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Indiana Jones had a brief reign at the box office. Disney’s action-adventure “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” dropped to No. 2 on its second weekend of release, earning $26.5 million from 4,600 North American theaters. It was dethroned by Sony’s horror-thriller “Insidious: The Red Door,” which exceeded expectations with its $32.6 million debut at 3,188 locations.
Ticket sales for “Indiana Jones,” the fifth and final installment starring Harrison Ford’s swashbuckling adventurer, fell 56% from its $60 million opening weekend, continuing the theatrical setbacks for the nearly $300 million budgeted film. “Dial of Destiny” added $31.8 million at the international box office, bringing worldwide ticket sales to $247.9 million. It has a long and winding journey to get out of the red, at least during its box office run.
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The fifth ‘Insidious’ film only cost $16 million to make, so it’s already reaping big rewards in its box office run. That’s an improvement on the start of its predecessor, 2018’s “The Last Key,” which opened to $29 million and ended with $67 domestically and $167 million worldwide. It also marks the franchise’s second best debut after 2013’s “Insidious: Chapter 2” with $40 million.
“The Red Door” also took in $31.4 million at the international box office, which ranks as the biggest foreign opening for a horror film in a time of a pandemic. At current exchange rates, Sony claims the film is 27% higher than “Insidious: The Last Key”, as well as 58% higher than “Evil Dead Rise” and 30% higher than “Scream VI”, two other recent horror releases. . To date, “Insidious 5” has grossed $64 million worldwide.
Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films, and Blumhouse produced “The Red Door,” which is being positioned as the conclusion to the horror franchise, one that brings back original cast members Patrick Wilson (who also directed the film) Ty Simpkins, Andrew Astor, and Rose Byrne. The audience turned out to be large, but not too nice; the horror entry received a “C+” CinemaScore and a 37% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
“Cost is about $16 million and has good foreign potential, this is another smart, profitable Blumhouse production,” said David A. Gross, who heads the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research.
The weekend’s other big new release, Lionsgate’s raunchy comedy “Joy Ride,” opened in sixth place with a lukewarm $5.85 million from 2,820 venues, falling short of expectations. Adele Lim, co-screenwriter of Crazy Rich Asians, directed the film in her feature debut. Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu play four friends who go on a journey to help a member of their group find her birth mother. Critics praised the film, but ticket buyers were mixed, giving the film a “B-” CinemaScore.
“This is a weak opening for a romantic sex comedy,” says Gross. “Reviews are excellent, while audience scores are fair.”
“Joy Ride” came just ahead of another R-rated raunchy comedy, Jennifer Lawrence’s “No Hard Feelings,” which took the No. 7 spot. The film added $5.25 million from 2,686 locations, a small drop of 33% from its previous appearance. After three weeks on the big screen, “No Hard Feelings” has grossed $40.4 million in North America and $67 million worldwide. The only problem is that Sony Pictures spent about $45 million to produce the movie, so it’s going to have to play all summer to justify that price tag.
In third place, ‘Sound of Freedom’, a faith-based film about child sex trafficking, is on the verge of becoming an unlikely box office success. It grossed $17 million over the weekend from 2,850 theaters and $39 million since opening on July 4. Those ticket sales are a reminder of the power of the religious audience, which helped propel this spring’s low-budget drama “Jesus Revolution,” starring Kelsey Grammar, to $53 million worldwide.
Angel Studios, a streaming and distribution company, backed the drama with a $15 million budget. It is based on the true story of Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel), a former government agent who quit his job to save children from global sex traffickers. Enthusiastic opening weekend crowds gave the film an “A+” CinemaScore. It is the only film currently playing in theaters with such a high rating.
Pixar’s “Elemental” landed fourth with $9.6 million from 3,440 North American locations, down just 22% from the previous weekend. With this weekend’s sales, the family film has surpassed $109.2 million at the domestic box office and $251.9 million worldwide. It’s a respectable take from his lackluster debut. However, “Elemental” cost $200 million, so it has a long way to go to break even in its theatrical run.
Sony’s animated sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” rounded out the top five, generating $8 million from 3,023 locations in its sixth weekend of release. So far, the film has grossed a whopping $357.6 million at the domestic box office and $641 million worldwide.
In North America, “Spider-Verse” is Disney’s comic book adventure “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” ($357.5 million) to become the highest-grossing release of the summer. That positioning could change in the coming weeks as Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” (July 12), Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” (July 21), and Christopher Nolan’s nuclear bomb drama “Oppenheimer” (also July 21) get ready to hit the big screen.
“This is all good news for movie theaters, which expect very busy movie theaters in the coming weeks,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore.
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