Tales of the Top 10: Coyote vs. Acme Enjoys a Solid Start, but Is It Enough?<\/p>\n
OK, movie fans. You have a lot to answer for. We were all outraged when David Zaslav and Warner Bros. took the 2022 production of Coyote vs. Acme<\/a> and announced it would not be released, opting to take a tax write-off instead. It was to join Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt in cinema limbo. Protests followed, and just days after the announcement, they said they were allowing the filmmakers to shop the film elsewhere. Netflix and Paramount apparently made offers (interesting, given the triangular nature of the impending merger and the film\u2019s ideas on corporate culture screwing over consumers) but no one would meet WB\u2019s $75+ million asking price. Instead they wrote-off $115 million and considered deleting the film entirely.<\/p>\n Then in March 2025, Ketchup Entertainment bought the film for a reported $50 million. They had also just acquired the other Looney Tunes film, The Day the Earth Blew Up, which to date has been the company\u2019s highest opening ($3.15 million) and highest total gross ($8.87 million) on a list that also includes Robert Rodriguez\u2019s Ben Affleck twister Hypnotic ($4.49 million), the Michael Keaton\/Mila Kunis dramedy Goodrich ($1.21 million), and the Jessica Chastain\/Peter Sarsgaard drama Memory ($295,166). This weekend they had an opening higher than all of those films combined. But was it good enough?<\/p>\n Ketchup got the film released in 3,575 theaters this weekend. For those counting, that is more than the ZERO Warner Bros. was going to release it in. Coyote vs. Acme opened to $15.4 million, a better start than Looney Tunes: Back In Action, Joe Dante\u2019s insanely fantastic (and unfairly maligned) 2003 film, which opened to $9.3 million and finished with less than $21 million. The $80 million production was one of the biggest bombs of that year, and one could speculate that between that and their pandemic release of Space Jam: A New Legacy, they had a little pause on Looney Tunes hybrid films. Except they still went ahead and made the new movie. And here it is. Did everyone who put out a call to arms on social media buy a ticket and bring someone this weekend? Did all the Snyderheads with a beef against Warner Bros. about Justice League reward a rival studio to show them they were wrong again?<\/p>\n The final weekend in August has never been a huge box office boon. 2009\u2019s The Final Destination had the best opening ever in this slot with $27.4 million. Don\u2019t Breathe is the only film to gross over $70 million in this spot in the modern era ($89.2 million, in fact). Coyote vs. Acme\u2019s opening ranks 17th on that list. Only five films (out of 19) on that list to open with over $13 million grossed less than $40 million, while just over half of them got over $50 million.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Wouldn\u2019t it have been great to show your protest by making this the first $100 million film ever at this time of the year? Ketchup is certainly facing an uphill battle and counting on those very people, as well as critics, who were shown this film weeks in advance and have responded with 96% approval, to get the word out. You could have expressed your outrage and seen a great movie that you can take your family to at the same time. And you still can! Otherwise it is a scenario where Warner Bros. gets their write-off and a payoff from Ketchup and rides off into a merger that many acknowledge will be bad for the future of the industry. A shame.<\/p>\n Christopher Nolan\u2019s The Odyssey<\/a> continues its impressive stretch in theaters. Finishing in third once again (it has gone no lower in seven straight weeks), it just had the seventh-best seventh weekend ever with $14.3 million behind Frozen (sixth with $14.7 million) and ahead of The Blind Side (eighth with $11.92 million), Frozen II (ninth with $11.85 million) and Mrs. Doubtfire (10th with $11.53 million). While still 16th on the all-time list for films in their first 45 days, the film is now just $8 million behind the pace of Incredibles 2 (whose seventh weekend was $7.25 million). With a Labor Day bump on the way, the path is clearing for The Odyssey to become the 16th film to reach $600 million domestic. Globally the film is also currently 14th all time among first runs with $1.553 billion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Insidious: Out of the Further<\/a> took a 59.8% drop down to $10.1 million in its second weekend. That puts the $18 million production at $43.6 million after 10 days. The previous film, The Red Door, was at $58 million, and its predecessor, The Last Key, had $48.6 million. The sixth film\u2019s weekend was lower than the $13 million of Red Door and the $12.4 million of Last Key. But, again, the $18 million production is now at $110 million worldwide. Revisiting the math of the franchise, it cost a little more than $60 million to gross over $838 million across the globe. The return on investment is huge.