Elsewhere, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” continues to dominate in week 5, Ridley Scott’s “The Dog Stars” brutally bombs, and A24’s “Tony” holds strong.

Coyote vs. Acme surges past expectations, snagging No. 2 at domestic box office after cancellation controversy

Elsewhere, “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” continues to dominate in week 5, Ridley Scott’s “The Dog Stars” brutally bombs, and A24’s “Tony” holds strong.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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August 30, 2026 6:42 p.m. ET

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John Cena in ‘Coyote vs. Acme’. Credit:

Courtesy of Ketchup Entertainment

- *Coyote vs. Acme *snagged the No. 2 spot at the domestic box office this weekend.

- The film’s success comes three years after it was controversially canceled by Warner Bros., which claimed a $30 million tax loss.

- *Spider-Man: Brand New Day *came in No. 1 again with $22 million domestically in week 5, with Adam Wingard’s *Onslaught *posing the first true threat to the film’s dominance next weekend.

This weekend’s box office readout should act as a warning to the studios: Be careful what you cancel.

*Coyote vs. Acme*, the little hybrid animated comedy that was at one time the most underestimated film in Hollywood, has proved its worth and then some.

The latest big-screen jaunt of the beloved family of *Looney Tunes* cartoons — which was directed by Dave Green (*Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows*), written by Samy Burch (*May December*), and based on a story by James Gunn and Jeremy Slater — surged past projections to snag the No. 2 spot at the domestic box office with a $15.4 million opening take. Globally, the film earned the No. 5 spot with $23.9 million (per Rentrak).

Zendaya in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ which still tops the box office after five weeks.

While the film still has a ways to go in recouping the $50 million that Ketchup Entertainment shelled out to buy worldwide distribution rights (not to mention marketing and promotional expenses), its solid start represents a firm rebuke of Warner Bros.

The film was originally slated for a July 21, 2023, by Warners, which ultimately swapped *Barbie *onto that prime summer release date. That November, the uncertain future of the film was revealed, and the news wasn’t good. Despite the film having completed shooting, Warners announced it planned to scrap it, following in a tradition established by CEO David Zaslav of shelving buzzy projects (see: *Batgirl* and *Scoob! Holiday Haunt*) as tax write-downs.

The studio was later able to claim a $30 million tax loss on the $70 million production.

After intense and immediate backlash, the studio announced it would allow Green to shop the film around to other potential distributors. Nearly three years later, the film is finally screening worldwide.

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Will Forte felt 'white hot anger' when 'Coyote vs. Acme' was shelved: 'It was so maddening'

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ to oust ‘Titanic’ from top 5 highest-grossing films at global box office

*Coyote vs. Acme *wasn’t alone this weekend in pulling in an impressive premiere gross. Casper Kelly’s gonzo horror riff on *Barney*, called *Buddy*, became distributor Roadside Attractions’ highest opening weekend performer since the pandemic with $5.3 million. Though without budget estimates, it’s impossible to tell how well the Cristin Milioti-starrer truly performed.

It *is*,* *however, clear that Ridley Scott’s winning streak at the box office (*Gladiator 2*, *Napoleon*, and *House of Gucci *all out-grossed their budgetary estimates) is over. *The Dog Stars*, his latest, a post-apocalyptic thriller starring Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley, bombed with a scant $8 million premiere take on an estimated $70–110 million budget.

*Spider-Man: Brand New Day*, meanwhile, continued to clean up in its fifth week of release, adding $22 million for an $891.5 million domestic gross, and $66.2 million for a $2.33 billion global gross thus far. As predicted in last week’s box office report, the film has officially unseated both *Titanic *and *Ne Zha 2 *on the all-time global box top 5, taking the No. 4 spot.

Next week, Adam Wingard’s *Onslaught** *is the first film since *Brand New Day*’s July release to pose a legitimate threat to Spidey’s box office dominance.

The supersoldier thriller starring Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, and Drew Starkey is Wingard’s long-awaited return to original genre cinema after making *Godzilla vs. Kong* and *Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire*. It will contend with Yahya Abdul-Mateen and Mark Wahlberg’s crime drama *By Any Means *for primacy at the back-to-school box office.

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