The box office is stuck in Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s web.
Sony and Marvel’s blockbuster should win its fifth weekend with a projected $18 million to $24 million. It passed Avengers: Endgame this week to become the second-highest-grossing release ever in North America at $858.4 million, leaving only Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens and its $936.7 million ahead of it. Worldwide, Destin Daniel Cretton’s film sits at $2.22 billion, sixth all time.
Coyote vs. Acme comes in as the weekend’s hottest wildcard. Dave Green’s live-action and animation hybrid stars Will Forte as the lawyer taking Wile E. Coyote’s case against Acme, with John Cena as opposing counsel and Lana Condor co-starring. Tracking sat in the high single digits three weeks ago and has climbed toward $15 million since, which should be good for second place.
Warner Bros. Discovery shelved the finished film in 2023 as a reported $30 million write-off before Ketchup Entertainment bought it for around $50 million in 2025. Anything above $3.2 million tops The Day the Earth Blew Up for the biggest opening in Ketchup’s history. Reviews are strong at 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, previews brought in $400,000, and advance sales have been solid. Working against it: Ketchup doesn’t have Warner Bros.’ screen count or marketing budget, and trackers note the online enthusiasm skews heavily toward New York and Los Angeles.
The Odyssey should take third in its seventh weekend with roughly $14 million. Christopher Nolan’s epic held to a 17% drop last weekend and passed The Dark Knight‘s $534 million to become his biggest movie ever, at home and abroad. It’s now at $541.9 million domestic and $1.45 billion worldwide.
Fourth goes to The Dog Stars, Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic drama for 20th Century Studios. Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, and Margaret Qualley star in the adaptation of Peter Heller’s 2012 novel, opening at roughly 3,300 theaters including 120 Imax screens. Early forecasts ran higher, but a 36% Rotten Tomatoes score — among the lowest of Scott’s career — has pulled projections down toward $11 million.
Insidious: Out of the Further rounds out the top five with about $10 million in its second weekend, roughly a 60% drop in line with 2023’s Insidious: The Red Door. Sony and Blumhouse’s sixth franchise entry opened to $25.3 million and has already cleared its $18 million budget.
Three more wide releases open outside the top five. Roadside Attractions and Saban Films launch the horror-comedy Buddy, tracking around $5 million; IFC Films opens Macon Blair’s Idiots, with Dave Franco, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Kiernan Shipka, Nicholas Braun, and Peter Dinklage; and Alex Ullom’s road horror It Ends expands nationwide after a limited run.
Two Sundance winners land in limited release: Filipiñana, Rafael Manuel’s Philippines-set debut that took the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Creative Vision, and How to Divorce During the War, which won the World Cinema Dramatic directing prize for Lithuania’s Andrius Blaževičius. Greenwich Entertainment also opens The Marching Band, Emmanuel Courcol’s Cannes crowd-pleaser about two brothers separated at birth.
Here are Gold Derby’s predicted box-office rankings for the top five over the Aug. 28-30 weekend:
- Spider-Man: Brand New Day — $20 million
- Coyote vs. Acme — $15 million
- The Odyssey — $14 million
- The Dog Stars — $11 million
- Insidious: Out of the Further — $10 million
Check back Sunday for actuals and how they stacked up against our predictions.
New releases
Coyote vs. Acme
Director: Dave Green
Distributor: Ketchup Entertainment
Wile E. Coyote hires a down-on-his-luck attorney to sue the Acme Corporation over decades of defective products, squaring off against the company’s undefeated lawyer. The live-action and animation hybrid has a running time of one hour, 41 minutes, and is rated PG. Coyote vs. Acme is certified “fresh” with a 95% score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “generally favorable” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 77.
The Dog Stars
Director: Ridley Scott
Distributor: 20th Century Studios
Nine years after a pandemic wipes out most of humanity, a pilot living with a survivalist at an abandoned airfield hears a stray radio transmission and flies off in search of whoever sent it. The post-apocalyptic drama has a running time of one hour, 58 minutes and is rated R. The Dog Stars is certified “rotten” with a 37% score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “mixed” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 51.
Buddy
Director: Casper Kelly
Distributor: Roadside Attractions and Saban Films
Inside the world of a saccharine children’s TV show, a bright orange unicorn turns on the one child who won’t play along. The horror-comedy has a running time of one hour, 35 minutes, and is rated R. Buddy is certified “fresh” with an 85% score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “generally favorable” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 64.
Idiots
Director: Macon Blair
Distributor: IFC Films
Two unqualified men hired to drive a wealthy teenager to rehab watch a simple job spiral into chaos. The comedy has a running time of one hour, 38 minutes, and is rated R. Idiots is “certified fresh” with a 69% score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “generally favorable” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 65.
It Ends
Director: Alex Ullom
Distributor: Neon
Four friends take a wrong turn on a late-night drive and find themselves trapped on a road with no end. The horror film has a running time of one hour, 29 minutes and is rated R. It Ends is “certified fresh” with a 92% score per the aggregated critic reviews at Rotten Tomatoes; “generally favorable” reviews compiled by Metacritic resulted in an overall score of 74.
2026 box-office hits: Every movie that made more than $100 million
