Welcome to another weekly installment of Couch Potato, where I go over what went down on the big and small screens so you can be a better-informed viewer.
This past weekend saw the release of what is being marketed as Harrison Ford’s final portrayal of Indiana Jones with Dial of Destiny. While nostalgic content always seems to be a big performer, perhaps it’s a bit too nostalgic for modern audiences, as the most recent installment of the famous franchise opened a bit disappointingly for the studio. It did wind up taking the number-one spot but only at a mild $130 million worldwide opening, with $60 million domestic and $70 million overseas. This might sound like a lot of money to the casual moviegoer, but when you factor in the $300 million budget (not even including advertising), the studio making its money back is looking like a situation even Indiana Jones himself couldn’t get them out of. Maybe everyone taking off for the holiday this week will help out the movie’s second weekend holds, but it isn’t looking too promising right now.
Rounding out the rest of the “Top of the Top 10,” we had Sony’s Across the Spiderverse shooting past $600 million overall, of which a whopping $300 million was domestic, to help it hold on to the number two spot. An impressive feat when you factor in that it came out at the beginning of an insanely packed June for movies, and it seems to be the only one with the stamina to have run the entire marathon and come out on top consistently. Finally, Elemental burned out at the box office with overall totals that spelled continued trouble for Pixar’s box office record. At this point, it looks unlikely that it will pass $100 million domestic, and even more embarrassingly, that it will even be able to pass the previous flop for the studio, Lightyear. Here’s hoping it will have a resurgence as prime babysitting content on Disney + when the time comes.
Speaking of underperforming elements, other highlights of this week’s box office totals include The Little Mermaid, which barely splashed to $500 million in a $1 billion+ pool of its peers, seems to be a definitive response from audiences regarding race-bending preexisting characters. Original characters of color seem welcome to general audiences, such as Miles Morales, but Ariel simply did not get the same love, which is a shame given Halle Bailey’s incredible performance. Speaking of external beliefs determining what people will spend their money on, The Flash also dashed its way to the bottom of the top 10 in only its 3rd weekend. It seems like Ezra Miller’s problematic history and DC’s drama-filled antics were enough to make audiences run as quickly as the famous speedster in the opposite direction.
Moving over to the small screen, Extraction was king on Netflix this week as Hemsworth delivered the top two spots on the movies chart, proving himself as a juggernaut for the studio in the same league as Jennifer Lopez’s Mother and Adam Sandler’s Murder Mystery. Extraction 2 took the number one spot with 42 million hours watched, and its predecessor took the second place spot with 13 million hours in its own right. Take Care of Maya rounded out the “Top of the Top Ten” with over 9 million hours. Meanwhile, Black Mirror’s most recent season climbed to number one after debuting at number two with 11 million views. Some of those viewers were apparently inspired to go back to the first season as that re-entered the top ten at number nine with 2 million views. Never Have I Ever fans can rejoice as the show’s most recent season took the number two spot with 5 million views, while Our Planet took third place with 4 million views.
Next week, we’ll be keeping an eye on how newcomers to the ring: Joy Ride and Insidious: The Red Door perform. Stay tuned for that, and until next time, happy viewing!