September ended on a very strong note, with a bunch of titles driving a busy weekend. But in a snap, the weekend's top title is not a new release, but actually a 7-year-old film. Avengers: Endgame posted some pretty great numbers around the world, showing audiences were excited to relive the experience.
As for the weekend's newcomers, there were varying performances. Heart of the Beast was the biggest of the bunch with a solid start elevated by a stronger performance overseas, while Primetime opened with A24's third biggest debut. Unfortunately, DreamWorks Animation stumbled with Forgotten Island, flopping in fifth place despite an extensive marketing campaign.
The Top 10 earned a combined $118.2 million this weekend. That's up a massive 71.5% from last year, when One Battle After Another topped the box office.
Topping the box office, Avengers: Endgame Encore earned a pretty great $26.1 million in 3,060 theaters. That’s more than last year's re-release of Revenge of the Sith ($25.4 million), and it's just behind The Lion King 3D ($30.1 million) and the 1997 re-release of Star Wars ($35.9 million) as the best opening ever for a re-release.
As it looks, the appeal of seeing the phenomenon justified the price of ticket sales. There's 6 minutes and 17 seconds of extra footage in Encore if you watched in InfinityVision, while non-IMAX/Infinity Vision screens had 2 minutes and a 6 second bonus. The debut took the film's lifetime gross to $884.4 million domestically. Re-releases are known for being front-loaded, and this won't be an exception. But it shows the Marvel brand is still strong despite some stumbles in the past.
Last week's champ Resident Evil added $23 million this weekend. That's a very rough 62% drop from last week, steeper than either Barbarian (38%) and Weapons (44%). It instead played like a typical video game adaptation in terms of holds, but at least it was a better drop than all of Paul W.S. Anderson's adaptations. Only Welcome to Raccoon City (49%) fared better, but it opened so poorly that it didn't make a difference.
Nevertheless, the film has already earned an incredible $103.1 million domestically, the first film in the franchise to hit that mark. Even with the drop, it's still on pace to pass Weapons ($151.5 million) to become Zach Cregger's highest-grossing film.
Leading the newcomers, Paramount's Heart of the Beast opened with a solid $20 million in 3,435 theaters. Coincidentally, Brad Pitt released Moneyball on this same exact weekend in 2011, and that opened with $19.5 million, showing how consistent he is at the box office.
Paramount banked solely on Pitt's star power to get the film to a respectable debut, and it seems to have worked. And while it might be a predictable story, the "man and dog survive in the wild" is a very simple but interesting premise for a lot of sectors. And perhaps it wasn't anticipated, but some pretty great reviews (87% on RT) helped as well.
According to Paramount, the film was very successful in attracting the older demographic: 31% was over 55, and close to 50% over 45. Despite the premise and action angle, Pitt's presence helped attract women, who consisted of 44% of the audience. They gave it a good "A–" on CinemaScore, suggesting some good legs ahead. Given the prime audience is an old demographic that doesn't rush out to watch it as soon as possible, it seems like Heart of the Beast could make its way to $60 million or more. Of course, the film's real money is overseas, where Pitt is even more popular.
Over-performing projections, A24's Primetime opened with a pretty great $19.1 million in 2,874 theaters. That's A24's third best debut, behind Civil War ($25.5 million) and Backrooms ($81.4 million). It was notably higher than Marty Supreme ($17.7 million), although that was released during holidays, so it's not apples-to-oranges.
The film cost just $15 million, so it's already a big win for the studio. Banking on Robert Pattinson was a good choice, especially when is coming off the success of The Drama and The Odyssey. And the subject matter was intriguing: Chris Hansen is a very popular person in online circles, and To Catch a Predator has become imitated and memed over the past years. There's some great reviews on its side (87% on RT) and awards buzz for Pattinson that also helped it build buzz. Yes, Hansen himself has made the rounds by criticizing the film's "inaccurate" depiction, but there's no such thing as bad press.
According to A24, 52% of the audience was male. It was a huge attraction for Gen Z and Millennials: a massive 80% of the audience was in the 18-34 demographic. They gave it a "B" on CinemaScore, indicating some mixed response among the audience. It's not surprising, considering the film's tone and take on Hansen won't sit well with everyone. And it seems it's already being reflected, as Friday accounted for 44% of its business, and dropped from second to fourth place. Still, Primetime* should make its way to $50 million domestically, which is a very respectable sum for the film.
