Coyote Vs. Acme drops anvil on The Dog Stars at the weekend box office

Buddy also put up a strong showing in its first, fairly limited weekend.

By Drew Gillis  |  August 31, 2026 | 9:42am
Image via Ketchup Entertainment
Film News Weekend Box Office
Coyote Vs. Acme drops anvil on The Dog Stars at the weekend box office

Perhaps at one point Disney thought that The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic thriller from Ridley Scott starring Jacob Elordi, would be poised for a long run at the box office. But it turns out that the long road ahead of the film was merely painted on the side of a mountain, for The Dog Stars has already gone splat. The film opened to just $8 million in over 3,300 theaters, coming from an $80 million production budget. Per Variety, the film is poised to be one of Scott’s biggest flops. While it outgrossed The Green Knight‘s opening in 2021, critics were at least positive toward that movie. 

But there was good news for another new release this weekend, even if Spider-Man and The Odyssey ultimately still won the day. Coyote Vs. Acme, the film that Warner Bros. tried to unceremoniously keep from a theatrical release a couple of years ago, opened to $11 million at the box office. What this means as far as accounting is fairly messy, given that the film was originally treated as a $30 million tax write-off, and then was acquired by Ketchup Entertainment for $50 million, which then sold the foreign distribution rights for $20 million, according to Deadline. Ketchup ultimately didn’t spend very much on marketing, either, but all of the money stuff aside, the news is a win for anyone who wanted to see a live-action/animation hybrid centered on legal proceedings between Wile E. Coyote and the Acme Corporation. 

There was another newcomer to keep an eye on, though; Buddy, the kids’-show-inspired horror movie, opened in sixth place, taking in $5.36 million. However, the film, which comes from “Too Many Cooks” creator Casper Kelly, had a much more limited release, playing in just over 1250 cinemas. Looking at earnings-per-theater, Buddy was the week’s most promising newcomer, raking in a higher per-theater average than Spider-Man. 

The whole top ten of the weekend, courtesy of Box Office Mojo, is listed below. 

  1. 1. Spider-Man: Brand New Day
  2. 2. The Odyssey
  3. 3. Coyote Vs. Acme
  4. 4. The Dog Stars
  5. 5. Insidious: Out Of The Further
  6. 6. Buddy
  7. 7. The End Of Oak Street
  8. 8. PAW Patrol: The Dino Movie
  9. 9. Mutiny
  10. 10. Tony

 
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