Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is barely winning an unexpectedly close race with “Insidious: The Red Door” on international box office charts, with each film collecting roughly $31 million over the weekend.
Based on Sunday’s estimates, “Indiana Jones 5” is ever-so-slightly ahead of “Insidious 5” with $31.8 million for Harrison Ford’s swashbuckling adventure and $31.4 million for Sony’s paranormal horror story.
“The Red Door” easily took town “Dial of Destiny” at the domestic box office, with the former earning $32.6 million in its debut. It marked the second-best opening weekend of the franchise behind 2013’s “Insidious: Chapter 2” ($40 million).
Overseas, the newest “Insidious” movie managed to secure the best start for a horror film in pandemic times, as well as the biggest start of the supernatural-horror series in comparable markets. Top markets include Mexico ($5.8 million) the Philippines ($3.7 million) and the U.K. ($2.8 million).
With $64 million in global ticket sales to date, the $16-million budgeted “Insidious 5” is already reaping big rewards in its box office run. “The Red Door,” which is positioned as the conclusion to the horror franchise, brings back original cast members Patrick Wilson (who also directed the film) Ty Simpkins, Andrew Astor and Rose Byrne.
Meanwhile, “Dial of Destiny” has collected $127 million internationally so far, boosting its global tally to $248 million. For Disney and Lucasfilm, which shelled out an eye-popping $300 million to make the latest globe-trotting adventure, it’s catastrophic that ticket sales have yet to cross $250 million.
Disney and Pixar’s “Elemental” trailed “Dial of Destiny” and “Insidious 5” on international charts, bringing in $30 million from 48 markets. That takes its total to $142 million overseas and $250.9 million globally. The animated family film got off to a rocky start on the big screen, but it’s remained a draw for families in the subsequent weeks. It cost $200 million, so it’ll need to keep playing in theaters to justify that price tag.
Also this weekend, Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” crossed the $400 million mark globally. With another $7.6 million over the weekend, the seventh “Transformers” installment has earned $261 million overseas and $407 million worldwide to date. “Rise of the Beasts,” which cost $200 million, has stuck around on movie theater marquees despite an unremarkable start at the box office.
Elsewhere, Warner Bros. and DC’s comic book adventure “The Flash” is running out of steam with $5 million from 78 markets in its fourth weekend of release. This weekend’s ticket sales take the international tally to $156 million and the worldwide total to $261 million. It’s a catastrophic result given the film’s $200 million price tag.