By LINDSEY BAHR AP Film Writer
“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” fought off a slew of newcomers, including a comedy, a horror franchise, a Jason Statham action movie and a family pic, to maintain its first-place spot at the box office in its fourth weekend in theaters. “The Odyssey” also became Christopher Nolan’s highest grossing movie ever, both domestically and internationally.
For the year, “The Odyssey” is second only to “Spider-Man,” which added $39 million from 4,006 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Spider-Man,” which has now made over $854.9 million in North America, will soon surpass “Avengers: Endgame” to become the second highest-grossing domestic release of all time. The record holder is currently “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ($936.7 million).
Sony also had the second biggest movie of the weekend with “Insidious: Out of the Further.” The sixth movie in the franchise, produced by Blumhouse Atomic Monster, made $25.3 million from 3,303 theaters. Internationally, it made $35 million. Its $18 million production budget makes it the most expensive movie of the series.
Third place went to “The Odyssey,” which earlier this week became the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time, surpassing “Deadpool & Wolverine.” It added $19.5 million in its sixth weekend in North American theaters, where it continues to play in over 3,000 locations, bringing its domestic total to just under $539.1 million. That pushes it past the $534.9 million from “The Dark Knight” — a previous high-water mark for Nolan — not accounting for inflation. Internationally, it added $68 million, driven largely by China and Korea, which brings its worldwide total to $1.4 billion.
The other big newcomers landed further down the charts. “Mutiny,” starring Statham as a man wrongly accused of murdering his billionaire boss, opened in sixth place with $7.5 million from 2,703 locations. The Lionsgate release (an acquisition) was intended to be a theatrical only release, but a few days before it opened it was accidentally available for free on Prime Video for a few hours before the mistake was remedied. The glitch might have impacted its opening weekend earnings, but the film also had some fairly bad reviews working against it.
Even more poorly reviewed was “Spa Weekend,” a girl’s trip comedy from the men behind “The Hangover” and “Bad Moms,” starring Isla Fisher, Leslie Mann, Anna Faris and Michelle Buteau. It made an estimated $3.1 million in 2,009 locations. Women accounted for some 84% of opening weekend ticket buyers, according to PostTrak. The 25th anniversary re-release of “The Fast and the Furious” made slightly more.
“The Magic Faraway Tree,” starring Andrew Garfield, opened outside of the top 10 with $1.4 million from 1,611 screens.
The young Anthony Bourdain movie “Tony” continues to do quite well, however, earning $5 million from 1,652 screens.
The summer season, which runs through Labor Day, has now generated an estimated $4.4 billion in ticket sales in North America, putting it among the top four highest grossing summers ever.
“We’re in the home stretch of what I think will go down in box office history as maybe one of the most key and pivotal summer movie seasons ever,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the head of marketplace trends for Rentrak. “I don’t know how you can replicate this summer. Studios will try.”
Michael O’Leary, the president and CEO of the movie theater trade organization Cinema United, noted the wide variety of movies in the marketplace that have helped contribute to a big summer. Part of that, he told The Associated Press, was that the industry pipeline is finally bouncing back from the effects of the Hollywood strikes in 2023.
“The thing that I’m most excited about, frankly, is just the enthusiasm of moviegoers,” O’Leary said. “You feel it when you go to the theater. There’s an energy about being in the theater that hasn’t been there in the recent past.”
The year overall has also surpassed $7 billion, which is up about 20.4% from 2025, but about 7.1% behind 2019.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:
1. “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” $39 million.
2. “Insidious: Out of the Further,” $25.3 million.
3. “The Odyssey,” $19.5 million.
4. “Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie,” $9.1 million.
5. “The End of Oak Street,” $9 million.
6. “Mutiny,” $7.5 million.
7. “Tony,” $5 million.
8. “The Fast and the Furious” (25th anniversary re-release), $3.1 million.
9. “Spa Weekend,” $3.1 million.
10. “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” $1.9 million.