Grossing up: Indiana Jones 5 with a lukewarm start at the top

The highly-anticipated Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny topped the domestic box office this weekend but failed to garner exceptional numbers, ultimately grossing $60 million. Global box office earnings for Indy’s final adventure totaled $130 million, which, let’s face it, is pretty dismal for one of cinema’s most iconic heroes. As noted by meetingDisney paid $4 billion to acquire Lucasfilm in hopes of expanding its wealth of content, but has only regressed in the years since The Force Awakens’ incredible success.

What went wrong? Well, the Disney brand doesn’t have the same appeal it once did after the creatively bankrupt movies and TV shows of recent years. Indiana Jones 5 received poor reviews, with only 68% of critics giving the film a positive rating. The marketing failed to give viewers a good reason to spend their hard-earned cash to catch Indy’s latest adventure on the big screen. One could also blame Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (which grossed $790 million worldwide) for irreparably damaging the franchise brand in 2008.

To put this in perspective, “Indy” launched with less than “Solo” ($84.4 million for 3 days/$103 million for 4 days), which was considered a massive box office bomb. Also keep in mind that “Indy” cost over $300 million to produce, which is crazy, especially when you’re seeing the movie – where’s the money gone?

The audience gave the picture a B+, just a notch above Crystal Skull’s B. In other words, any hope for another Top Gun: Maverick was dashed.

Is summer just too crowded this season? Aside from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ($339 million), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($354 million) and The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($573 million) have joined the Box office nothing really made a splash. “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” ($136 million) did well, “The Flash” ($99 million) flopped, “The Little Mermaid” ($280 million) did well domestically, but didn’t materialize worldwide, and “Elemental” ($88 million) didn’t cause much excitement. Are viewers waiting for “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning” and “Barbie”? The former expect to open at around $60-$65 million, while the latter is expected to be priced at $80-$85 million in its first weekend.

We will see.

The only other release was DreamWorks’ Ruby Gillman-directed Teenage Kraken, which grossed a meager $5.3 million in 3,400 theaters. Ouch.

Box Office Results: Domestic Top 10

1. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (DIS) 4,600 theaters Fri $24M Sat $19M Sun $17M 3 days $60M/week 1
2. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony) 3,405 (-380) theaters Fri $3.4M (-40%) Sat $4.3M Sun $3.7M 3 days 11.5 $M (-39%)/Total $339.8M/Week 5
3. Elemental (Dis) 3,650 (-385) theaters, Fri $3.4M (-40%), Sat $4.2M, Sun $3.7M 3 days $11.3M (-40 %), total $88.7M/week 3
4. No Hard Feelings (Sony) 3,208 Theaters Fri $2.3M (-63%) Sat $2.8M Sun $2.4M 3 Days $7.5M (-50%) Total $29.3M/week 2
5. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Par) 2,852 (-671) Theaters Fri $1.92M (-40%) Sat $2.7M Sun $2.3M 3 Days $7M (- 40%), total $136.1M/week 4
6. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (Uni/DWA) 3,400 Theaters Fri $2.3M Sat $1.6M Sun $1.2M 3 Days $5.3M/Week 1
7. The Little Mermaid (Dis) 2,430 (-845) theaters Fri $1.55M (-42%) Sat $1.9M Sun $1.7M 3 days $5.15M (-37 %)/Total $280.9M Week 6
8. The Flash (WB) 2,718 (-1,538) theaters, Fri $1.4M (-68%), Sat $1.9M Sun $1.6M 3 days $5.15M (-67 %), total $99.2M/week 3
9. Asteroid City (Foc) 1,901 (+226) theaters, Fri $1.18M (-69%), Sat $1.5M, Sun $1.12M, 3 days $3.8M ( -58%), total $18.1M/week 3
10. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 (Dis) 1,165 (-845) theaters Fri $525,000 Sat $725,000 Sun $550,000 3 days $1.8M / total $354.8M / week 9