film with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda. It had a five-day opening of $82 million and went on to gross over $248 million domestic and $643 million worldwide. To this day that film is the 11th-highest grossing domestic release of an original animated film and the second of which to receive a live-action redo. Although one could argue it’s actually the first on that list, given that the other is the CGI-enhanced version of The Lion King. Last year’s How To Train Your Dragon was turned into live-action 16 years after the original. Moana took only 10. It also opened to lower than than 2019’s Dumbo ($46 million) and barely above Snow White ($42.2 million).
Three weeks ago, Moana was tracking for an $85 million opening. That number reduced to between $60-70 million earlier last week. The final figure came out to $43 million, and maybe one of the lessons to take away from it is that audiences are listening. When the latest Jackass film (out of the top 10 after just two weekends) opened to a fraction of its predecessors, perhaps it was because many heard a good portion of it was just a clip show of previous stunts. If they paid attention to the reviews for Thomas Kail’s Moana (the lowest for a direct live-action remake at 34% on the Tomatometer, even lower than last year’s Snow White), they would have read how it’s a virtual shot-for-shot recreation of the animated film. How To Train Your Dragon had some actual tangible production design and not just green screen surroundings and fake water. Why would people spend their money for something they can basically already see at home? Including Dwayne Johnson with his shirt off.
The only hope for Moana is that it now has the rest of the summer pretty much to itself if audiences don’t reject it further. Apart from Paw Patrol in mid-August and Coyote vs. Acme closing that month with an untested distributor, Moana could sail through July towards numbers that will take some of the sting out of this weekend. The $250 million budget is a hefty one to overcome, but with international audiences spending another $52 million on the film it will outgross both Masters of the Universe and Supergirl, two films Moana is being lumped in with this weekend as the perception of audience IP rejection gets its headlines. (Toy Story 5 and The Devil Wears Prada 2 could not be reached for comment.) Moana costing more than He-Man and Supergirl, though, does not help.
Tales of the Top 10: Evil Dead Burn Doesn’t Quite Catch Fire, Michael Dances Past $1 Billion Milestone
The headlines were quick to either make Minions & Monsters look immediately unsuccessful or throw out terms like “franchise fatigue,” as if this series has not churned out five straight films that grossed over $900 million globally. (Fast & Furious is the true poster child for “franchise fatigue.”) More likely, it pressed its luck opening itself between two Disney titles, and this one discovered it may not be as well-liked — ironic considering most critics think it’s the best one. But a 44.6% fall to $20.5 million in its second weekend brings its 12-day total to $108.2 million.
M&M opened to $14.2 million last Wednesday, interestingly enough, behind the Thanksgiving opening of the original animated version of Moana ($15.5 million). The animated film closer to M&M is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the third film in that franchise, which, back in 2009, opened on the same Wednesday (July 1) to $13.7 million and was at $119.6 million by day 12. It finished with $196 million but also had a much bigger second weekend with $27.6 million. The ceiling for M&M may indeed be in the $170-180 million region as we stated last week, but that could also be a lofty projection if it falls back more quickly. Again, it’s not going to make $900 million, but it has already made over $280 million worldwide and is already a hit. Universal may be counting fewer millions this time around, but it is still many millions for the Minions.
Toy Story 5 came close to claiming its position back over its competition last week, but $18.5 million was enough to get it over the $400 million line this weekend. It is the 24th film to have reached that milestone by its 24th day, nestled behind both Finding Dory and Avengers: Age of Ultron and off the pace of their $20.8 million and $21.6 million fourth weekends. But we can come closer to locking down a final estimate between $455-465 million domestic. That will surpass the $434 million grossed by Toy Story 4 and make it the fourth-highest grossing Pixar film ever, followed in order by numbers four and three. Globally the film is now over $879 million and is looking to become the third film of 2026 to cross a billion. The world has just helped Michael cross the billion-dollar line this weekend, the second film after The Super Mario Galaxy Movie to do so this year.
It’s hard to imagine that Sam Raimi, Bruce Campbell and the entire team who began filming The Evil Dead in 1979 expected more movies would continue to be made, connecting to their mythology 47 years later. Nor that the remakes, sequels and/or reboots would make more in their opening weekend than the original trilogy, including Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, combined during their initial theatrical releases. But that is where we are. The 2013 remake by Fede Alvarez opened to $25.7 million and gross over $54 million. Ten years later, Evil Dead Rise would start with $24.5 million and finish over $67 million.
Now, in 2026, Evil Dead Burn has started with just $13.7 million. OK, so it’s lower than the $19.8 million collective first run grosses of Raimi’s trilogy. It’s also lower than M. Night Shyamalan’s Old ($16.8 million) during the second July of the pandemic and not much more than Jaws 3-D ($13.4 million) did back in 1983. The $20 million production is likely still going to be in profit, especially with an international start adding $13 million to its total. Evil Dead Rise grossed over $147 million worldwide.
Angel Studios’ Young Washington has already announced a sequel, paying it forward, if you will, after a successful launch over America’s birthday last week. The sequel will be the birth, apparently. What that makes this movie is anyone’s speculation, but in its second weekend it fell 67% to $6.4 million. That brings its 10-day total to $33.6 million. In an ironic twist, the numbers are in line with that of a king, namely King Arthur. Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 variation on the legend had a $7.1 million second weekend for a 10-day total of $33 million. If audiences are taking Kelsey Grammer’s advice at the end of the film and “creating a movement” (interpret at your own risk) by buying tickets for unsuspecting patrons, Angel could still be looking at a finish over $50 million.
A24 again expanded Olivia Wilde’s The Invite, this time into 1,610 theaters, giving a more nationwide audience a chance to see it. The result was $5.7 million in sales, bringing its total up to $7.3 million. The numbers are similar to the path of their release of last year’s Friendship with Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd. Consider their first three weekends and subsequent expansions.
