Insidious Unseeds Dial of Destiny to Take Number One Spot

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.

Horror fans came out in droves this week to the multiplex as Insidious: The Red Door opened up to a very impressive $32.6 million, earning it the number-one spot. This is a solid directorial debut for the long-time star of the franchise, Patrick Wilson, and also marks the second biggest Insidious opening after Insidious 2, which opened up at $40.2 million all the way back in 2013.

Indiana Jones ran scared from the newest installment in the horror series to the number two spot this week. This makes Dial of Destiny’s hopes at making its investment back even more of a long shot, as it was only able to rope in another $26.5 million, bringing the total to $247.9 million. These numbers sound great, but when you factor in that it hasn’t even made back its investment before advertising, it paints a clearer picture. Remember, it’s not like the studio is netting 100% of the profit from the box office, so for Dial of Destiny to make the studio back its money, it would need to be more in the range of $1 billion, which is simply not happening at this rate. 

Finally, rounding out our famous “Top of the Top 10” is a surprise contender as faith-based and somewhat controversial (depending on who you ask), Sound of Freedom, brought in $18.2 million this weekend. The overall total, since it opened on a Tuesday to celebrate the holiday, brings it to $40.2 million. Meanwhile, Joy Ride didn’t have the opening the studio likely hoped for, with a measly $5.81 million, earning it sixth place at this week’s box office. 

Moving onto streaming content, Extraction 2 is still number one for its third straight week, earning an additional 17.5 million viewers this week. Romance met thriller in the second-place winner, The Perfect Find, with 11 million views. Rounding out the Top of the Top 10 is a great pick for those who only want to be spooked out in the comfort of their own homes, as Run Rabbit Run got third place with 8.4 million viewers in its own right. 

When it comes to shows, The Witcher sandwiched the Top 10 list with its newest season debuting at number one with over 73 million hours viewed and its first season coming in at number ten with 17 million more for good measure. The most recent season of Black Mirror returned to second place with 28 million hours viewed, and the third season of Catching Killers fittingly came in third place with 12.7 million hours viewed.  

Next week, all eyes are on Tom Cruise with the opening of Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One. Will he be able to capitalize off the success of Top Gun: Maverick? Or will “Barbenheimer” be too formidable of a one-two punch for its second-weekend success? Stay tuned for that, and until next time, happy viewing!