Weekend Box Office: Spider-Man: Brand New Day Continues to Climb
Spider-Man creeps slowly towards a Star Wars record, while The Odyssey sets its sights on $600 million domestic.
Once again there was no match for Spider-Man at the top of the box office as Hollywood began dumping out their late-summer fare. The latest Insidious film is not included in that group, as it continues to quietly become one of the most profitable small-budget franchises ever. Meanwhile, the watch is on for Brand New Day to become the highest-grossing domestic release in history, along with The Odyssey hoping to join some exclusive territory as well.
King of the Crop: Spider-Man: Brand New Day Continues to Climb
Peter Parker held off the demons from Insidious to win the box office for a fourth-straight week. Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the first film to lead four weeks since Avatar: Fire and Ash and the first summer film since last year’s Weapons during its run through August. Its $39 million this week is the seventh-best fourth weekend of all-time behind The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($40.83 million) and Black Panther ($40.81 million) and ahead of Marvel’s The Avengers ($36.6 million), Barbie ($33.8 million), and Spider-Man: No Way Home ($32.6 million). Its weekend also knocked The Odyssey ($31.7 million) out of the top 10 on that list.
More importantly, the film has now amassed $855.2 million domestically, just a few million behind Avengers: Endgame ($858.3 million) for second all time. All that stands between Brand New Day and the domestic championship is Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which stands high with $935.6 million. Does Spider-man have a chance? Brand New Day still stands $40 million ahead of The Force Awakens’ pace after 24 days. (Last week it was $44 million ahead of the pace.) Episode 7 fell to $42.3 million in its fourth weekend, still the fourth-best of all time behind the first two Avatars and Top Gun: Maverick. At this point it seems inevitable. Brand New Day will be close to $900 million by next weekend. A Labor Day bump will follow the next. A billion may be just out of its reach, but it’s already made $2.22 billion, passing The Force Awakens’ $2.071 billion and a non-inflated Titanic first-run gross of $2.128 billion. Taking away those pesky re-release numbers, all that remains are the first two Avatars and Endgame leading the way with $2.797 billion.
- Recommended: All MCU Movies Ranked
- Recommended: The 50 Highest-Grossing Movies of All Time
Tales of the Top 10: Insidious Knocks The Odyssey Down, Mutiny Lands in Sixth
Insidious: Out of the Further maybe had the best odds to date to knock Spider-Man from his perch. The last two films in the series opened to $33 million (2023’s The Red Door) and $29.5 million (2018’s The Last Key). Alas, this one was more in Chapter 3 territory ($22.6 million) and settled for a second-place finish, albeit with another solid $25.3 million start. While these films have not quite been the massive cash cow that the films of the Conjuring Universe became, this franchise (also started by James Wan) has had a very consistent run for a fraction of most budgets. The first five films from 2011-2023 grossed $339.7 million domestic and $728.8 million worldwide on a collective budget of just $42.5 million. That’s incredible profit right there, and this film is following that same path by adding $60 million so far to its worldwide total on just an $18 million budget. None of these films have hit the $200 million line globally to date. The last film, Insidious: The Red Door, came close with $189 million. Out of the Further began with $35 million.
It is weekend six of The Odyssey and the first time it fell out of the top two. Poor Odysseus is down to third this week with $19.5 million, just a 17% drop from last week. The final Monday numbers will determine if this is the seventh-, sixth-, fifth-, or possibly even the fourth-best sixth weekend of all-time. Zootopia 2, Frozen, and Wicked: Part One all had weekends between $19.3 and $19.8 million, with Avatar: The Way of Water waiting in fourth with $20.1 million. Christopher Nolan’s epic has now amassed $539 million domestically, the 16th best ever after 38 days. The path is opening up for The Odyssey to join the $600 million domestic club. As long as the wind isn’t taken out of its sails next week and over Labor Day weekend, it appears Odysseus will get home, especially if both weekends are over $10 million, which the stage seems to be set for. Globally it also keeps climbing the charts, where it now stands at $1.446 billion, passing Barbie’s $1.445 billion and putting it at 19th all-time.
