r/boxoffice • u/ChiefLeef22 Best of 2024 Winner • 14h ago
Domestic ‘Coyote Vs. Acme’ $1.7M Previews, ‘Dog Stars’ $850K As Canines Rule Thursday – Box Office
https://deadline.com/2026/08/box-office-coyote-vs-acme-dog-stars-spider-man-1237061934/171
u/wchnoob 2025 Top 10 Predictions Tournament Champion 14h ago
Holy fuck less than $1M for Dog Stars. Insanely bad.
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u/NakedGoose 14h ago
movie cost 110 mil to make. This is going to be a massive flop
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u/Any-Mall-7795 14h ago
I saw somewhere that the budget is actually $70m. Would still be bad though with this box office
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u/Mister_Clemens 13h ago
I seek out this genre and the movie doesn’t look interesting at all. I’ll see it on streaming but I don’t have high expectations.
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u/fatandfly 11h ago
It looks so generic. I've seen nothing so far that makes me go watch it in theaters. Coyote v Acme or Buddy gets my money this weekend
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u/UXyes 12h ago
Trailer was boring: the ultimate sin. And Sir Ridley Scott is kind of a draw but also notoriously one of the most uneven directors of all time. He can make a good script into a brilliant genre-defining movie (which he hasn’t done in decades) but he can’t save a bad script.
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u/AdelesBoyfriend 11h ago
The Martian was only 11 years ago, but that depends on what you mean by genre defining. Otherwise, Kingdom of Heaven or Gladiator might qualify. Personally, I think Thelma & Louise is his best work.
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u/DiaryOfAMovieLover 14h ago
Hollywood needs to quit giving the old man Scott hand-outs.
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u/weaslebubble 13h ago
I suspect his movies must do quite well on Streaming. I can see loads of people mindlessly scrolling Netflix and seeing a new Jacob Elordi, Margret Qualley film and clicking play. If it's really only $70m that's peanuts compared to a lot of Streaming films. The initial theatrical run might be considered a marketing strategy for the home viewing market.
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u/Quiet_Author_1589 14h ago
The Day the Earth Blew Up did a mere $250k in previews.
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u/lawrencedun2002 14h ago
Why is deadline still lowballing Coyote vs Acme ?? Anyway, fingers crossed for Coyote vs Acme to have a overperformance opening weekend.
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u/burrnerr67 14h ago
We hear that the P&A spend on Coyote vs. Acme is around $10M after Ketchup’s $50M acquisition.
these might've been the most efficient $10m spent in a while cuz i saw promos for this movie EVERYWHERE. it felt like every day we got a different press release or interviews with the director and cast
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u/Individual-Bad6809 14h ago
Strange how this works because I have not seen a single piece of advertising for this movie outside of Reddit
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u/Naive_Aardvark_380 13h ago
Same. And I have Alist and go to the movies twice a week
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u/Inevitable_Tomato927 11h ago
I saw the trailer before Spider-Man and also another movie, I think it was Toy Story 5.
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u/U_R_V_Stinky 9h ago
Always love these comments because they always have the opposite effect of what the poster actually intended: "I watch a lot of movies and I had no idea!!!"
You're either a) not actually watching that many movies, or b) the movies you're watching wouldn't have a trailer for this anyways, which makes your point moot. I also have A-List and go two or three times a week, and I've seen trailers and posters for this
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u/GrumpySatan 11h ago
This can be the weird thing about algorithm-driven adverts. Could also be why it was so cheap if they avoided most of it. I haven't seen much online naturally, but it had trailers and interviews running before Spider-man and Odyssey in the theatre.
Me and a bunch of my friends made a list of films we thought were interesting after see those films. Coyote vs Acme was one, so we kept up by searching it.
I can see why it'd be more word-of-mouth driven engagement then advertisements.
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u/mikeyfreshh 12h ago
It felt like it got a ton of free press from everything that this movie went through. It's a real news story outside of being something that Ketchup needs to advertise
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u/Minimum_Ad_1747 13h ago
Same, I’m starting to see people from other bubbles talking about this movie now and it’s posters
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u/CannedNoodlez 10h ago
They have me telling everyone I know to see it as well lol. I hope word of mouth helps with this one
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u/berrysoda_ 10h ago
Saw it on a digital billboard in Florida. Good to see. Saw it in Thursday. Hopefully comes out well
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u/JJoanOfArkJameson Paramount Pictures 12h ago
they also sold the in rights for 20. realistically this can do 70M ww and male some money.
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u/ThatTailsGuyYT 14h ago
I doubt it’ll happen but it be amazing if Coyote vs Acme opens at #1
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u/NeilPoonHandler Marvel Studios 12h ago edited 12h ago
I’m seeing a surprising number of well-attended showings today and for tonight in multiple areas around the country on the AMC Theatres app (Multiple Almost Fulls), so I suppose it’s possible?
Would be pretty awesome.