<\/p>\n It is not often you see a Ridley Scott film wedged into the basement of the summer season. The only time that ever happened was back in 1997 with G.I. Jane (sit down, Will Smith) and it did open in first place with $11 million. Weird as it may seem now, at that time, it was the biggest opening weekend in Scott\u2019s career. Black Rain was second with $9.6 million and Blade Runner was third with $6.15 million, just edging out Thelma & Louise\u2019s $6.10 million. Inflation is clearly another factor, as Alien would have had a $22.9 million start and Blade Runner $33.6 million. The past is the past, though, and the competition is a bit stiffer in 2026 than Money Talks, Mimic, Leave It To Beaver, and the fifth weekend of Air Force One. If The Dog Stars<\/a> was released in the early \u201990s, its $8 million opening would have been the third best of his career. But the fifth-place start for a production that may have cost as high as $110 million is another big loser for those funding Ridley Scott, who hasn\u2019t had a genuine financial success since The Martian in 2015. (No, those Gladiator II numbers don\u2019t come up favorably with a $210 million budget.) Globally the film has made just $19.3 million.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Buddy<\/a> sounds like a dog\u2019s name, but it is actually a monstrous Barney-like entity with his own children\u2019s television show, and that premise out of Sundance this year translated to $5.3 million for Roadside this weekend. It may not have been the $15.4 million that Wile E. Coyote made this weekend, but Buddy\u2019s number was actually the best opening weekend in Roadside\u2019s history. It knocked off Robert Redford\u2019s The Conspirator as the previous high with $3.5 million, and Casper Kelly\u2019s Buddy now has a chance to become just their 12th release to gross over $10 million. Independent horror comes through once again this year.<\/p>\n The dinosaurs in their third week continue to go neck-and-neck with one another. David Robert Mitchell\u2019s The End of Oak Street<\/a> has been falling off a bit faster, but still edged out the Paw Patrol with $4.9 million in its third weekend. It may still maintain a slight lead on the other dino movie with $46 million. Oak Street is following a similar trajectory to the 2021 redo of Candyman, which had a $4.76 million third weekend the second summer of the pandemic and $47.9 million after 17 days. Candyman did manage to scrounge out over $61 million, but Oak Street is likely headed between $55-60 million. Globally the film is over $105 million, but it needed to do double that to leave theaters out of the red.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Paramount\u2019s animated Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie<\/a> made $4.8 million in weekend three, bringing its 17-day total to $43.3 million. That\u2019s still the sixth-best total for an animated August release in that timeframe, though it is just the eighth-best third weekend. It may be falling off a little faster, but it could still be approaching the $60 million area when all is said and done. That would be less than the $65.1 million of Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie. The third film in the series is now over $124 million worldwide. The Mighty Movie ended with $141.6 million.<\/p>\n Jason Statham sneaking around on a boat in Mutiny<\/a> is, well, no Under Siege, or even part of the climax of Die Hard with a Vengeance. After $2.7 million this weekend and a total of $13.2 million, the film can at least say it outgrossed Statham\u2019s other 2026 release, Shelter ($12.8 million), and it could still pass The Expendables 4\u2019s paltry $16.7 million. But the $40 million production is pretty much a standard Statham dud on the domestic side that probably won\u2019t hit $20 million total. Despite Amazon\u2019s early morning leak of the film the Wednesday before release, I\u2019m not exactly sure that cost the film the kind of millions and millions that the (rightfully) upset investors will be seeking compensation on. Worldwide the film is at $19.9 Million.