In the world of film, there will always be some flicks that will flop and some that will soar high with flying colours; it is the nature of things, especially in a diverse and open cinematic landscape.
However, it is an entirely different story when a total underdog climbs to number one while leaving a US$120 million live action film dead in the water, something that we are seeing right now.
With the opening weekend for the most recent films coming to a close, we now have the numbers, and we can safely say that Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis” is not looking too good, to say the least. Many analysts projected it to be the biggest flop of the year; to a degree, this was correct, but no one really knew the extent of the damage until now.
To be fair, “Megalopolis” wasn’t the only bad film this year. Before it debuted, the “Borderlands” movie held the crown for being the biggest box office flop of 2024, only making back US$32 million of its US$120 million budget. Unfortunately, “Megalopolis” also had a budget of US$120 million, but it was only able to make back US$4.2 million!
Critics’ reviews and the opening weekend are two of the most important parts of a film’s life cycle. Established movie critics are experts of the industry with very strong opinions; it is these opinions that will determine whether or not the general public will watch a film or not. If a film at least manages a passable review, it might be enough to spur the public to go watch it during the opening weekend, when the film will generate most of its revenue back and maybe even break even.
In the case of “Megalopolis,” the cause of its downfall was its almost non-existent marketing campaign. Unfortunately for the film, the only marketing it ever technically had was in the form of a few trailers that didn’t really help it, and might have even contributed to the film’s 49% score on Rotten Tomatoes. It is very hard to think of this film as anything but a commercial failure; we just hope the stars featured in the flick can bounce back, especially the lead actor Adam Driver, who hasn’t been doing too hot in his recent films.
On the other side of this coin, however, is Dreamworks’s “The Wild Robot,” which is currently sitting pretty at the number 1 spot in the US. This heartwarming tale of a rogue robot opened last weekend and managed to earn an estimated US$35 million.
A large hand played into the film’s success really – besides the fact that many people are aware of the story because it was based on a novel that shared a similar name. What set this film apart from its competitors and what launched it into the limelight was Chris Sanders in the director’s seat, known for his work on “Lilo & Stitch” and “How to Train Your Dragon.”
The numbers do not lie — “The Wild Robot” is one of the few animated films to have an explosive opening weekend. It is currently the best movie in theatres right now and has the third-best opening for an animated film, following 2012’s “Hotel Transylvania” (US$42.5 million) and 2016’s “Hotel Transylvania 2” (US$48.4 million).
Internationally, “The Wild Robot” continues its dominant rollout. The movie made $9.8 million in 29 territories, with $3.7 million from its #1 debut in Mexico. The film has earned a total of US$54 million and is slowly closing the gap between it and its US$78 million budget. We’ll hopefully get to see more such blockbuster films with substance rather than passion projects that are just filled with hot air.
