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cinema

‘Project Hail Mary’ Strengthens Its Lead as 2026’s Biggest Hit

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Despite a crowded theatrical landscape, “Project Hail Mary” continues to dominate the box office, holding firm in its second weekend and reinforcing its status as the year’s biggest hit so far.

The sci-fi adventure, directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller and starring Ryan Gosling, brought in $54.5 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates released Sunday. The 32% drop from its opening weekend ranks among the best second-weekend performances in recent years for a film of its size, outperforming titles like “Oppenheimer” and “Dune: Part Two” in terms of retention.

Based on the novel by Andy Weir, the story follows a high school science teacher who awakens alone aboard a spacecraft with no memory of his mission. As he pieces things together, he discovers he’s been sent to save the sun from dimming—a crisis that threatens Earth with an ice age. Along the way, he encounters an alien life form nicknamed “Rocky,” and the two form an unlikely partnership to solve the problem.

With its breakout success, conversations about a sequel are already circulating. While Weir has expressed interest in continuing the story, there have been no formal discussions with Amazon MGM yet. Still, industry insiders suggest a follow-up remains a strong possibility.

Project Hail Mary has already earned $300.8 million worldwide in just two weeks, putting it on a trajectory that industry analysts are watching closely. Initially exceeding expectations with a $80.6 million domestic debut, the movie posted the second-largest opening in a decade for a non-franchise title, just behind Oppenheimer. It also represents the biggest domestic opening of Gosling’s career as a leading man and a new high for directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.

The film has now become the highest-grossing Hollywood release of 2026 to date, as well as Amazon MGM Studios’ biggest title ever (unadjusted for inflation).

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Overseas performance has been equally impressive. The film opened last weekend with $60.4 million across 80 markets and has since added another $54.1 million from 86 territories—a remarkably small 5 percent decline. This is especially notable given that sci-fi titles often struggle in certain international markets.

Much of the film’s success is attributed to strong word of mouth, driven by its mix of humor, emotional depth, and broad audience appeal.

Produced on a budget nearing $200 million, “Project Hail Mary” has benefited from minimal competition and near-exclusive access to premium large-format screens. While one of the weekend’s most anticipated titles, the K-pop documentary “BTS: The Return,” drew attention, its Netflix release meant it posed little threat to theatrical ticket sales.

Meanwhile, the box office tells a different story for horror movies, a genre that may be reaching its breaking point.

The weekend’s top new theatrical release, “They Will Kill You,” opened to just $5 million for Warner Bros. The R-rated film, starring Zazie Beetz, follows a woman who takes a job as a maid at an apartment complex, only to discover she’s being groomed as a sacrificial offering.

Though its $20 million budget cushions the disappointment somewhat, the film’s muted debut underscores a larger trend. According to David A. Gross, who runs the consulting firm FranchiseRe, theaters have seen a new horror release every weekend for the past 14 weeks.

“That included last week’s ‘Ready or Not 2: Here I Come’ ($16.3 million domestically so far) and a second horror-comedy that also debuted this weekend.”

One such release, IFC’s “Forbidden Fruits,” about a coven of witches working at a Texas mall, managed just $1.2 million in ticket sales.

Even so, Gross believes the genre remains financially significant, forecasting that horror films will bring in roughly $2.1 billion in North American ticket sales in 2026. That figure, however, would represent a drop from last year’s $2.75 billion, suggesting that audience appetite may be cooling after a period of oversupply.

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While horror shows signs of fatigue, family films continue to perform steadily.

The Pixar original “Hoppers” held onto second place, earning $12.2 million in its fourth weekend. Distributed by The Walt Disney Company, the film has now reached $297.6 million globally.

That momentum may soon face a major test. Next weekend, Universal Pictures is set to release “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie,” which is widely expected to deliver the biggest opening weekend of the year.