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Matt Johnson\u2019s Tony<\/a> continues to find an audience. The A24 release made $2.2 million in its second week of wide release (adding 265 theaters for 1,907 total) after two weeks of platforming. The coming-of-age biopic is trailing behind the success of The Invite this summer but is still doing OK. The second wide weekend of Olivia Wilde\u2019s film was $3.53 million and it had $14.6 million on its way to over $25 million. Tony is at $11 million and could get itself over $15 million, potentially four times the bucks of Johnson\u2019s hilarious Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, released by Neon earlier this year.<\/p>\n Beyond the Top 10: Spa Weekend Drops, Finding Emily Debuts in the US<\/p>\n Neon\u2019s expansion of Alex Ullom\u2019s It Ends<\/a> into 340 theaters saw it gross $724,000 this weekend. That\u2019s $813,000 to date for the existential horror film. Jane Schoenbrun\u2019s Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma<\/a> fell to $707,000 in its second week of wide release. The Mubi release has made $5.4 million to date, passing I Saw the TV Glow\u2019s $5 million. If you\u2019re wondering what happened to Black Bear\u2019s Spa Weekend<\/a>, it fell out of the top 10 with $1.18 million, bringing its total to $5.6 million.<\/p>\n Finding Emily<\/a> has been out overseas since May and, as of last week, had a perfect 100% on the Tomatometer. Currently Certified Fresh at 88%, the rom-com version of The Shape of Things finally arrived into U.S. theaters from Focus Features, who failed to see lightning strike twice this summer with a story of obsession. Emily opened to just $680,000 in 678 theaters.<\/p>\n IFC picked up Mason Blair\u2019s The Shitheads at Sundance, played it again at SXSW, and then renamed it Idiots<\/a>. (This opens just a couple weeks after co-star Mason Thames was also in Nimrods.) They released the film in 1,110 theaters this weekend, where it grossed just $700,000 for a per-theater average of only $631. Not exactly the worst PTA for one of IFC\u2019s wider 1,000+ theater openings, but its down there with Ash ($607), Whistle ($588), Arcadian ($459) and The D Train ($444) in the bottom five.<\/p>\n On The Vine: Vigilantes, Super Soldiers, Climbers, Cartoons, and Katy Perry<\/p>\n Labor Day weekend comes a little later this year, but Hollywood is loading up on it. Paramount has \u201cMississippi Burning with punching\u201d, as Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II team up to take down civil rights murderers in By Any Means<\/a>. A24 promises a wild ride with super soldiers and snipers in Adam Wingard\u2019s Onslaught<\/a>. Lionsgate has new climbers putting themselves at risk again in Fall 2: Deadpoint<\/a>. Viva Pictures is releasing a new film of a classic cartoon with Tom and Jerry: Forbidden Compass<\/a>. Finally, Trafalgar is releasing Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour \u2013 Live from Paris<\/a>. See all the upcoming releases here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Full List of Box Office Results: August 28-30<\/p>\n Spider-Man: Brand New Day<\/a> \u2013 $22.2 million ($891.5 million total)<\/p>\n Coyote vs. Acme<\/a> \u2013 $15.4 million ($15.4 million total)<\/p>\n The Odyssey<\/a> \u2013 $14.3 million ($563.8 million total)<\/p>\n Insidious: Out of the Further<\/a> \u2013 $10.1 million ($43.6 million total)<\/p>\n The Dog Stars<\/a> \u2013 $8.0 million ($8.0 million total)<\/p>\n Buddy<\/a> \u2013 $5.3 million ($5.3 million total)<\/p>\n The End of Oak Street<\/a> \u2013 $4.95 million ($46.0 million total)<\/p>\n Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie<\/a> \u2013 $4.8 million ($43.3 million total)<\/p>\n Mutiny<\/a> \u2013 $2.7 million ($13.2 million total)<\/p>\n Tony<\/a> \u2013 $2.2 million ($11.0 million total)<\/p>\n Erik Childress can be heard each week evaluating box office\u00a0on\u00a0Business First AM<\/a>\u00a0with Angela Miles and his\u00a0Movie Madness Podcast<\/a>. [box office figures via\u00a0Box Office Mojo<\/a>]<\/p>\n Thumbnail image by Matthew Towers\/\u00a9Marvel Entertainment\/\u00a9Columbia Pictures<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Coyote_vs_Acme-BO1.jpg\")
(Photo by \u00a9Ketchup Entertainment)<\/p>\n