Weekend Box Office: Disney’s Moana flops as Evil Dead Burn also misses expectations

Could 2026 go down as the ultimate box office bummer summer for Hollywood? Fresh off the shockingly poor performance of The Mandalorian & Grogu, Disney has another major flop on its hands with the live-action Moana. Despite Dwayne Johnson reprising his role as Maui, audiences largely stayed away, giving the film a disappointing $43 million opening weekend (not far from what we predicted)—almost identical to the disastrous debut of Snow White in the winter of 2025.

While that’s a terrible result for a movie carrying an estimated $250 million production budget, some hoped Johnson’s international star power would soften the blow overseas. Instead, the outlook is just as grim. Moana has opened to only $95 million worldwide, well below even the most pessimistic box office forecasts. A movie of this scale likely needs to gross at least $700 million worldwide to turn a profit, and at its current pace, it won’t come close. Disney now appears headed for another nine-figure loss.

Minions & Monsters and Toy Story 5 also soften

Another underperformer is Universal and Illumination’s Minions & Monsters, which fell a respectable 45% in its second weekend. Unfortunately, its weak opening means it still only earned $20.5 million, bringing its domestic total to $108 million. It won’t come close to matching the original Despicable Me, which remains the franchise’s lowest-grossing installment at $251 million domestically. The silver lining is that Illumination keeps its budgets relatively modest, so the film should still end up profitable.

Pixar’s Toy Story 5 also continues to cool faster than expected, dropping another 39% to $18.5 million in third place. Even so, its impressive $403 million domestic total means it could still finish its run in the $475–480 million range.

Evil Dead Burn disappoints while Young Washington drops sharply

Sadly, Evil Dead Burn has proven to be another disappointment, opening to just $13.7 million. That’s roughly $10 million behind the opening weekend of Evil Dead Rise. Hopefully, the already-announced Evil Dead Wrath will have better luck. The film’s B CinemaScore is respectable for a horror movie, but with The Odyssey arriving next weekend, it’s hard to imagine Burn developing strong legs.

Another disappointment is Angel Studios’ Young Washington. While it opened on par with Sound of Freedom, it clearly doesn’t have that film’s staying power. It proved to be extremely front-loaded, tumbling 67% to $6.4 million for a domestic total of $33.1 million. Even so, a sequel is already on the way.

The Invite

The Invite expands as Obsession continues to dominate

A24’s expansion of Olivia Wilde’s star-studded The Invite delivered mixed results. It earned $5.7 million, averaging about $3,500 per screen. Given how well it performed in limited release, many expected a stronger expansion. Perhaps the film would have been better served by a fall release. Its domestic total now stands at $7.3 million, although positive word of mouth could still help.

Horror sensation Obsession continues to print money, adding another $3.8 million despite already being available on PVOD. Its domestic total now stands at an astonishing $253 million—an incredible return for a movie reportedly made for just $750,000.

SupergirlDisclosure Day and Backrooms round out the top ten

Meanwhile, DC’s Supergirl continues to struggle, plunging another 59% to $3.56 million. Its domestic total now sits at just $66 million, making it one of the poorest-performing modern superhero movies.

Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day continues its solid run, earning $3.2 million for a domestic total of $111 million.

Rounding out the top ten is A24’s Backrooms, which added $1.49 million for an outstanding $194 million domestic total. A24 will no doubt try to keep it in theaters long enough to reach the coveted $200 million milestone.

What did you see this weekend? Let us know in the comments!

# MOVIE TITLE WKND $ TOTAL $
1 Moana $43 M $43 M
2 Minions & Monsters $20.5 M $108.27 M
3 Toy Story 5 $18.5 M $403.7 M
4 Evil Dead Burn $13.7 M $13.7 M
5 Young Washington $6.4 M $33.1 M
6 The Invite $5.7 M $7.3 M
7 Obsession $3.8 M $253.3 M
8 Supergirl $3.56 M $66 M
9 Disclosure Day $3.2 M $111.3 M
10 Backrooms $1.48 M $194.2 M

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