Looks like last week’s battle of the dinosaurs is being won by the doggie cops. Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie made $9.1 million in its second weekend to bring its total to $35.4 million. That is still the fifth-best total for an animated August release after 10 days, behind Sausage Party ($65.4 million), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtle Mayhem ($61.1 million), Planes ($45.3 million), and The Bad Guys 2 ($43.6 million). Dino Movie’s weekend is slightly ahead of the Laika realm of August, like ParaNorman ($8.63 million) and Kubo and the Two Strings ($7.84 million) had for their second weekends. If Paw Patrol has the typical slow drops of August through Labor Day into September, the $40 million production could still see a $60-70 million domestic finish. Globally the film is already over $100 million, making it a winner for Paramount.
David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street moves down to fifth place, falling 57% to $9 million. Now with a 10-day total of $37.9 million, we may have a little better idea of where it’s headed. Comparable genre fare in August includes Spawn ($8.94 million second weekend / $37.6 million in 10 days) and The Dark Tower ($7.82 million / $34.2 million). $50 million appears to be in the cards, but a Labor Day bump next week could get it closer to $60 million. The $80-90 million production would still need to put up a couple centuries around the globe to satisfy its costs. As of now, it is still approaching the first century with $86 million.
Jason Statham found himself a little boost after the release of The Beekeeper, which found theatrical success and has gone on to be a bit of a cult hit afterwards. A $16.57 million start was his best non-Meg headliner ever, just besting Transporter 2’s $16.54 million. A year later, his more generic A Working Man came out, opening to $15.5 million but falling off quickly to just $37 million compared to The Beekeeper’s $66.1 million domestic haul. Earlier this year, he did give Black Bear Pictures their highest gross ever as a distributor. But that film’s total ($12.8 million) was less than any of the previous films’ opening. With Mutiny from Lionsgate we are back to the prototypical Statham opening. Since 2012, apart from the Meg films, most of his starring roles opened in the $6-8 million range. Mutiny opened this weekend with $7.5 million.
A24’s strategy with The Invite this summer was to go from seven theaters ($379,104) to 28 ($704,601) to ultimately 1,610 in its third week ($5.92 million). Matt Johnson’s Tony has gone from six theaters ($348,995) to 37 ($706,677) to now 1,642 this weekend, where it made $5 million. IFC never got Johnson’s Blackberry into more than 449 theaters, and it finished with just $1.47 million. Neon’s widest shot for Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie back in February was just 384 theaters, and it finished with $4.04 million. A24 did Johnson right. Now let’s see if it can catch on with audiences and approach the $15-20 million range. It has made $6.6 million to date.
One week after Black Bear released The Rivals of Amziah King after playing it nowhere since last year’s SXSW festival, they have practically tried to bury the female-led comedy Spa Weekend. No critics screenings for it. Nothing for press at all. Those who managed to go out and see it are not impressed, as it currently sits at 33% on the Tomatometer. Audiences don’t seem to be impressed either (or they had no idea about it), as it opened to just $3.03 million this weekend. That is actually the second-best opening they have had, barely nudging out In the Grey’s $2.92 million start in May. The Jason Statham starrer Shelter opened to $5.5 million in January and finished with the company’s top number, $12.8 million to date.
Spa Weekend is certainly not going to be confused with Girls Trip anytime soon, nor Universal’s The Fast and the Furious, which they re-released into 1,561 locations for the film’s 25th Anniversary, and that ended up in a dead heat with Spa Weekend with $3.10 million. That is Universal’s best theatrical re-release opening since Back to the Future last October for its 40th, when it started with $4.9 million in 2,290 theaters. Universal’s Minions & Monsters, meanwhile, has crossed the half-billion mark across the globe with over $504 million. Focus Features’ Obsession also did the same this weekend, as the $1 million or less production has now grossed over $501 million worldwide.
