Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” lassoed the top spot on domestic box office charts, collecting an underwhelming $60 million in its opening weekend.
That’s a decent amount of money for a tentpole that’s aimed at older audiences, but “Indiana Jones 5,” one of the most expensive movies ever, cost $295 million before marketing. It’ll take a heroic feat, one that would test even an enduring legend like Indiana Jones, for the fifth installment in the decades-old franchise to become profitable in its theatrical run.
It was a disappointing weekend at the box office as “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” a $70 million-budgeted family film from DreamWorks and Universal, cratered in its sixth-place debut with $5.2 million. In addition to “Dial of Destiny” and “Ruby Gillman,” the DC superhero adventure “The Flash” tumbled to the No. 8 spot in its third weekend of release with $5 million, another embarrassing 67% drop. It has yet to cross $100 million domestically, with ticket sales at $99.2 million to date.
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” the final adventure to star Harrison Ford as the swashbuckling explorer, added $70 million at the international box office for a global start of $130 million. It’s the first “Indiana Jones” movie to grace the big screen in 15 years, since 2008’s “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which opened to $100 million. Audiences and critics were lukewarm on “Indy 5,” which earned a “B+” CinemaScore and holds a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes.
It’ll get a boost on Tuesday’s July 4th holiday, with estimates of $82 million domestically and $152 million worldwide for the five-day frame. But the action-adventure doesn’t have a long runway before Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” (July 12) and Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb drama “Oppenheimer” (July 21), which cater to similar demographics, open on the big screen.
“This is a weak opening,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Most action-adventure series finish by episode five, and that’s happening here.”
“Ruby Gillman” added $7.6 million at the international box office, bringing its worldwide total to $12.8 million. Despite the weak turnout, audiences liked the movie, which has an “A-” CinemaScore and centers on a shy teenager (voiced by “To All the Boys” star Lana Condor) who discovers she’s part of a legendary royal lineage of mythical sea creatures.
Two bright(ish) spots on North American charts were Sony’s theatrical winner “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” which remained in second place with $11.6 million its fifth weekend of release, and Pixar’s “Elemental,” which took the No. 3 slot with $11.3 million in its third weekend in theaters.
“Spider-Verse” has generated $340 million at the domestic box office and crossed the $600 million mark in global ticket sales. “Elemental,” though it hasn’t lived up to Pixar standards, has managed to hold on at the box office with $88 million in North America and $186 million worldwide. Although the film should continue to draw in family crowds throughout the summer, it’ll struggle to justify its $200 million budget.
Jennifer Lawrence’s raunchy R-rated comedy “No Hard Feelings” landed in fourth place with $7.2 million from 3,208 theaters, a 52% decline from its debut. The movie, which cost $45 million, has grossed $29 million in North America.
Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” again rounded out the top five, adding $7 million from 2,852 venues in its fourth outing. So far, the seventh “Transformers” installment has earned $136 million at the domestic box office and $381 million globally. It cost $200 million to produce.
More to come…
