On the other end of the spectrum, Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later, one of the most daring studio releases of the year, raged against the dying of bold filmmaking with an impressive $30 million in its opening weekend. The $60 million film also added an additional $30 million to its pot internationally, catapulting it most of the way towards becoming the zombie franchise’s most successful entry yet. (2002’s original 28 Days Later currently holds the title with $75 million worldwide, per Variety.) That’s great news for anyone who wanted to see how the hell Boyle was planning to re-incorporate Cillian Murphy into the latter two films of his planned sequel trilogy, as the release of the third apparently depends on this film’s success. Nia DaCosta’s entry, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, is currently scheduled for a January 2026 release.
And then there’s poor Elio. The protagonist of the latest Pixar release just wanted to play with his new alien friends, but fell out of orbit and landed as the studio’s worst opening ever, Deadline reports. The space-themed fable only flew in $21 million in its first weekend, landing just under 2023’s Elemental, which previously held the undesirable record with $29.6 million. That seems to be what happens when you train audiences to expect films for free in their living room not long after their big screen release—if the film gets one at all.
You can check out the rest of the top 10, courtesy of Box Office Mojo, below:
- How to Train Your Dragon, $37,000,000
- 28 Years Later, $30,000,000
- Elio, $21,000,000
- Lilo & Stitch, $9,700,000
- Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, $6,550,000
- Materialists, $5,815,506
- Ballerina, $4,535,000
- Karate Kid: Legends, $2,424,147
- Final Destination: Bloodlines, $1,885,283
- Kuberaa, $1,750,000
