‘Megalopolis’ Collapses, ‘The Wild Robot’ Lands at No. 1

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” landed in first place on box office charts, taking flight on the higher end of expectations with $35 million from 3,962 venues. Meanwhile, Francis Ford Coppola‘s sci-fi epic “Megalopolis” collapsed in its box office debut, collecting an anemic $4 million from 1,854 North American theaters.

Ticket sales for “Megalopolis” were less than initial projections of $5 million to $7 million, which would have been financially disastrous for the $120 million-budgeted film. By comparison, Kevin Costner’s mostly self-funded $100 million-budgeted passion project “Horizon: An American Saga – Part One” arrived to $11 million over the summer before tapping out with $36 million worldwide. As a result, plans to release “Part Two” were indefinitely paused.

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 action film “Devara: Part 1.” Reviews have been wildly divisive with the New York Times calling the movie “wonderfully out-there” and the Associated Press saying it’s “nearly impossible to digest in a single, baffling viewing.”

“The movie 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 movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “This one is not working. The result is going to be a big tax write-off.”

Lionsgate released “Megalopolis” in the U.S. but isn’t responsible for distribution or marketing costs. Instead its Coppola, the Oscar-winning director of “The Godfather” trilogy and “Apocalypse Now,” who self-funded the project and is on the hook for expenses. As part of promotional efforts, Lionsgate tried to riff on the movie’s discord with a trailer that quoted well-known film critics who initially dismissed Coppola movies that went on to become classics. However, Vulture magazine first reported those quotes were fabricated or generated by AI, prompting Lionsgate to apologize and recall the spot. Set in a futuristic America, “Megalopolis” follows an architect (Adam Driver) who clashes with the corrupt mayor (Giancarlo Esposito) in determining 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 destined to be a box office hit and is the very definition of a passion project,” says senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “That said, the film could enjoy long term interest from movie aficionados.”

“The Wild Robot” cost $78 million, so it hopes to enjoy the staying power that benefitted post-pandemic animated family films such as Pixar’s “Elemental” and Illumination’s “Migration,” both of which parlayed positive sentiments into ticket sales in the months after their debuts. “The Wild Robot” has been embraced by critics and audiences — it scored a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and “A” on CinemaScore — which bodes well for its theatrical run.

“What a ridiculously satisfying opening weekend for ‘The Wild Robot,’” says Universal’s president of domestic distribution Jim Orr. “We brought in audiences of all ages, and the audience scores were off the charts. It points to a long, successful run throughout the fall.”

“The Wild Robot” already began playing at the international box office, where the film has earned $18 million so far for a global tally of $53 million. Lupita Nyong’o leads the movie’s voice cast, playing a robot named Roz, who gets marooned on an uninhabited island and soon develops 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 opening for a new animation film,” says Gross. “Animation releases have been holding extremely well after opening, especially when they’re received as enthusiastically as this. The movie should have a strong domestic run.”

With “The Wild Robot” claiming the No. 1 spot, the three-time champion “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” slid to second place. Tim Burton’s spooky sequel enjoyed another strong outing, bringing in $16 million from 3,804 venues in its fourth weekend of release. The film has generated $250 million domestically and $373.3 million globally to date.

Paramount’s animated “Transformers One,” starring Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry as young Optimus Prime and Megatron, dropped to the No. 3 spot. The movie earned $9.3 million from 3,970 locations, marking a steep 63% decline from its debut. “Transformers One” has taken in $39.1 million at the domestic box office and $72 million globally. It cost $75 million to produce.

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

“Speak No Evil,” Universal and Blumhouse’s remake of the 2022 Danish horror thriller, rounded out the top five with $4.3 million from 2,661 theaters. That’s a 27% decline from the weekend prior, a stellar hold for any film in its third weekend of release. So far, the pitch-black comedy of manners, 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 look at the lead up to the first “Saturday Night Live” episode, earned $265,000 from five venues in New York and Los Angeles Those ticket sales translate to a strong $53,000 per location. Sony is releasing the movie — starring Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase and Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner — nationwide on Oct. 11.