Two successful newcomers, but unfortunately the same cannot be said of the third one. Universal/DreamWorks' Forgotten Island flopped with just $13 million in 3,548 theaters. This is below DreamWorks' own Gabby's Dollhouse: The Movie, which made $13.6 million last year on this same weekend.
The film cost $80 million, so this debut is simply way too low for a DreamWorks title. Even more confusing is the fact that it was the first properly animated film since Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie and that one was aiming for small kids only. Universal also didn't forget to market the film; they have been doing an extensive push for the past weeks and they even screened it at CinemaCon five months ago. Not to mention the strong reception (95% on RT).
It seems that despite the push, light competition and great response, the film was simply a victim of just no appeal to families. The trailers were everywhere, but it seems like the film was targeting more adults than kids, and that's a double-edged sword; adults are paying, but kids should still be interested in watching the film itself. And despite poppy visuals, the premise wasn't intriguing enough to win audiences.
According to Universal, 60% of the audience was female, and 32% were families. They gave it a great "A" on CinemaScore, suggesting word of mouth is on its favor. There's one problem though: PostTrak reports kids gave the film a 63% definite recommend, which is very low for an animated title. It doesn't face family competition until The Cat in the Hat in November, so maybe it can hold well. But when it opens this low, it's hard to be optimistic about its success prospects. Never mind the very bad overseas numbers.
After its steep second weekend drop, Practical Magic 2 didn't save face. It plummeted another 54%, making just $5.6 million this weekend. The film has earned a very weak $59.7 million domestically, and it doesn't seem like it will make it to Halloween to earn $70 million domestically.
Spider-Man: Brand New Day dropped 37%, earning $4 million. The film has made $950.6 million domestically.
On its eleventh weekend, The Odyssey finally left the Top 5. It eased just 23%, adding $3.8 million this weekend. Interestingly, its per-theater average ($3,724) is still very strong, massively helped by the IMAX 70MM screenings. That takes the domestic total to $616.6 million.
In ninth place, Coyote vs. Acme was hit by the arrival of Forgotten Island, even if it didn't put up big numbers. It dropped 57%, for a $1.9 million weekend. The film has amassed $58.3 million so far.
Rounding out the Top 10, there was Daniel and the Fiery Furnace, which dropped 53%, earning $1.5 million. Through 10 days, the film has earned $6.2 million.
Amazon MGM released the drama thriller Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother in 6 theaters, and it opened with $204,008. That's a very solid $34,001 per-theater average. Amazon MGM will expand it over the next few weeks, before hitting moderate wide release on October 16.
OVERSEASAvengers: Endgame Encore scored $60 million overseas, for a dazzling $86 million worldwide debut. This allowed the film's lifetime total to pass $2.885 billion. The best launches were in China ($13.5M), the UK ($5.4M), Mexico ($4.2M), India ($2.8M), Italy ($2.6M), Japan ($2.6M), Brazil ($2.2M), France ($2.1M), Germany ($2M), and Spain ($1.7M).
The film is now less than $40 million away from passing Avatar ($2.923 billion) to reclaim its title as the biggest film in history. It all depends on how it holds next week, as re-releases are front-loaded. But it also helped it achieved a new milestone: it has sold 400 million admissions. A figure that no film has achieved since Titanic. They remain the only two films in at least 50 years to achieve that.
Heart of the Beast debuted with a pretty good $30.1 million overseas, for a $50.1 million worldwide launch. The best debuts were in France ($3.8M), the UK ($2.7M), Mexico ($2.4M), Australia ($1.6M), Spain ($1.5M), Italy ($1.2M), Japan ($1.2M), Germany ($1M), United Arab Emirates ($1M), Brazil ($925K), Colombia ($872K), Netherlands ($574K), New Zealand ($454K), Taiwan ($419K), Poland ($407K), India ($392K), Peru ($304K), Ukraine ($306K), Argentina ($292K), Portugal ($290K), Hong Kong ($285K), and Belgium ($276K). These kinds of films are known for legging out, and the great word of mouth suggests it should keep good pace. The film cost $84 million, so it's gonna need some help to reach profitability, but it can definitely get to a respectable total.