Mubi added 982 theaters to the run of Jane Schoenbrun’s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and that helped to get it into the top 10 with $1.94 million. Their last film, I Saw the TV Glow, moved into 469 theaters in its third weekend, and the A24 release grossed just over a million, bringing its total to $1.48 million after 17 days. Miasma now stands at $3.68 million in that time. Its first two weekends’ per-theater averages were $49,921 & $16,495 compared to I Saw the TV Glow’s $29,754 & $9,291. Miasma’s expansion dropped its PTA to $1,872 this week, while Glow’s was at $2,136 and finished its run with $4.94 million.
Beyond the Top 10: The Magic Faraway Tree Disappoints in US Debut
The Magic Faraway Tree has been the top-grossing independent film in the United Kingdom throughout the first half of 2026. It has made over $32 million to date internationally, most of it in the UK ($3.76 million). This weekend it made just $1.37 million in the U.S., not even a top five for Vertical Entertainment. (Gotti opened to $1.71 million.) They also opened Dracula ($4.4 million start) and We Bury the Dead ($2.5 million) this year. Next up for them is The Weight with Ethan Hawke on Sept. 18, which they have not played at any festivals since its rave reviews at Sundance.
Alex Ullom’s acclaimed It Ends (which is Certified Fresh at 95% with critics) had been available as an exclusive on the Letterboxd Video Store for a month last December. In the middle of that run, Neon picked up the film for theatrical distribution and released it this weekend in five theaters, where it grossed $60,000. Neon will widen it next week. The indie studio’s release of The Wrong Girls last week trailed off 89% this weekend to just $47,000, bringing its total to about $751,000. Meanwhile, Focus Features’ Hot Spot opened to just $250,000 in 268 theaters, a per-theater average of $932.
Six new movies entered the top 10 last week and couldn’t push Toy Story 5 out, and it took three more new ones and a re-release to do it this week. It still put up a little over a million in 1,040 theaters, bringing its domestic total to $477.9 million. That puts it at No. 25 all time on the domestic first-run list and 38th worldwide with $1.128 billion. Disney’s Moana is not nearly as successful as its global run is, at just $306 million. Tim Burton’s live-action Dumbo made over $353 million.
On The Vine: Coyote vs. Acme, Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars, and More
Warner Bros. dumped it. Fans cried out for it. Ketchup Entertainment picked it up. And now it is your duty to go out and support Coyote vs. Acme next week. Can you make it the No. 1 film in the country? Don’t let it down now. After you see that, you can see Ridley Scott’s latest, The Dog Stars. There is also the rom-com, Finding Emily, with Angourie Rice and Spike Fearn. Roadside is releasing the Sundance horror comedy Buddy. The latest from the director of Train To Busan, Colony, opens from Well Go. IFC also has Macon Blair’s Sundance comedy, Idiots (formerly known as The Shitheads), and they will be opening Joe Swanberg’s The Sun Never Sets with Dakota Fanning, Jake Johnson, and Cory Michael Smith in Chicago before expanding further.
Full List of Box Office Results: August 21-23
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day – $39.0 million ($854.9 million total)
- Insidious: Out of the Further – $25.3 million ($25.3 million total)
- The Odyssey – $19.5 million ($539.1 million total)
- Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie – $9.1 million ($35.4 million total)
- The End of Oak Street – $9.0 million ($37.9 million total)
- Mutiny – $7.5 million ($7.5 million total)
- Tony – $5.0 million ($6.6 million total)
- The Fast and the Furious (25th Anniversary re-release) – $3.10 million ($3.10 million total)
- Spa Weekend – $3.03 million ($3.03 million total)
- Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma – $1.9 million ($3.6 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 ©Marvel Entertainment/©Columbia Pictures
