Welcome to Week 21 of the Knock on Wood Movie Fantasy League dispatch. Every week (more or less), we’ll bring you a recap of the past weekend’s box office, alongside an overview of the new release films and an updated leaderboard, complete with full teams and points!
This weekend’s domestic box office held very few surprises – though Spider-Man: Brand New Day dropped from #1 for the first time this past Friday in favor of Insidious: Out of the Further (more on that soon), it fought its way back to the top spot in the overall weekend totals. The Odyssey made its first drop from #2 to #3 (as well as passing Deadpool & Wolverine to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time), but the biggest story of the week has to be Tony, the Anthony Bourdain snapshot that not only added 1,605 theaters, but made the nearly unheard-of jump from #18 to #7 in the standings. It’s not eligible for the League (there was no release date at the time of the League’s conception), but it’s one of the best movies in the entire lineup. Check it out if you can.
The first major franchise release since Spider-Man swept into theaters this weekend from a faraway, sinister dimension. Insidious: Out of the Further is the sixth film in the franchise and, though some would argue the series is far past its prime, it follows the Blumhouse model of betting big on a relatively low budget, all but ensuring the gamble will pay off if even a slight amount of interest in the franchise remains. Seeing as it debuted to $25 million at #2, I’d say the reward has outweighed the risk once again, and Blumhouse’s model can claim another win. Out of the Further may not reach its predecessor’s domestic total of $82 million, but it likely still has a long way to go as we enter the doldrums of September.
Elsewhere, Jason Statham is back with his standard action fare in Mutiny, which, although it failed to capture the hearts of the masses, still managed to secure the #6 spot with $7.7 million. I predict it will end up at a similar point to most of Statham’s other anonymous action thrillers (near $10-15 million domestic), with most of its gross coming from overseas. Also, an ensemble of Gen-X comediennes went on a Spa Weekend, and came in just under the wire at #9 with $3 million. It doesn’t sound like either of these star-based pictures will be lighting the world on fire.
Also new in theaters this week is the 25th anniversary re-release of The Fast and the Furious (has it been that long?), star-laden family fantasy epic The Magic Faraway Tree, polarizing European sci-fi thriller Hot Spot, and the revelatory experiential horror debut It Ends, which is finally receiving a theatrical release after premiering on the Letterboxd Video Store in December 2025.
The Rivals of Amziah King’s critical acclaim brought it 70 bonus points this week, providing a massive disproportionate boost to its lower box office total. Conversely, The End of Oak Street’s critical bonus balanced out its box office receipts with 40 extra points.
Check out our leaderboard here. For the most up-to-date scoring on each movie, check out this spreadsheet. Additionally, I’ve made a Letterboxd list of every film chosen by our players for the Fantasy League. You can view that anytime here.
Next week, the film that Warner Bros. doesn’t want us to see finally hits theaters with a comically big BOOM…it’s Coyote vs. Acme! Also, Ridley Scott tries something different with The Dog Stars, a post-apocalyptic drama starring Jacob Elordi, Josh Brolin, and Margaret Qualley.
As a reminder, submissions for the MFL are now closed. Thank you all for playing, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the board change every which way over the next few months! Please let us know if you have any feedback, and don’t forget to come back here next week for a recap and the updated leaderboard!
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