The first half of this year hasn’t been kind to blockbuster films, with big-budget movies like Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash falling flat at the box office. Unfortunately, the second half of the year doesn’t seem to be starting any better, doing a number on Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken and the latest Indiana Jones flick.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny marks Harrison Ford’s final outing as the legendary globetrotting archaeologist, and it’s Disney’s first film in the franchise since acquiring Lucasfilm. With a whopping production budget of $295 million, Dial of Destiny had a lackluster domestic opening weekend, pulling in a meager $60 million across 4,600 theaters.
Although the film managed to gather $70 million internationally, resulting in a worldwide start of $130 million, it fell short of The Flash’s $139 million global debut, and mind you, The Flash was made with a budget $100 million lower than Dial of Destiny.
While audiences are clearly smitten with Indy’s latest escapade, as evidenced by the solid 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, critics are divided on the film, with a 68% score from 309 reviews and frequent criticisms on its nostalgia baiting.
Disney is surely counting on a massive boost this July 4th as audiences are expected to swarm the theaters, with projections indicating a surge in domestic earnings to $82 million and a whopping $152 million worldwide.
However, Dial of Destiny will have to dial things up quickly before the highly anticipated spy thriller Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One hits the big screen next week, stealing the spotlight, seats and dollars.
DreamWorks, meanwhile, isn’t faring any better. Their latest animated comedy film, Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, had a dismal opening with just $5.2 million in earnings, placing it in sixth place. In comparison, Pixar’s Elemental had an opening of $29.6 million, and even that was considered a box office disappointment in its first weekend.
However, there’s a glimmer of hope for Ruby Gillman, as Elemental saw a resurgence in its second weekend. With a hefty $70 million production budget, Ruby Gillman will be crossing its fingers for a similar turnaround.
Much like Indiana Jones, Ruby Gillman is a tale of contrasting perspectives in terms of reviews. It boasts an impressive 83% audience approval score on Rotten Tomatoes, but critics have been a bit more reserved with a 66% score.
Sony will have every reason to celebrate as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse finished in second place this weekend, bringing in $11.5 million and reaching a remarkable $339.8 million domestically. As for Pixar, Elemental’s performance remains strong, dropping just one spot to third place and amassing $11.3 million domestically, with only a 39% decline from the previous weekend.
On the flip side, Jennifer Lawrence’s sex-comedy No Hard Feelings landed in fourth place with a disappointing $7.5 million, experiencing a 52% decline from its opening weekend and accumulating a total of $29.3 million domestically. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts also struggled, securing fifth place with a mere $7 million in its fourth weekend at the box office.
Wes Anderson’s quirky dramedy, Asteroid City, had an impressive start, raking in an astounding $853,382 from just six theaters. However, the film’s box office journey has hit a roadblock as it slipped to ninth place over the weekend, earning a total of $3.8 million from 1,901 theaters.
In the grand scheme of things, the real money-making movies of the year were anticipated to be the summer blockbusters. So, it’s highly likely that The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s reign at the top of the box office charts might soon come to a close once heavy hitters like Tom Cruise’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, or Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer land in theaters this month.