#1 – The Invite ($379,104 / 7 theaters) – Friendship ($444,759 / 6 theaters)
#2 – The Invite ($704,601 / 28 theaters) – Friendship ($1.4 million / 60 theaters)
#3 – The Invite ($5.7 million / 1,610 theaters) – Friendship ($4.59 million / 1,055 theaters)
Where the numbers are askew are in their per-theater averages. Friendship went from a $23,338 PTA to $4,352 in weekends two to three, The Invite went from $25,164 to $3,540, depending on the final estimates. Friendship had made $7.2 million in its first 17 days and finished with $16.2 million. Maybe a further expansion can help get The Invite to even higher than that. Some Obsession-like holds for one of the best-reviewed wide releases of the year wouldn’t hurt either. Only The Furious (98%) and Is God Is (97%) rank higher than The Invite’s Certified Fresh 96%.
Curry Barker’s Obsession crossed the $250 million milestone this week. It is just the fifth horror film ever to hit that mark, joining It, The Sixth Sense, last year’s Sinners, and, of course, Jaws (which would be about $2 billion in sales today). Another $4.1 million this weekend put it over the top. Like Michael before it, Obsession has spent nine weeks in the top 10. Next week they it looks to join Project Hail Mary as the only films this year to spend 10 weeks on the list. Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash were the only films to do it in 2025. It has been quite the run, and it is not yet over, with $426 million worldwide and counting.
There is no good news for Supergirl this week. Another 59% drop to $3.5 million puts its 17-day total at $66 million. The numbers are lining up with another failed Universe. Remember the Dark one? That’s right. The Mummy with Tom Cruise was at $68.7 million after 17 days and a $6 million third weekend. It finished just north of $80 million. Supergirl will be finishing south of that and not very north of $70 million. These numbers are bad enough, but the international numbers are even more brutal: $49 million to date. Even Blue Beetle made $58.3 million and cost at least $50 million less than Supergirl, which is shaping up to become one of the biggest comic book bombs ever.
Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day made $3.2 million, bringing its total to $111.3 million domestic and $229 million worldwide after 38 days. This is going to be the rare Spielberg film to not gross three times its opening weekend, but it will be closer than many thought after its second weekend drop. The goal for that statistic would be over $133 million. Currently, the film’s total is behind Green Lantern ($113.9 million) and its sixth weekend is behind 1996’s The Nutty Professor ($4.17 million) and The Bourne Identity ($3.80 million), which finished with $128 million and $121 million, respectively. Disclosure Day is $2 million ahead of Nutty’s pace and $6 million ahead of Bourne, so a finish somewhere over $120 million seems very possible. Not bad for an original screenplay these days. If it passes Free Guy’s $121.6 million, it will be among the 10 highest-grossing fully original films released since 2020. It is already the 10th-best live-action original in that time span.
A24 rounds out the top 10 this weekend with their mega-hit Backrooms, which is creeping towards the $200 million domestic milestone. An additional $1.4 million this weekend brings it to $194.2 million. That is still about $1.8 million ahead of Superman Returns’ $192.5 million after seven weeks, and it’s still gaining over that film’s $1.24 million comparable haul. Superman just got over the hump thanks to some tiny end-of-summer drops and a Labor Day boost. Backrooms is holding the pace right now. It has also grossed over $375 million worldwide.
Beyond the Top 10: Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass Gets Denied in Wide Release
Sony Classics released just their third film of the year this weekend with David Wain’s latest comedy, Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass. It is Wain’s first theatrical release since Wanderlust in 2012. His follow-up, They Came Together, never got a proper theatrical release from Lionsgate, and his 2018 film A Futile and Stupid Gesture was released on Netflix. Gail Daughtry, a pickup from this year’s Sundance, got launched in 1,000 theaters and grossed just $953,724.
This is just the fifth time that Sony Classics has gone wide with 1,000 theaters or more for an opening weekend. Three of them were just last year with Nuremberg ($3.88 million, 1802 theaters), Merrily We Roll Along ($1.30 million, 1084 theaters), and The Penguin Lessons ($1.18 million, 1017 theaters). The last time they did it before 2025 was back in 2016 with another Sundance pickup, The Bronze, starring Melissa Rauch, Sebastian Stan, and Haley Lu Richardson. They may have thought they had a breakout Sundance comedy (that critics were not found of, at 35%) and then didn’t put it out until the following March. It opened to just $386,328 in 1,167 theaters, a $331 per-theater average. Took them nine years to get that big of a launch again.
On The Vine: Christopher Nolan Guides Us Through The Odyssey
Tickets have been on sale for an entire year and audiences will finally get to see Christopher Nolan’s latest event film, The Odyssey. The Universal release is expected to be one of the biggest of the summer and the year. No counterprogramming here, as studios laid off or moved off this release date.
Full List of Box Office Results: July 10-12
- Moana – $43.0 million ($43.0 million total)
- Minions & Monsters – $20.5 million ($108.2 million total)
- Toy Story 5 – $18.5 million ($403.7 million total)
- Evil Dead Burn – $13.7 million ($13.7 million total)
- Young Washington – $6.4 million ($33.1 million total)
- The Invite – $5.7 million ($7.3 million total)
- Obsession – $3.8 million ($253.3 million total)
- Supergirl – $3.5 million ($66.0 million total)
- Disclosure Day – $3.2 million ($111.3 million total)
- Backrooms – $1.4 million ($194.2 million total)
Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office on Business First AM with Angela Miles and his Movie Madness Podcast. [box office figures via Box Office Mojo]
Thumbnail image by ©Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
