Skip to content
Bramble

Entertainment

Klara and the Sun opens to $725,000 after Sony scales back its release

Taika Waititi's sci-fi film Klara and the Sun, starring Jenna Ortega, earned $725,000 in its opening weekend. Sony had planned a release in nearly 2,000 theaters but opened it in about 800 to 880.

2 outlets · 0L · 2C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: Collider
Image: /Film

1 / 2

The story, neutrally told

Centre · 2Klara and the Sun, a sci-fi film directed by Taika Waititi and starring Jenna Ortega, opened to $725,000 at the US box office over the weekend. Centre · 1Collider reports the film was supposed to open in nearly 2,000 theaters, but Sony changed to a platform release strategy after poor reviews and unexpected competition, and it eventually opened in around 800 theaters. Centre · 1/Film puts the opening at 880 screens, an average of $824 per screen, and says the film debuted well outside the top ten.

Centre · 2The weekend was led by DC's Clayface, which /Film says opened to $24 million domestically. A24's documentary You Can See Everything, which Collider says grossed $15 million in its debut weekend, also drew attention. Centre · 2The film holds a 25% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Collider quotes the critics' consensus calling it "cloying and twee" and saying it flattens the nuanced ideas of its source material. Centre · 1The film adapts Kazuo Ishiguro's 2021 novel. Ortega plays Klara, an Artificial Friend who bonds with Josie, played by Mia Tharia.

Centre · 1/Film reports a budget of about $20 million and notes that a lower budget leaves room to recoup money on VOD and streaming. It also says the film is Waititi's second consecutive disappointment after Next Goal Wins, which it says took in under $19 million worldwide on a $14 million budget. Centre · 1Collider calls it another disappointment for stars Ortega and Amy Adams and the second Sony bomb in consecutive months, after Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning. It says that film fell 85% this weekend and is headed for a final gross under $10 million. Centre · 2Both outlets place the result in the context of Waititi's career: Thor: Ragnarok, the Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit, then Thor: Love and Thunder and Next Goal Wins. /Film adds the cancelled series Time Bandits and doubts about his Star Wars film.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre2 outlets

Framing
Both entertainment outlets treat the opening as a flop and put it in the context of Waititi's declining box-office record. Collider leads on Sony's scaled-back release, and /Film leads on Waititi's career.
Emphasis
Collider stresses the cut from a planned wide release, poor reviews and Sony's string of underperformers. /Film stresses the weak per-screen average, the budget and Waititi's career arc, and speculates about "director's jail".
Leaves out or plays down
/Film does not mention the planned wider release or the platform strategy. Collider gives no budget or per-screen figure.
Charged language
“Officially Bombs”“dead on arrival”“It's dead on arrival.”“director's jail”“He's seemingly lost the juice.”
For example
“Jenna Ortega’s New Sci-Fi Movie Officially Bombs After Being Removed From More Than 1,000 Theaters” — Collider
“Looking at it on paper, it appears as though Waititi is on the verge of winding up in director's jail, if he's not there already.” — /Film

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Ask about this story

Loading…