Avengers, Robert Pattinson, Brad Pitt Flood U.S. Box Office In Unprecedented Chart Takeover

Published Sep 27, 2026, 11:31 AM EDT Brennan Klein (he/him) is a senior news writer at Screen Rant, host of the Attack of the Queerwolf podcast, and contributor at Alternate Ending and Horror Press. He has been writing and podcasting about pop culture (especially horror movies) for over a decade at platforms including Blumhouse, Fangoria, Dread Central, The Backlot, and Arrow in the Head. Primetime and Heart of the Beast are among the star-studded titles completely shaking up the domestic box office chart this weekend. A24's Primetime was directed by Ren Faire's Lance Oppenheim and stars Robert Pattinson as To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen, while Paramount's Heart of the Beast was helmed by The Beekeeper director David Ayer and follows Brad Pitt as a former Special Forces officer who is stranded in the wilderness with his combat dog after a plane crash. Both movies debuted on September 25, the same day as the DreamWorks animated feature Forgotten Island (starring H.E.R. and Dave Franco), the Marvel Cinematic Universe re-release Avengers Endgame: Encore, and the romance Charlie Harper (starring Nick Robinson and Emilia Jones). Avengers Endgame: Encore features additional scenes, offering an extended look at the 2019 movie ahead of the December release of its anticipated follow-up, Avengers: Doomsday. Per Deadline, as of Sunday morning, Avengers Endgame: Encore is projected to take No. 1 at the domestic box office with a 3-day gross of $26 million, which is an unusually strong result for a re-release (the record is $35.9 million, which was earned by Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in 1997). If it doesn't have a substantial drop in week 2 (which is common for re-releases), this could put the movie on track to add enough to its lifetime gross to threaten Avatar's position as the highest-grossing movie of all time worldwide. Avengers Endgame: Encore has managed to topple Zach Cregger's Resident Evil, which is the best-reviewed live-action movie in the video game horror franchise and opened the previous weekend with the franchise's best domestic debut in history. It is being pushed to No. 2 with a drop of 61%, which is not out of the ordinary for the horror genre but does mark the biggest drop ever for a Zach Cregger horror movie. 2022's Barbarian dropped 38.4% during its sophomore weekend while 2025's Weapons dropped 43.8%. Resident Evil is still on track to be the director's highest-grossing title ever and is set to end the weekend by becoming the first movie in the franchise to pass the $100 million domestic milestone. Below, see the full domestic Top 5 chart for the weekend (Resident Evil numbers per Sony Pictures Entertainment, the remainder per Deadline and The Numbers): # Title 3-Day Total Cumulative (Domestic) 1 Avengers Endgame: Encore $26 million $26 million (weekend 1) 2 Resident Evil $23.3 million $103.5 million (weekend 2) 3 Heart of the Beast $20 million $20 million (weekend 1) 4 Primetime $19.2 million $19.2 million (weekend 1) 5 Forgotten Island $12.8 million $12.8 million (weekend 1) While there is a holdover title at No. 2, the rest of the chart is completely filled out with new releases. This marks the first time in 2026 that four new releases have debuted on the chart simultaneously. The previous record for the year was three titles at once, which occurred seven times. This includes two weekends where three titles debuted in the Top 3, namely the weekend of January 30 (Send Help at No. 1, Iron Lung at No. 2, Melania at No. 3) and the weekend of February 13 (Wuthering Heights at No. 1, GOAT at No. 2, Crime 101 at No. 3). Naturally, four holdover titles have been ousted from the Top 5. Last weekend, the legacy sequel Practical Magic 2 was No. 2, the Marvel Cinematic Universe smash hit Spider-Man: Brand New Day was No. 3 (it's becoming the first movie to hit the $950 million domestic milestone this weekend), Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey was No. 4, and the Looney Tunes feature Coyote vs. Acme was No. 5. Each has fallen four places apiece, slotting in neatly at No. 6, No. 7, No. 8, and No. 9 respectively. It remains to be seen if any of the current four new releases on the chart have substantial enough drops that any of these holdovers can rejoin the Top 5. However, the following weekend sees the debuts of the Colleen Hoover thriller Verity and the Tom Cruise black comedy Digger, so these could help fill out the Top 5 and cement this ouster. Unsurprisingly, considering the fact that Forgotten Island, Avengers Endgame: Encore, Primetime, and Heart of the Beast are all performing well, and the holdover titles haven't had particularly brutal drops, this weekend sees the domestic box office turning out one of the biggest late September weekends of all time. Its projected $122 million makes it the second best ever, behind 2015 ($137.8 million), when Hotel Transylvania 2 and The Intern debuted among holdovers like Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, Everest, Black Mass, and The Visit. Release Date September 25, 2026 Runtime 110 minutes Director Lance Oppenheim Writers Ajon Singh Producers Ari Aster, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Brighton McCloskey, Fred Berger, Lars Knudsen, Robert Pattinson, William Iannaccone Cast A young producer chases the kind of television moment that can define a career, building a sting operation around Chris Hansen and Dateline's To Catch a Predator. As hidden cameras, police coordination, and public spectacle collide, the film follows the uneasy machinery behind turning real crimes into must watch TV. Main Genre Drama Executive Producer(s) AJ Bourscheid, Ajon Singh, Lance Oppenheim, Harrison Huffman, Abigail Rowe Release Date September 25, 2026 Runtime 101 Minutes Director David Ayer Writers Cameron Alexander Producers David Ayer, Marty Bowen, Olivia Hamilton, Brad Pitt Cast A former Army Special Forces soldier and his retired combat dog struggle for survival after a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness. Main Genre Thriller Executive Producer(s) Cameron Alexander, Sophie Cassidy, Damien Chazelle, Pete Chiappetta, Zack Conroy, Andrew Lary, Chris Long, D. Scott Lumpkin, Anthony Tittanegro