Disney’sIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destinymight be staging a critical resurgence, but it’s too early to tell if it’ll be able to defy expectations at the box office. The fifth film in the iconic adventure franchise — the first in the series to not be directed bySteven Spielberg, or have a story byGeorge Lucas— is poised to deliver a relatively modest opening weekend of around $60 million, after grossing $24 million on its first day of release. This includes the $7.2 million that the movie grossed inThursday previews. More worrying projections put the movie’s opening weekend at around $55 million, which is whatThe Flashdebuted with a couple of weeks ago.
Budgeted at an astronomical $295 million, making it one of the most expensive movies of all time,Dial of Destinywas touted as starHarrison Ford’s last adventureas the legendary character, which he began playing in the early 1980s. In-franchise comps are difficult when the movies have been spread across so many decades, but the fourth installment — 2008’sIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull— grossed $1 million more thanDial of Destinyon day one, which happened to be a Thursday. It made $100 million in its four-day opening weekend and concluded its domestic run with a fantastic $317 million. Directed byJames Mangold,Dial of Destinyis currently aiming for an $85 million haul across the five-day extended weekend.
Kingdom of the Crystal Skullremainsa divisive movie, but it was a bona fide box office hit. Just some weeks ago, however, initial reviews that came out of its Cannes Film Festival premiere foretold a concerning future forDial of Destiny. But domestic audiences have been slightly kinder to the movie, which currently sits at a borderline “fresh” 68% score from critics on review aggregatorRotten Tomatoes. Collider’sTherese Lacsoncalled it an “uneven, bonkers, but thrilling final ride” in herreview, and opening day viewers awarded it a middling B+ CinemaScore.
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The Top Five Was Dominated by Holdovers
Continuing its comeback after a disappointing opening weekend, Pixar’sElementalonce again finds itself in a tight race for the number two spot with Sony’s hitSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which added $3.4 million on its fifth Friday, pushing its running domestic haul to $331 million.Elementalis expected to settle for the number three spot this weekend, after also grossing $3.4 million on Friday. The movie was all but written off after delivering the second-lowest opening weekend haul in Pixar’s history, but it eventually found its audience, dropping by only 39% in its second weekend. The original animated film isn’t a success by any stretch of the imagination, but it will come within touching distance of the $100 million mark by Sunday.
The fourth spot was claimed by Sony’s raunchy R-rated comedyNo Hard Feelings, which added $2.2 million on its second Friday after a strong $15 million opening weekend. This takes the film’s running domestic total to just under $25 million. Paramount’sTransformers: Rise of the Beastsrounded out the top five with $1.9 million on Friday, which takes the film’s running domestic total to an underwhelming $131 million. The film is struggling globally as well, as it limps past the $350 million mark. BothNo Hard FeelingsandRise of the Beastswere outperformed by newcomerRuby Gillman, Teenage Kraken— the DreamWorks film grossed $2.3 million on its opening day, but is projected to finish outside the top five in its first weekend.
You can watch our interview withDial of Destinystars Ford andPhoebe Waller-Bridgehere, and stay tuned to Collider for more box office updates over the weekend.