The top 10 films at the domestic box office this weekend were led by “Project Hail Mary,” which brought in $54.5 million, followed by “Hoppers” with $12.2 million. The weekend’s highest debut, “They Will Kill You,” opened in third place with $5 million, just ahead of “Dhurandhar The Revenge,” which earned $4.8 million, and “Reminders of Him,” close behind at $4.7 million. “Ready or Not 2: Here I Come” added another $4 million, while “Scream 7” took in $2.6 million. Rounding out the list, “GOAT” earned $2.2 million, “Undertone” followed with $1.7 million, and “Forbidden Fruits” closed out the top 10 with $1.2 million.

Project Hail Mary’s performance arrives at a pivotal moment for Hollywood. Amazon MGM is expanding its international distribution capabilities, positioning itself as a major studio once again, decades after MGM lost that status. At the same time, David Ellison’s Skydance Media is in the process of acquiring Paramount Global and potentially adding Warner Bros. Discovery to its portfolio.

Ellison has indicated the studios would remain separate, though the structure of such a large-scale merger remains uncertain and would likely face scrutiny from regulators. The deal has drawn attention in Washington, particularly given Ellison’s connections and broader industry implications.

disney

Disney Surpasses $5 Billion In Global Box Office For 2024, First Studio To Do So Since Pre-Pandemic 

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Disney has topped the box office consistently throughout 2024, both domestically and internationally. It became the first studio of 2024 to hit $2 billion at the domestic box office, and based on current estimates, Walt Disney Studios has reached $5 billion globally. 

The current worldwide estimate is $5.06 billion in earnings, and of that, $2.054 billion has come from North America and $3.006 billion from the international box office. 

Disney is expected to be the only studio to reach this box office amount in 2024. This is also the first time that any studio has surpassed $5 billion worldwide since 2019, before the pandemic. This also marks the sixth time that Disney has grossed more than $5 billion globally since 2010, according to reports from Deadline. 

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Pixar’s Inside Out 2 was one of the biggest movies to come out of Disney this year. Deadline reported that it was the number one movie of the year worldwide and the biggest animated film ever domestically, internationally, and globally, currently standing at $1.699 billion.

Marvel’s Deadpool & Wolverine gained $1.388 billion at the global box office. The film became the number one rated-R movie of all time globally based on these earnings. Moana 2, a more recent release, is estimated to make above $719 million. 

“Among other notable movies Disney has released this year are Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ($398 million global) and surprise hit Alien: Romulus ($351 million global),” Deadline wrote. 

These earnings re-emphasize Disney as a powerhouse in the entertainment industry. Their films, across multiple branches, have long topped box office earnings throughout the 21st Century, and its $5 billion global earnings this year cement it as a studio to always be on the look out for. 

Movies

‘Jurassic World Dominion’ Receives $245 Million At International Box Office 

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Universal’s “Jurassic” franchise is once again proving why it’s become one of the most popular series since the 1990’s. “Jurassic World Dominion,” the sixth installment in the long-running series, received $176 million from 72 international markets over the weekend, bringing its international total to $245 million. 

When combined with its domestic earnings of $142 million, the film currently stands with $389 million and is likely to cross the $400 million threshold soon. 

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“Dominion” opened in 57 foreign markets this past weekend, including China, which has been increasingly hostile when it comes to showing Hollywood films. The movie received $52 million in China during its opening weekend. 

China has chosen to import a very select amount of movies since the beginning of the pandemic, so “Dominion” is already set to be the biggest non-local release in 2022. 

“Other top-grossing territories include the U.K. and Ireland with $15.4 million, France with $9.7 million, Australia with $8.5 million and Germany with $7.5 million,” according to Variety.

“Dominion” had a production budget of $185 million, and a promotion budget of $100 million. 

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Another movie that’s continuing the legacy of its original cinematic predecessor is “Top Gun: Maverick,” which earned itself nearly $747 million in international box office sales, passing the original “Top Gun’s” sales of $700 million. 

Within its third weekend of release, the blockbuster starring Tom Cruise earned itself $52.7 million from 64 international markets. According to Variety, “‘Maverick’ has raked up the most tickets in the U.K. ($63 million so far), followed by Japan ($33.9 million), Australia ($32.6 million) and France ($28.7 million).”

Worldwide box office revenue has been on a high as of late. Disney’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” earned itself $930 million in global ticket sales after last weekend, making it the highest grossing movie of the year.