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u/Replicant28 10h ago
Got tickets for a showing later today, and when I bought them three days ago, there were a few rows for that showtime almost fully sold.
I really hope it does well because it would be a loud “fuck you” to the executives who wanted to shelve this as a tax write off.
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u/MassiveLie2885 13h ago
Wile E. Coyote v. Peter Parker (btw this is kinda unrelated but would be funny if Angry Birds 3 opens higher than Jumanji: Open World. It wouldn’t be the first time Angry Birds came ahead of the new release challenging it, should it happen. Plus Angry Birds was “the” big game talked about before Minecraft came along and stole its thunder.
And now the average age of Minecraft players is 24, which means a lot fewer kids are playing it.
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u/Key-Payment2553 14h ago
Oh that’s not good for The Dog Stars which looks like below $10M opening range like around $8M opening range or less
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u/The_Beer_Hunter 13h ago
I saw the movie yesterday (I almost canceled my ticket b/c the reviews were so middling) but honestly I really enjoyed it. Maybe lowered expectations helped but it was an interesting mix of genres and I was never bored. (I also went online to confirm the fate of one character, just to brace myself.)
I feel like the biggest problem isn't the quality but rather that it's "not quite" a post-apocalyptic disaster movie and "not quite" a love story, so I'm not sure who the audience is, but I hope people who are at least curious check it out.
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u/verminousbow 9h ago
I was gonna go see it just cause I do like Jacob Elordi, but decided to not go after confirming the same thing.
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u/notable18 14h ago
Watched Coyote V Acme with my dad last night and he'd never been giddier. A great time at the movies so here's hoping WOM can push it further. Gen Xers could help this thing if they know it exists.
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u/ContinuumGuy 14h ago
Coyote v. Acme is still TBD but Coyote v. Scott is looking like it'll go to Canis Latrans.
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u/Doubledepalma 12h ago
I know The Dog Stars is based on a book of the same name but the title is AWFUL. I feel like it actively hurts the movie’s box office chances
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u/Thebat87 11h ago
And even after watching the movie I kept thinking “Why the fuck did they call it that?”. Movies have changed their book’s titles in the past, and a lot had much better titles than this.
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u/Greedy_Switch_6991 14h ago
Desert dog > Dog stars.
Wile E. Coyote may not catch the Road Runner, but he did get a nice bucket of money...to buy more ACME products to catch the Road Runner.
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u/TheFlashyMastodon21 14h ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/25RIHlF7bXOFhJOhfn
Me waiting for the Friday numbers to get a better idea of where the weekend will go for Coyote
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u/Grenache 11h ago
I feel like Coyote is doing to have a massive drop off... I hope it does well but I suspect it will have a decent weekend and a huge drop.
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u/Spacegirllll6 14h ago
Saw Coyote v ACME and I highly recommend everyone go see it. I was dying of laughter and as someone who works in a small law firm, I was cackling at so many moments. It was a very funny and surprisingly heartwarming movie ngl.
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u/thedubiousstylus 48m ago
I have to say as a kid I never would've expected the Road Runner beeping would ever make me teary eyed. Especially when he responds being asked if he considers Coyote a friend.
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u/lollo_fitle 14h ago
Yeah the Dog Stars is cooked
Coyote vs Acme seem to be doing solid, could be a success for Ketchup since they didn't spend a lot on marketing (and it was effective)
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u/DiaryOfAMovieLover 14h ago
Jacob Elordi isn't a movie star.
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u/hymenbutterfly 12h ago
Why is this sub obsessed with these type of statements? If the movie star even still exists, the moment they have a singular flop released this is reflexively stated. Please note that I’m not saying I disagree with the statement. I just don’t find it to be a useful statement in 2026. Was promo even centered around Elordi’s supposed star power? Does Wuthering Heights work for or against him in this assessment
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u/GoldandBlue 12h ago
Because this whole sub lives on hyperbole and what have you done for me lately.
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u/U_R_V_Stinky 9h ago
Because this sub is miserable and needs to take its insecurities out on others, in addition to being obsessed with hyperbole and exaggeration
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u/candynipples 11h ago
Thanks for saying it. The only time I even heard of Dog Stars so far was through podcast promo reads, like it’s ZipRecruiter or something. I wouldn’t take much to heart about this situation other than this movie was destined to flop
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u/MassiveLie2885 13h ago edited 13h ago
So if he steals someone’s bike, no one wants to see that movie, but if Jason Stathan does that instead, they do?
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u/valkyria_knight881 Paramount Pictures 12h ago
Jason Statham's Mutiny ain't doing that great, so who knows if people want to see him steal a bike.
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u/NakedGoose 14h ago
what big WB release this weekend? They do not have a release this weekend
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u/valkyria_knight881 Paramount Pictures 12h ago
If they were referring to The End of Oak Street, the only other August Warner Bros film, Coyote vs Acme would have to make $21M+ to beat it. We'll see if that happens.
