DreamWorks Animation and Universal’s family film The Wild Robot is winning over both reviewers and audiences, with an impressive 98 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes from both critics and viewers, along with an A CinemaScore from moviegoers.
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| Nathalie Emmanuel and Adam Driver in Francis Ford Coppola's 'Megalopolis.' Courtesy of Lionsgate |
With strong word-of-mouth, The Wild Robot secured the No. 1 spot at the box office, bringing in an estimated $35 million. However, not all films are receiving the same affection.
Francis Ford Coppola is facing one of the toughest moments of his celebrated career as his new movie Megalopolis struggles with audiences, who largely rejected it. The film also received poor reviews from many critics.
Megalopolis earned a low D+ CinemaScore and grossed an estimated $4 million in its domestic debut, with some rivals predicting the final numbers will be even lower. Before the weekend, both tracking and Lionsgate expected it to earn at least $5 million to $7 million.
While The Wild Robot exceeded expectations, many had predicted it would perform well, especially after Paramount and Hasbro Entertainment’s PG animated film Transformers One opened below expectations last weekend.
The Wild Robot is based on Peter Brown’s popular novel, which tells the story of a robot named ROZ who develops a surprising bond with an orphaned gosling and other creatures after being stranded on a deserted island.
Directed and written by Oscar nominee Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods), the movie explores the connection between nature and technology. The star-studded voice cast includes Lupita Nyong’o, Kit Connor, Pedro Pascal, Catherine O’Hara, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames.
Internationally, the CGI-animated film added another $9.9 million from 29 markets, bringing its early foreign total to $18.1 million and a global total of $53.1 million.
Tim Burton’s sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice took third place with $16 million, bringing its domestic total to $258.1 million. Its overseas performance is lower, with $123.2 million for a global total of $373.3 million.
Paramount and Hasbro Entertainment’s Transformers One dropped by 62 percent in its second weekend, earning an estimated $9.3 million, with a 10-day domestic total of $39.2 million.
In an unexpected turn, the Indian Telugu-language action film Devara: Part 1 claimed fourth place domestically, earning an estimated $5.5 million.
Blumhouse and Universal’s Speak No Evil secured fifth place with $4.3 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $28.1 million.
Megalopolis is expected to finish in sixth place. Despite Coppola’s respected status, no major Hollywood studio agreed to finance or distribute the $120 million film in North America after an early buyer's screening and a lackluster reception at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film stars Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, and Shia LaBeouf, and reimagines the Roman Empire in modern-day New York City on the brink of collapse.
Lionsgate eventually took on the domestic release but isn’t responsible for distribution or marketing costs. Imax is also supporting Coppola, as he used Imax-certified cameras for parts of the film, with Megalopolis playing in around 200 Imax theaters during select showtimes.
Imax reported $1.8 million in ticket sales for the film, with $1.4 million coming from domestic screenings.
Last week, Coppola drew comparisons between the film’s plot and the current political climate in the U.S. ahead of the 2024 presidential election during a New York Film Festival screening. His remarks were broadcast to 65 cinemas across the U.S. and Canada with backing from Imax.
However, Coppola’s comments didn’t seem to galvanize critics or audiences.
Meanwhile, conservative pundit Dinesh D’Souza’s latest documentary Vindicating Trump didn’t make much of an impact at the box office. Despite personal promotion by Donald Trump, the film, which examines the GOP nominee’s bid for the presidency, earned less than $1 million across 813 domestic theaters, bringing in only $762,000 and placing fifteenth.
At the specialty box office, Sony debuted Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night, a tribute to the long-running NBC show Saturday Night Live, in five theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The film posted a solid per-theater average of $53,000.
Amazon MGM Studios’ specialty film My Old Ass expanded to more than 1,700 theaters, earning $1.6 million for an early domestic total of $2.9 million.
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