This is an especially impressive feat as both China and Russia have decided not to show the newest Marvel movie and they account for a large portion of the international box office numbers.

Frozen The Movie

Frozen 2 Expected To Smash Box Office Records

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The long awaited release of Frozen 2 has seen families across America head to the theater to settle down and catch up with what has been happening in the lives of our beloved heroes since we last saw them six years ago.

Continuing from the celebrations at the end of Frozen, Princess Anna and Queen Elsa – alongside Kristoff and Olaf – head to an ancient forest, leaving their beloved Arendelle behind, in an attempt to find the origin for Elsa’s powers and saving their kingdom. Obviously there will be some drama along the way however the sisters’ bond shines throughout the movie.

And with Disney at the helm it looks set to be yet another record-breaking movie for the studio giants.

Disney is known for magical movies and this is reflected in the takings. 2016 saw the studio achieve its highest-grossing year, a first not just for Disney but also for all studios, with over $7 billion taken at the box office. However this record has already been smashed with more than $8 billion already accrued since January, and Frozen can only add to that.

It seems the studio can do no wrong at the moment with five ‘billion-dollar’ movies this year alone – yet another record it has achieved in 2019. These include Toy Story 4 ($1 billion), Aladdin ($1.04 billion) Captain Marvel ($1.13 billion), The Lion King ($1.34 billion) and the current highest grossing movie Avengers: Endgame ($2.76 billion).

And it seems Frozen 2 will be the sixth billion-dollar movie this year, with Fandango’s managing editor, Erik Davis commenting, “I think a lot of kids are realizing how much nostalgia they have for Frozen. It’s the first film for that generation they can be nostalgic for.”

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In 2013 Frozen was the surprise hit of the year for Disney Animation, attracting over $400 million at the domestic box office alone. It went on to earn over $1.2 billion worldwide as well as win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film.

Part of the success was the introduction of sisters Elsa and Anna who, along with Olaf the Snowman, took us on a journey of fear and fun and reminded us that a sibling’s love is one of the strongest loves of all. A stark contrast to other Princess movies where it is usually the good looking prince who’s love conquers all – something that was mocked mercilessly in the movie, especially by ice harvester Kristoff.

Since 2013 Disney have continued to have success with sequels including Finding Dory ($1.03 billion) so the sequel to Frozen was always guaranteed.

Opening weekend figures are estimated at between $120 – $140 million although there are some that believe Frozen 2 should earn even more thanks to the continued sale of advanced tickets.

Co-Founder and Chairman of Atom Tickets, Matthew Bakal, confirmed that tickets for the film had already sold more tickets that Toy Story 4 and Incredibles 2 combined during the same time period. In his recent statement to CNBC he stated “Disney now holds the record for top three animated movie pre-sales on Atom, for Frozen 2, Toy Story 4 and Incredibles 2.”

Currently Incredibles 2 holds the record for the all time highest animated movie opening in North America, taking $182.6 million in the first three days of its release, however Frozen 2 is expected to surpass this considerably.

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It is worth recognizing that this year’s The Lion King was considered a ‘live-action’ film rather than an animated feature, although one of the scenes of the movie was digitally rendered. Shawn Robbins, Chief Analyst at Boxoffice.com describes the appeal behind Frozen saying, “Disney captured lightning in a bottle with [Frozen], which is a hard precedent to live up to.”

Although this is true it is also true that Disney has made many great attempts to surpass the magic created by Frozen. And although there is a six year gap between Frozen and its sequel, Robbins confirms “it’s not like it has transitioned to a new generation. The intended generation grew up.”

With this theory in mind, it is clear to understand why the plot of Frozen 2 is more grown up than the original movie. As Davis explains, “It’s more of a coming-of-age film.”

Another factor for Frozen 2’s potential success is the fact that there were few animated films aimed at the preteen audience this year, with most animated movies often receiving attention from younger children, therefore more people will head to the theaters to see this movie.

As Davis acknowledges, “it’s just going to do fantastic business and do a lot of repeat business. There isn’t another significant family movie until you get near Christmas.”

And being released just in time for Thanksgiving gives families more time to head out to watch the movie together, providing much needed family time in an often-busy world.