Sony Pictures is set to claim the top two spots at the domestic box office this weekend, led once again by Spider-Man: Brand New Day in its fourth frame. The Tom Holland superhero sequel pulled in $9.8 million on Friday, and the studio projects a $36.5 million weekend, pushing its domestic total to roughly $852.4 million through Sunday. That figure would put it past 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home to become the No. 3 highest-grossing film ever at the domestic box office, trailing only 2015's Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens and 2019's Avengers: Endgame. The film, directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and starring Holland alongside Zendaya, Sadie Sink and Jon Bernthal, recently became the fastest movie to reach $800 million domestically and now stands as Sony's highest-grossing domestic release after setting the studio's record for top global release last weekend.
Right behind it is Insidious: Out of the Further, which debuted with $10.6 million Friday, including Thursday previews, and is projected to open to $23.7 million. The sixth installment in the horror franchise that began with 2011's Insidious comes from Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films and Blumhouse Atomic Monster, and stars Amelia Eve, Brandon Perea and Lin Shaye in a story centered on a young mother who can bring spirits back with her into the real world. It launched in 3,330 North American theaters against an $18 million production budget, earning a 60 percent critics' score and 70 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, along with a C+ CinemaScore that ties 2023's Insidious: The Red Door for the series' lowest grade. The Red Door, which featured returning stars Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, had opened to $33 million domestically before grossing $189 million worldwide. Reviewing the new film for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Frank Scheck wrote that it "proves routine in its elaborate plot machinations."
Also opening is Lionsgate's Mutiny, starring Jason Statham as a former Marine trying to clear his name after being framed for murder. Directed by Jean-François Richet and produced by MadRiver Pictures and Punch Palace Productions on a $40 million budget, the film earned $2.8 million Friday, including previews, and is tracking toward $7.4 million for the weekend and sixth place from 2,600 screens. It holds a B+ CinemaScore, a 50 percent critics' score and an 80 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. It follows Statham's Shelter, which opened to $5.5 million domestically earlier this year for Black Bear.
Elsewhere, Universal's The Odyssey is holding third place with an estimated $18.5 million in its sixth weekend, lifting its domestic total to $538 million; the Christopher Nolan-directed epic starring Matt Damon as Odysseus has surpassed Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated title globally. Warner Bros.' The End of Oak Street, directed by David Robert Mitchell and starring Anne Hathaway and Ewan McGregor, is estimated to add $8 million in its second weekend for a $37 million two-week total, down about 62 percent. Paramount's PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie is fighting for the same fourth-place slot with a similar $8 million estimate, a 61 percent decline, and a $34 million domestic tally.
A24's Tony, starring Dominic Sessa as a teenage Anthony Bourdain, expanded wide in its third weekend to an estimated $4.8 million from 1,600 screens, good for seventh place and a $6.4 million cume. Universal's 25th-anniversary rerelease of The Fast and the Furious, the Vin Diesel film that grossed $207 million globally in its original run, is estimated at $3.3 million for eighth place. Black Bear's Spa Weekend, directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore and starring Leslie Mann, Isla Fisher, Michelle Buteau and Anna Faris, sits in ninth with an estimated $3 million from 2,000 locations and a B+ CinemaScore. Just outside the top 10, Vertical's The Magic Faraway Tree, directed by Ben Gregor and starring Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy, is projected to earn $1.15 million from 1,600 screens.
Photo: Nouill, CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
