It might not have been quite the show of emphatic box office support that Looney Tunes fans hoped to see after Coyote vs. Acme avoided becoming a Warner Bros. tax write-off, but the film managed to get rolling over the weekend to score a second-place finish behind the unstoppable Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Meanwhile, Ridley Scott‘s The Dog Stars was sent to the doghouse.
Ketchup Entertainment released Coyote vs. Acme on 3,575 North American screens, with the film grossing $15.4 million for the weekend after collecting $5.3 million on Friday. Earning an A CinemaScore from audiences, the hybrid of animation and live-action stars Will Forte, Lana Condor and John Cena in the story of Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme Corporation over its faulty products.
This marks the biggest debut ever for the independent distributor, topping their previous best for the Looney Tunes feature The Day the Earth Blew Up, which was originally intended for HBO Max before opening to $3.5 million in March of last year ahead of a $15 million global cume. Coyote vs. Acme had a softer opening than other recent hybrid films — the past 15 of which debuted with an average frame of $23.2 million, according to FranchiseRe — but looks likely to recoup its investment through ancillary markets.
News broke in late 2023 that Warner Bros. had shelved the completed Coyote vs. Acme as a tax write-off. After social media outrage over the fact that director Dave Green’s film that carried a roughly $70 million budget would potentially never see the light of day, Ketchup stepped up last year to nab the rights for $50 million. Coyote vs. Acme has impressed critics, earning 95 percent approval from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. The Hollywood Reporter critic Frank Scheck deemed the movie “a hilarious delight.”
Jacob Elordi in 20th Century Studios’ The Dog Stars.
Fabio Lovino/20th Century Studios
In fifth place was the Jacob Elordi-led sci-fi thriller The Dog Stars, displaying little bite for 20th Century Studios with $8 million domestically as it opened in 3,300 locations. Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley and Guy Pearce also star in Scott’s feature adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel about the survivors of a devastating virus.
Claiming the top spot for its fifth consecutive weekend was Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which swings to $22.2 million to bring its domestic total to $891.5 million. Tom Holland stars in director Destin Daniel Cretton’s superhero blockbuster that remains the second-highest-grossing title ever at the domestic box office, behind only 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens with $936.6 million.
Globally, Brand New Day swung to No. 4 at the all-time worldwide box office over the weekend, as its worldwide total now stands at $2.332 billion. This moves 2025’s Chinese animated fantasy Ne Zha 2 to No. 5 with $2.27 billion, while James Cameron’s 1997 disaster epic Titanic floats to No. 6 with $2.26 billion. Spidey is now just behind 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, which currently holds third place with $2.334 billion.
Universal Pictures’ The Odyssey continued to find a home in third place on the weekend’s North American chart with $14.3 million. This brings the domestic sum for Christopher Nolan’s mythological epic to $563.8 million after seven weekends.
In fourth place was Sony’s Insidious: Out of the Further, as the horror sequel scares up $10.1 million to take its domestic total to $43.6 million in its second weekend for a decline of 59 percent.
Another newcomer this weekend was Roadside Attractions’ horror-comedy Buddy, with the skewed look at children’s television collecting $5.3 million for seventh place. Casper Kelly’s film stars Cristin Milioti, Topher Grace and Keegan-Michael Key, with THR chief film critic David Rooney noting that it “doesn’t go far enough to be as extreme or disturbing as it wants to be.”
More to come.
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