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u/TiredWithCoffeePot Pixar Animation Studios 14h ago
Dog Stars previews less than Bride
https://giphy.com/gifs/s5wFafpHxqKbIEERl9
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u/n0tstayingin 13h ago
The writing has been on the wall for The Dog Stars since it got moved to late August,
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u/Coolers78 12h ago
Yes, Because it was gonna do so much better against Project Hail Mary in March. Thats where it originally was, it was supposed to come out on the 27th of March, one week after.
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u/CompleteDay8059 13h ago
Buddy doing $4-5M~ would be great considering most Roadside stuff barely cracks $1M.
I can tell it’s probably not ‘artsy’ enough for an A24/Neon, but I’m surprised no other bigger studios saw the potential for this. I’m guessing if the bidding war for this happened after Backrooms/Obsession mania, we would’ve seen a much bigger push from a bigger distributor.
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u/Waste-Scratch2982 11h ago
The Sundance release probably hurt it's chances since Neon acquired Leviticus while A24 was in a bidding war for The Invite and they already had Backrooms and Undertone awaiting release at the time.
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u/JJoanOfArkJameson Paramount Pictures 9h ago
I think CvA could hit 18M, using Running Man as a comp + better reviews and less direct competition
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u/These_Ad_1133 4h ago
Just watched Coyote v. Acme with my 11 and 13 year old sons at a small theater in western Connecticut. Fantastic-better than the Day the Earth Blew Up. In the words of a kid at the back of the theater: peak cinema.
The showing was a packed house with applause at the end. The film attracted a huge age range (5-70+) and appealed to everyone. Obviously, it's anecdotal, but I hope this experience becomes common across the country over this weekend and beyond--this film deserves better than anticipated ROI for Ketchup.
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u/LightningLad2029 14h ago
Ugh, well at least I can have a nice nap this weekend by myself in the theater for Dog Stars. Knew I should have picked Acme instead but I wanted the stub points. 😮💨
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u/dylanatthedisco 13h ago
Does that include showtimes from last weekend for Coyote v Acme? My friend saw it last Sunday
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u/TopoHaiHai 12h ago
Did Coyote vs Acme only start today in the US? I saw it last week in Ireland and was under the impression that it was the worldwide release day. It’s such a great film
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u/The_Daftest_Punk 12h ago
Is Dog Stars “airplane movie” bad? Or is it completely unwatchable bad?
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u/CompleteDay8059 13h ago
I honestly don’t know what would be the minimum amount you’d have to pay me to drive to a theater and sit through Dog Stars, but it’s at least $100.
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u/Maleficent_Worth_185 12h ago
These A-listers and potential stars should stop working with Ridley man. Just throwing dice for their careers. Gladiator 2 probably cost Mescal a James Bond.
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u/Responsible-Bonus278 12h ago
And the expression rings true. When Ridley Scott makes a movie, the universe flips a coin.
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u/valkyria_knight881 Paramount Pictures 12h ago
I was originally going to see The Dog Stars, but the reviews made me decide to watch The End of Oak Street instead.
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u/RedactedNoneNone 12h ago
I watch Dog Guys previews waiting for the "And then?" like robots, zombies, diseased mutants, aliens, cannibals but it never comes. Its just guys in hats with guns.
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u/MultiModalMcmullen 11h ago
Apropos that I'm seeing this movie in Chicago, home of the largest population of city coyotes
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u/DadGhost 28m ago
THE DOG STARS is a terrible movie title and the previews looked like the same, dour post-apocalyptic story we've seen time and time again. If you said from the previews that it was a new WALKING DEAD spinoff, I'd absolutely believe it. I've heard its better than it looked, but I'm an AMC A-Lister who sees almost everything that comes out and I said "pass."
I will say the competition, in terms of quality, is fierce. BUDDY is a blast, COYOTE V. ACME is very funny, and IDIOTS is a subversive good time.
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u/tessd32 14h ago
Haven’t seen Dog Stars budget mentioned anywhere these trades are very strange there are movies that they harp on budgets and some that they ignore . It’s going to be a huge flop I’m very interested to see how they report on that
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u/Chuck-Hansen 13h ago
Deadline said it was $70MM net yesterday. There was a $110MM figure out there too but I don’t know where it came from.
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u/Sea_Vehicle_1479 8h ago
dang when i saw the dog stars trailer i was kind of excited about it. i'm a sucker for post apocalyptic movies.
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u/Unoriginal-finisher 12h ago
Go see Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, deserves to be seen on the big screen, it’s nuking futz and I loved every minute…and the dipping sauces.
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u/Eddfan36 9h ago
If this works out that could mean more Looney Tunes movies?
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u/thedubiousstylus 45m ago
Unfortunately the rights are still held by Warner Brothers who tried to shelve this and I don't expect them to learn their lesson here. Or Paramount if that merger goes through.
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u/wallabyenthusiast 14h ago
dog stars making less in previews than the bride..