“Megalopolis” collapses, “The Wild Robot” goes to number 1

Universal and DreamWorks Animation's “The Wild Robot” debuted at the top of the box office charts and exceeded expectations with $35 million from 3,962 venues. Meanwhile, Francis Ford Coppola's sci-fi epic “Megalopolis” tanked at the box office in its debut, earning an anemic $4 million from 1,854 North American theaters.

Ticket sales for “Megalopolis” were below initial projections of $5 million to $7 million, which would have been a financial disaster for the $120 million budget film. By comparison, Kevin Costner's largely self-financed passion project “Horizon: An American Saga – Part One,” with a budget of $100 million, came in at $11 million over the summer before grossing $36 million worldwide. As a result, plans to release “Part Two” have been put on hold indefinitely.

With poor word of mouth (the film received a D+ grade on CinemaScore), “Megalopolis” opened in sixth place, behind three holdover titles and the Indian-Telugu-language actioner “Devara: Part 1.” Reviews were extremely controversial: The New York Times called the film “wonderfully outstanding,” and the Associated Press said it was “nearly impossible to digest in a single, confusing viewing.”

“The film is an ambitious, personal vision. “Sometimes a film like this beats the odds and makes a lot of money,” says analyst David A. Gross of the film consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “This one doesn’t work. The result will be a large tax burden.”

Lionsgate has released “Megalopolis” in the United States but is not responsible for distribution or marketing costs. Instead, it is Coppola, the Oscar-winning director of “The Godfather” trilogy and “Apocalypse Now,” who financed the project himself and will have to cover the costs. As part of its promotional efforts, Lionsgate attempted to exploit the film's inconsistencies with a trailer that quoted well-known film critics who initially dismissed Coppola's films, which later became classics. However, Vulture magazine initially reported that these quotes were fabricated or AI-generated, prompting Lionsgate to apologize and recall the spot. Set in futuristic America, Megalopolis is about an architect (Adam Driver) who clashes with the corrupt mayor (Giancarlo Esposito) to figure out how to rebuild the metropolis of New Rome after a disaster. The film also stars Nathalie Emmanuel, Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Jon Voight and Laurence Fishburne.

“This was never intended to be a box office hit and is the epitome of a passion project,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior Comscore analyst. “Nevertheless, the film could attract long-term interest from film lovers.”

“The Wild Robot” cost $78 million, so it's hoping to capitalize on the post-pandemic staying power that benefited animated family films like Pixar's “Elemental” and Illumination's “Migration,” both of which posted positive returns in the months that followed Their debuts influenced their ticket sales. “The Wild Robot” was received positively by critics and audiences – it scored a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an “A” on CinemaScore – which bodes well for its theatrical release.

“What an incredibly satisfying opening weekend for 'The Wild Robot,'” said Jim Orr, Universal's president of domestic distribution. “We attracted audiences of all ages and the attendance was outstanding. This points to a long, successful run in the fall.”

“The Wild Robot” has already opened at the international box office, where the film has grossed $18 million to date, bringing the total to $53 million worldwide. Lupita Nyong'o stars in the film, playing a robot named Roz who gets stranded on an uninhabited island and soon forms a bond with an orphaned gosling. Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Mark Hamill and Catherine O'Hara voice animals who befriend Roz over the course of the film.

“This is an excellent start to a new animated film,” says Gross. “Animated releases have held up very well after release, especially when they were received so enthusiastically. The film should have strong national success.”

While “The Wild Robot” took first place, three-time champion “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” slipped to second place. Tim Burton's spooky sequel once again experienced strong success, grossing $16 million from 3,804 venues in its fourth weekend of release. The film has so far grossed $250 million domestically and $373.3 million worldwide.

Paramount's animated film “Transformers One,” starring Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry as young Optimus Prime and Megatron, fell to No. 3. The film grossed $9.3 million from 3,970 locations, a sharp 63% decline from its debut. “Transformers One” grossed $39.1 million at the domestic box office and $72 million worldwide. The production cost $75 million.

Indian Telugu-language action film “Devara: Part 1” opened in fourth place and grossed an estimated $6.7 million from just 1,040 theaters. The three-hour film, which stars “RRR” actor NT Rama Rao Jr. in dual roles, follows a man who finds out that his brother is smuggling deadly weapons and turning the siblings into enemies.

“Speak No Evil,” Universal and Blumhouse’s 2022 remake of the Danish horror-thriller, rounded out the top five with $4.3 million from 2,661 theaters. That's a 27% drop from the weekend before, an outstanding achievement for any film released in theaters on its third weekend. So far, the pitch-black moral comedy starring James McAvoy and Mackenzie Davis has grossed $28 million in North America and $57.7 million worldwide.

In limited release, director Jason Reitman's “Saturday Night,” a dramatic preview of the first episode of “Saturday Night Live,” grossed $265,000 at five venues in New York and Los Angeles. These ticket sales total a cool $53,000 per location. Sony will release the film — starring Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase and Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner — nationwide on October 11.