Resident Evil added $27 million overseas, taking its worldwide total to $197.1 million. The film's best markets are the UK ($11.5M), Mexico ($9M), and Australia ($5.4M), France ($5M), and Germany ($4.5M). The film is set to open in China and Japan in the next two weeks.
The Odyssey added $13.8 million overseas, for a fantastic $1.751 billion worldwide run. The IMAX total has now grown to an insane $534 million worldwide.
Forgotten Island made its debut with just $7.8 million overseas (which includes previews from last week), for a very meager $20.8 million worldwide start. The only good debut was in Philippines ($1.5M), which is the best debut for Universal this year. Other than that, it had very bad starts in Spain ($500K), Italy ($500K), Brazil ($400K), Israel ($300K), South Korea ($219K), and Sweden ($150K). Among holdovers, Australia added $737K for a $1.8 million total, but Mexico made just $300K for a very weak $1.4 million total. While there's a lot of markets left to open, the incredibly low figures across the board don't inspire confidence. Barring a miracle, it looks like DreamWorks will lose a lot of money on this film.
Primetime began in a few select markets with $1.2 million, for a $20.3 million worldwide launch. It had very weak stars in France ($530K) and Germany/Austria ($325K). The numbers aren't surprising, given Hansen and To Catch a Predator aren't popular outside America. But there's still a lot of markets left, so we'll see where it goes from here.
FILMS THAT ENDED THEIR RUN THIS WEEK Movie Release Date Studio Domestic Opening Domestic Total Worldwide Total Budget Backrooms May/29 A24 $197,523,513 $204,576,106 $402,099,619 $10M- The run that eclipsed everything A24 thought was possible. Kane Parsons' Backrooms has closed with an extraordinary $402 million, well above its $10 million budget. Successfully translating a story that originated as a 4chan post to a mega hit horror film, it also elevated A24 to new heights. Parsons is still very young, and his future as filmmaker will certainly be very busy now. And A24 may have just found a new franchise.
We've got two newcomers this week.
WB is launching Alejandro Gónzalez Iñárritu's new film Digger, starring Tom Cruise. In a role unlike anything he's done, Cruise plays Digger Rockwell, a wealthy oil tycoon who must save the world from a disaster he unleashed. WB is hoping that the film can connect with audiences and also aims to find Oscar success, with Cruise already going on a huge press campaign. However, it seems the path to success will be very complicated. This is Cruise's first auteur-driven film in a long time, and it's still up in the air if audiences will follow. It doesn't help that social media reactions have been very split, which is not ideal for an awards vehicle. Given its $125 million budget, it's gonna need a lot of help to try to save some face.
Amazon MGM is also releasing Verity, the latest adaptation of another novel by Colleen Hoover. It stars Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, which is more star power than any of the prior films. The film is very popular and with not many options for the female demographic (Practical Magic 2 is not connecting with audiences), this has everything on its favor to over-perform. Like other Hoover adaptations, however, maybe don't expect good reviews.
STREAMING DATAFigures for the week of September 14 to September 20 on Netflix:
No. Movie Year Studio Weeks in Top 10 Views Runtime Hours Viewed 1 Why Did I Get Married Again? 2026 Netflix 2 9,700,000 1:51 17,900,000 2 The Whisper Man 2026 Netflix 4 6,200,000 1:54 11,800,000 3 Vishwanath & Sons 2026 Netflix 2 5,800,000 2:40 15,400,000 4 Riot 2015 VMI 2 5,200,000 1:27 7,500,000 5 The Seemingly Perfect Family 2026 Netflix 1 4,600,000 1:27 6,700,000 6 Best of the Best 2026 Netflix 1 4,300,000 1:52 8,000,000 7 The Secret Woman 2026 Netflix 4 3,600,000 1:59 7,100,000 8 Irumudi 2026 Netflix 1 3,400,000 2:22 8,100,000 9 The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare 2024 Lionsgate 1 3,400,000 2:00 6,800,000 10 Gandhari 2026 Netflix 3 3,000,000 1:57 5,800,000Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Again? topped the charts on its second week. Usually films see an uptick on their second week, as it's their first full week. Instead, the film saw a steep 50% drop from last week, taking its total to 29 million views.
The Whisper Man added 6.2 million views, taking its lifetime to 75.5 million views.
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