Box Office: ‘Insidious: The Red Door’ Dethrones ‘Indiana Jones 5’ With $32.6 Million Debut

Rebecca Rubin
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Indiana Jones had a short-lived box office reign. Disney’s action-adventure “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” dropped to the No. 2 spot in its second weekend of release, earning $26.5 million from 4,600 North American theaters. It was dethroned by Sony’s horror-thriller “Insidious: The Red Door,” which beat expectations with its $32.6 million debut from 3,188 venues.

Ticket sales for “Indiana Jones,” the fifth and final installment to star Harrison Ford’s swashbuckling adventurer, declined by 56% from its $60 million opening weekend, continuing the theatrical misfortunes for the nearly $300 million-budgeted movie. “Dial of Destiny” added $31.8 million at the international box office, bringing worldwide ticket sales to $247.9 million. It has a long and winding journey to get out of the red, at least in its box office run.

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The fifth “Insidious” movie cost just $16 million to make, so it’s already reaping big rewards in its box office run. That improves on the start of its predecessor, 2018’s “The Last Key,” which opened to $29 million and ended its run with $67 domestically and $167 million globally. It also marks the second-best debut of the franchise, behind 2013’s “Insidious: Chapter 2” with $40 million.

“The Red Door” also connected at the international box office with $31.4 million, ranking as the biggest overseas opening for a horror movie in pandemic times. At current exchange rates, Sony claims the film is tracking 27% ahead of “Insidious: The Last Key,” as well as 58% ahead of “Evil Dead Rise” and 30% ahead of “Scream VI,” two other recent horror releases. So far, “Insidious 5” has generated $64 million worldwide.

Screen Gems, Stage 6 Films and Blumhouse produced “The Red Door,” which is positioned as the conclusion to the horror franchise, one that brings back original cast members Patrick Wilson (who also directed the film) Ty Simpkins, Andrew Astor and Rose Byrne. Audiences turned out in force, but they weren’t all that kind; the horror entry landed a “C+” CinemaScore and holds a 37% on Rotten Tomatoes.

“At a cost of approximately $16 million and with good foreign potential, this is another smart, profitable Blumhouse production,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research.

The weekend’s other major new release, Lionsgate’s raunchy comedy “Joy Ride,” opened in sixth place with a tepid $5.85 million from 2,820 locations, falling short of expectations. “Crazy Rich Asians” co-screenwriter Adele Lim directed the film in her feature debut. Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu and Sabrina Wu play four friends who embark on a trip to help one member of their group find her birth mother. Critics were high on the movie, but ticket buyers were mixed, giving the film a “B-” CinemaScore.

“This is a weak opening for a romantic-sex comedy,” says Gross. “Reviews are outstanding, while audience scores are fair.”

“Joy Ride” landed just ahead of another raunchy R-rated comedy, Jennifer Lawrence’s “No Hard Feelings,” which took the No. 7 spot. The film added $5.25 million from 2,686 venues, marking a small 33% drop from its prior outing. After three weeks on the big screen, “No Hard Feelings” has grossed $40.4 million in North America and $67 million worldwide. The only trouble is that Sony Pictures spent roughly $45 million to produce the film, so it’ll have to keep playing throughout the summer to justify that price tag.

In third place, “Sound of Freedom,” a faith-based film about child sex trafficking, is shaping up to be an unlikely box office success. It has generated $17 million from 2,850 theaters over the weekend and $39 million since opening on July 4th. Those ticket sales are a reminder in the power of religious audiences, who helped propel this spring’s low-budget drama “Jesus Revolution,” starring Kelsey Grammar, to $53 million globally.

Angel Studios, a streaming and distribution company, backed the $15 million-budgeted drama. It’s based on the true story of Tim Ballard (Jim Caviezel), a former government agent who quit his job to rescue children from global sex traffickers. Enthusiastic opening weekend crowds bestowed the film an “A+” CinemaScore. It’s the only movie playing in theaters right now with that high of a grade.

Pixar’s “Elemental” landed in fourth place with $9.6 million from 3,440 North American locations, a decline of just 22% from the weekend prior. With this weekend’s sales, the family film has crossed $109.2 million at the domestic box office and $251.9 million worldwide. It’s a respectable hold from its lackluster debut. However, “Elemental” cost $200 million so it has a long way to go to break even in its theatrical run.

Sony’s animated sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” rounded out the top five, generating $8 million from 3,023 venues in its sixth weekend of release. So far, the film has generated a stellar $357.6 million at the domestic box office and $641 million globally.

In North America, “Spider-Verse” has ever-so-slightly passed Disney’s comic book adventure “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” ($357.5 million) to become the highest-grossing release of the summer. That positioning could change in the next few weeks as Tom Cruise’s “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” (July 12), Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” (July 21) and Christopher Nolan’s atomic bomb drama “Oppenheimer” (also July 21) gear up to release on the big screen.

“This is all good news for movie theaters, who are anticipating very crowded multiplexes in the coming weeks,” says Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore.

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