It might seem summer has gotten boring by this point in time at the box office with Sony/Marvel Studios’ Spider-Man: Brand New Day refusing to relinquish its grip on No. 1 in its fifth go-round with $18M (-54%), but it’s not. This summer potentially is headed to a record, possibly upsetting 2013’s $4.756 billion.
Rentrak tells us that the domestic box office is $280M away from matching the 2013 high. Head of Marketplace Trend Paul Dergarabedian further expounded the dynamics to us: This summer counts 130 days between the first Friday in May and Labor Day Monday, September 7, versus 2013’s 123-day summer that was led at the time by Disney/Marvel Studios’ Iron Man 3 with $409M. However, the big jaw-dropper is that the motion picture industry is pulling off a possible record this summer with fewer wide releases.
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Jacob Elordi in ‘The Dog Stars‘
20th Century Studios
Coming onto marquees this weekend is Ridley Scott’s feature take on Peter Heller’s dystopian-future novel, The Dog Stars, starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, Margaret Qualley, Guy Pearce, Benedict Wong and Allison Janney. In a world that’s been ravaged by a virus, with many living on the skids, survivors face roaming scavengers called Reapers. Elordi plays Hig, a pilot who survived the flu but lost his wife. He hopes for a more peaceful world, but it isn’t. The Disney theatrical release of the 20th Century Studios movie is anywhere between $10M-$14M off currently sour Rotten Tomatoes critical reviews at 36% for the reported net $70M production at 3,300 theaters including 120 Imax and 675 PLF screens, 275 D-Box Screens, and 100 ScreenX auditoriums. Previews in North America start at 2 p.m. Thursday. First choice is best with men over 25, but the hope is that Elordi’s female fans find the movie.
RELATED: Josh Brolin Almost Quit Ridley Scott’s ‘The Dog Stars’ After First Day: “I’ve Got To Get The F*ck Out Of Here”
The reason Disney went with this date is that it saw the pic as counterprogramming in a Spidey/Odyssey-heavy summer, going well after those pics and serving as an adult alternative.
Overseas and Stateside, the comp seems to be last year’s Rami Malek spy action thriller The Amateur, which opened to $14.8M in North America.
Global debut on Dog Stars is $25M-$30M, with $15M of that coming from 55 territories, which is essentially most of the world for Disney sans China (which we hear won’t play the pic). Foreign opening comps in like-for-likes are The Amateur at $17M, 20th Century/Regency’s The Creator at $22M in 2023 and A Haunting in Venice with $21M in 2023. Dog Stars opens Wednesday in Belgium, France, Italy, Korea, Philippines, Spain, Switzerland and the UK. On Thursday, the pic opens in Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Central America, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Rep, Denmark, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad, UAE, Ukraine and Uruguay. On Friday, Dog Stars goes to Austria, Finland, Indonesia, Japan, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Sweden and Turkey.
RELATED: Jacob Elordi & Josh Brolin Navigate “Kill Or Be Killed” Post-Apocalyptic World In Final Trailer For ‘The Dog Stars’
Lana Condor, Wile E. Coyote and Will Forte in ‘Coyote vs. Acme‘
Ketchup Entertainment
Now, the other movie that’s raising eyebrows is Ketchup Entertainment’s theatrical rescue of Warner Bros’ abounded live-action/animated hybrid Coyote vs. Acme from director Dave Green and starring Will Forte, John Cena and Lana Candor. Based on Ian Frazier’s New Yorker piece, the movie follows Wile E. Coyote in his legal pursuit against dangerous-device corp Acme after injuring himself too many times using its products.
RELATED: ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’ Trailer: Attorney Will Forte & Wile E. Coyote Sue Acme In First Look At Long Anticipated Live-Action/Animation Hybrid
As we first told you, the David Zaslav-led Warner Bros Discovery decided back in November 2023 to take a $30M tax write-down on the completed $70M production, which was shot in 2022. There were suitors including Netflix and Paramount, but it was indie distributor Ketchup Entertainment that won out, acquiring global on the pic in March 2025 for $50M. It sold some foreign for less than $20M and chose this end-of-summer release date. When Coyote vs. Acme hit tracking three weeks ago, we were hearing the movie was between $7M-$10M for its opening; Ketchup’s biggest opening being its previous Looney Tunes rescue, The Day the Earth Blew Up ($3.2M last year). But now, with presales and armed with $400K sneaks from last weekend, exhibition has it a plus-or-minus $15M opening; if that sticks, it would be a very impressive opening for this indie company off of what’s been a thrifty marketing budget.
A cult fever erupted on social following Warner Bros’ cancellation of the movie, and Ketchup stoked that with two appearances at San Diego Comic-Con in addition to a trailer drop in April that racked up 25M views in its first 24 hours. Again, at a time when movies fail on the vine in the deepest of August, Coyote vs. Acme is lighting a wick this weekend. Thursday previews start at noon. First choice is best with men over 25. Coyote vs. Acme is 95% certified fresh. The pic will have a slow rollout overseas, beginning this weekend in Latin America and UK via Altitude.
RELATED: Will Forte On Feelings Over Warner Bros. Shelving ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’: “Extreme Frustration, Fiery Frustration, A Lot Of Anger”
Also going wide this weekend is Roadside Attractions’ Sundance pickup Buddy at 1,500 sites and IFC’s Idiots starring Dave Franco from filmmaker Macon Blair.
RELATED: ‘Buddy’ Review: Casper Kelly’s Gross-Out Satire On Bland Kids’ TV Packs A Dark, Existential Punch – Sundance Film Festival