It was an interesting weekend at the box office. Not one but two very different Hollywood dinosaur movies that have nothing to do with Jurassic Park hit theaters. On one side, we had the kid-friendly Paw Patrol: The Dino Movie. On the other, Warner Bros. and director David Robert Mitchell’s The End of Oak Street, an ‘80s throwback that is perhaps less family-friendly. Neither of them could compete with the monster that is Marvel’s Spider-Man: Brand New Day, unfortunately.
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Brand New Day added $70 million on its third weekend, putting it past the $2 billion mark globally. Meanwhile, The End of Oak Street fell short of expectations, landing at number three with a not-so-great $21 million. It placed behind Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey ($23.2 million) and just barely above Paw Patrol ($20.5 million). It’s not the result WB was hoping for when it comes to this $80-plus million original dino flick. The movie also brought in $26 million overseas, but it still has a long way to go before it could be considered even a modest success.
In the movie, after a mysterious cosmic event rips Oak Street from suburbia and transports their neighborhood to someplace unknown, one filled with dinosaurs. The Platt family discovers that their very survival depends on them sticking together as they navigate their now unrecognizable surroundings. Anne Hathaway (Mother Mary) and Ewan McGregor (Doctor Sleep) lead the cast.
For whatever reason, it just feels like dinosaur movies not connected to the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World franchise can’t break out in any meaningful way theatrically. Adam Driver’s 65 disappointed in 2023. Luke Sparke’s bonkers Primitive War became more of a word-of-mouth viral sensation and it’s getting a sequel, but it wasn’t a mainstream hit in theaters by any means.
Oak Street has an A-list cast, solid reviews and the backing of Warner Bros. Not to mention the guy who directed It Follows behind the camera. If this can’t work, what can in the realm of dinosaur cinema outside of Jurassic? It’s a real shame for Mitchell, as 2018’s Under the Silver Lake was dumped to VOD by A24 which seemingly put him in director’s jail for a while. Hopefully, the upcoming It Follows sequel They Follow will be more of a slum dunk.
Looking ahead, as the summer comes to a close, this upcoming weekend sees the release of Insidious: Out of the Further, which may finally be able to give Spider-Man a run for its money.
The End of Oak Street is in theaters now.
