Indiana Jones has begun his last box office crusade, with the fifth franchise entry earning $24 million on its opening day from 4,600 theaters. It’s a figure that includes $7.2 million in Thursday previews.
The release from Disney and Lucasfilm is expected to debut near the bottom of projections, with a three-day opening of $60 million or so. It’ll be more than enough for the Harrison Ford action-adventure film to land in the top spot on domestic charts, setting itself up to draw crowds through the Fourth of July holiday — but it’s not exactly the victorious tone-setter for one of the 20 or so most expensive blockbusters ever made. With a whopping $295 million production budget, “Indiana Jones 5” faces quite the trek to theatrical profitability.
The skies have been cloudy for “Dial of Destiny” for some weeks now, ever since the franchise finale made a splashy debut at the Cannes Film Festival and earned reviews that could kindly be described as mixed. After weathering that mediocre buzz for more than a month, the film has balanced out at a 58% approval rating from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. In Variety‘s review, chief film critic Owen Gleiberman wrote that “James Mangold’s action epic is made in the style of Steven Spielberg, but the exhilaration is gone.”
The first round of ticket buyers are more positive, as indicated by the “B+” grade through research firm Cinema Score, but that’s still not a level of excitement that’s appropriate for a beloved franchise homecoming, especially one of this scale.
The last feather in Indy’s cap was “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” which opened to $100 million over the Memorial Day holiday in 2008 and legged out a $790 million worldwide gross. That film drew its own middling reception, which may have taken away some of the thrill of the franchise for audiences. It’ll be difficult for “Dial of Destiny” to match the final gross of its predecessor.
James Mangold took the director’s seat for this outing after franchise co-creator Steven Spielberg bowed out during a lengthy development process. “Dial of Destiny” sees a weathered Indiana Jones searching for a mystical artifact with the power to change the course of history. The professorial globe-trotter is accompanied by his goddaughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), in a race against a former Nazi (Mads Mikkelsen) for the treasure.
While Disney is facing an underwhelming arrival for “Indiana Jones,” it can take some solace in the fact that it’s not laying the biggest box office egg this weekend. Universal’s “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” is likely opening outside of the top five after earning $2.3 million from 3,400 theaters on Friday. A finish around $6 million over the three-day frame seems to be where things are headed.
Nobody in the industry has been projecting good numbers for the DreamWorks Animation film and this pin-drop opening represents the proverbial Band-Aid getting ripped off. Facing strong competition for family audiences in “Indiana Jones” and animated holdovers “Elemental” and “Across the Spider-Verse,” “Ruby Gillman” doesn’t have any hope to recoup its $70 million production budget. For what it’s worth, ticket buyers have been positive, as indicated by the “A-” grade on Cinema Score.
Sony looks to take silver with “Across the Spider-Verse,” projecting an $11.7 million gross for its fifth weekend of release. The “Spider-Man” sequel is looking at another soft drop around 40% or so; arachnids have eight legs and this movie is using all of them to keep its numbers climbing. Total domestic gross should push to $340 million through Sunday.
Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental” is looking at third place. The animated romance added $3.4 million on Friday to push its North American total to $80 million. “Elemental” still won’t be able to justify its $200 million production budget after debuting with the worst opening numbers in Pixar’s history, but it’s held well since then. The film will almost certainly push beyond a $100 million domestic gross — a milestone that seemed beyond reach two weeks ago.
Sony’s “No Hard Feelings” is projecting $7.1 million through the weekend, which would push its domestic total to $28 million. That would be a modest 51% drop from its opening numbers, but the Jennifer Lawrence comedy still cost $45 million to produce.
“Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” looks to round out the top five, projecting a 43% drop in its fourth weekend of release. The Paramount sequel should reach a $135 million domestic gross through the three-day frame.
