Spider-Man Holds the Top Spot as Coyote vs. Acme Finally Reaches Theatres
Spider-Man: Brand New Day is still No. 1 at the domestic box office in its fifth weekend, earning an estimated $5.5 million on Friday and tracking toward a $21 million weekend that pushes its North American total to $890 million, according to Variety. That figure makes it the second-highest-grossing film ever at the domestic box office, having surpassed Avengers: Endgame's $858.4 million earlier in the week, per Deadline. Only one film sits above it.
The real story of the weekend, though, is what landed behind it. Coyote vs. Acme — a Looney Tunes live-action animation hybrid in which Wile E. Coyote sues the Acme corporation — debuted in second place with an estimated $5.2 million on Friday from 3,575 screens, on track for about $13.5 million by Sunday, Variety reports. The film, directed by Dave Green and starring Will Forte, Lana Condor and John Cena, had a long and unusual road to this opening. Warner Bros. previously axed its release before the film finally reached theatres.
Industry tracking had been roughly on target. Deadline projected a $12–14 million opening for Coyote vs. Acme as recently as 28 August; Gold Derby forecast $15 million on 27 August. The final number looks set to land inside that range, give or take — these Friday figures are studio estimates until Monday's actuals settle the books.
Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey took third in its seventh weekend, earning $3.7 million on Friday and eyeing a $14.6 million frame that lifts its domestic haul to $564 million, per Variety. That puts Nolan's epic narrowly ahead of the coyote's courtroom debut for the weekend, though Coyote vs. Acme's Friday gross was higher — The Odyssey benefits from a full week of accumulated momentum.
Ridley Scott's The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic drama starring Jacob Elordi as a lonely man with a canine companion, earned $3 million on Friday from 3,330 North American theatres and slipped to fourth place. Rival estimates put its weekend at roughly $7.2 million, below the $8 million tracking Deadline reported and the $11 million Gold Derby projected. The cast includes Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Guy Pearce, Allison Janney and Benedict Wong.
Insidious: Out of the Further rounded out the top five with $2.9 million on Friday, heading toward a $9.32 million sophomore weekend — roughly a 60% drop from its opening. Its North American revenues stand at about $42.85 million.
For Spider-Man, the dominance extends well beyond domestic shores. Sony's blockbuster held the No. 1 spot at the U.K. and Ireland box office for a fourth consecutive week with $4.8 million, Variety reported on 25 August, having already placed second in the July U.K./Ireland chart with $71.3 million across the month.
The numbers tell their own story about the summer of 2026: one superhero film is rewriting the record books, a shelved cartoon finally got its day in court, and a post-apocalyptic drama opened soft. No forecasts are ever perfect, but the tracking services were close on the biggest titles — and notably generous on The Dog Stars.
