We’ve already seen it twice this year — the low-budget horror films Obsession and Backrooms saw unexpectedly massive success at the Box Office. Now, we may have another title to add to that list, as Buddy benefited from word-of-mouth advertising to increase ticket sales in its second weekend on the 2026 movie calendar. Casper Kelly's orange unicorn earned $5.7 million from Friday to Sunday and is expected to end the holiday weekend with around $7 million once Monday’s totals are added.
We've also got to discuss what Spider-Man: Brand New Day has done, because the Tom Holland-led Marvel movie took top Box Office honors for a sixth weekend in a row, breaking another record as it crossed $900 million domestically.
Coyote vs. Acme also had a phenomenal sophomore outing, so let’s take a look at the Top 10, per The Numbers, and then dig a little deeper into Labor Day weekend’s hits and misses. (* denotes a new release.)
Weekend Box Office: September 4-6, 2026
TITLE |
WEEKEND GROSS |
DOMESTIC GROSS |
LAST WEEK |
THEATERS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Spider-Man: Brand New Day |
$18,000,000 |
$917,762,000 |
1 |
3,520 |
2. The Odyssey |
$13,000,000 |
$584,777,000 |
3 |
2,312 |
3. Coyote Vs. Acme |
$11,338,583 |
$33,843,397 |
2 |
3,727 |
4. By Any Means* |
$7,415,000 |
$7,415,000 |
N/A |
2,903 |
5. Insidious: Out of the Further |
$6,515,000 |
$54,105,000 |
4 |
2,897 |
6. Cars |
$6,100,000 |
$250,182,982 |
N/A |
2,900 |
7. Buddy |
$5,700,000 |
$14,200,000 |
6 |
1,771 |
8. Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie |
$3,300,000 |
$48,477,000 |
7 |
2,613 |
9. The End of Oak Street |
$2,910,000 |
$50,641,000 |
8 |
2,202 |
10. The Dog Stars |
$2,700,000 |
$13,037,035 |
5 |
3,330 |
Buddy Outearns Its Debut Weekend To Become The Newest Horror Hit
Buddy, the movie that critics compared to Barney & Friends (if the purple dinosaur had a violent streak), had the year’s biggest opening for a film playing on fewer than 1,800 screens last week with $5.4 million. Theaters responded by adding about 500 screens for Labor Day weekend, which resulted in $5.7 million, per JoBlo — a 6% bump for its second three-day weekend.
I definitely made a point to see Buddy this weekend, and it exceeded my expectations. Every Saturday showing at my local theater was close to capacity, so I’m not surprised to see that it’s continuing to do so well. Now if I could just get that theme song out of my head … “He’s cuddly, snuggly, our best friend!”
Spider-Man: Brand New Day Wins Sixth Gold In A Row As It Surpasses $900 Million Domestic
Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossed the $900 million mark at the domestic box office on Friday, becoming the fastest movie to do so 36 days into its release. That breaks the record set in 2015 by Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which did it in 50 days. The MCU product finished the three-day weekend with another $18 million for a total of $917.8 million in North America.
The Tom Holland and Zendaya flick is all but certain to surpass The Force Awakens as the highest-grossing domestic movie of all time ($936.66 million), but we’ll have to see if it will become the first ever to hit 10 digits. Meanwhile, globally, it looks like Brand New Day will settle for third overall, with its $2.4 billion not likely to catch or surpass 2009’s Avatar ($2.92 billion) or 2019’s Avengers: Endgame ($2.79 billion).
One more fun stat: Spider-Man’s six-week run as the Box Office No. 1 is the longest streak since 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, which held the top spot for seven consecutive weekends. However, I fear next week's releases might finally overtake Spidey. More on that below.
Coyote Vs. Acme Has Impressive Second-Weekend Showing
Buddy may have been the biggest Week 2 surprise, but I’d be remiss not to mention the phenomenal sophomore outing of Looney Tunes’ highest-rated feature. After debuting above The Odyssey at No. 2 last week, Coyote Vs. Acme fell just 29% to earn another $11.3 million this weekend. That’s especially exciting given the fact that fans weren’t sure this movie would ever make it to theaters after Warner Bros. shelved the completed product in 2023.
Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars didn’t fare as well as its counterparts in its second weekend, falling 65% after a disappointing debut.
By Any Means Stands As The Only New Release To Score A Top 10 Spot
By Any Means had a tepid premiere weekend, earning just $7.4 million against its reported $29 million budget. However, that was good enough for fourth place — and the only new release to make the list. Critics had some serious issues with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg’s Civil Rights Era crime thriller, but audiences were far more forgiving. Let’s look at how Rotten Tomatoes and CinemaScore’s audiences felt about the trio of new movies:
RANK/TITLE |
RT CRITICS |
RT AUDIENCES |
CINEMASCORE |
|---|---|---|---|
4. By Any Means |
55% |
87% |
B+ |
12. Fall 2: Deadpoint |
57% |
62% |
B- |
13. Onslaught |
54% |
62% |
C |
We’ll have to see if the higher audience rating brings any word-of-mouth advertising to By Any Means, but given the lukewarm reception all around for the other two, I’m not betting that we’ll see them join the Top 10 next week.
What Movies Are We Looking Forward To Next Week?
There are a handful of titles set for release on September 11, with Practical Magic 2 being the biggest. The highly anticipated sequel to the 1998 flick reunites Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock as the Owens sisters, and it’s projected to bring in anywhere from $40 million to $54 million — which would be enough to unseat Spider-Man: Brand New Day from its throne.
Meanwhile, Andrew Garfield’s period drama The Uprising has high-end projections of $8 million but will likely fall closer to $4.6 million, per Box Office Theory. Liam Neeson’s new action flick The Fix, the documentary Oasis: Don't Look Back in Anger and Alan Ritchson’s Runner (not to be confused with Gal Gadot’s The Runner) are all projected to come in at under $5 million.
Will any of these movies surprise us next week? How close will Brand New Day get to becoming the biggest domestic earner of all time? Will Buddy continue to captivate audiences with his catchy, musical life lessons? Be sure to hit the theater this week, then come back next Sunday to see where your favorites fall.
