Even as Paramount’s Transformers One struggled to attract an audience at the box office this weekend, another excellently reviewed animated film — The Wild Robot — commenced its theatrical run in overseas markets prior to its stateside debut. The new DreamWorks film, inspired by WALL-E and the works of the Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival recently, and will be released in domestic theaters next week. The Wild Robot was rolled out in eight international markets this past weekend, including China and Australia.
The film generated almost $7 million, of which a healthy $4 million came from the Middle Kingdom. While China’s relevance to Hollywood has nosedived in recent years, the odd movie breaks through. For instance, without its surprise performance in the Middle Kingdom, there’s no way that Alien: Romulus would have been the hit that it has turned out to be. The Wild Robot is competing directly with Transformers One, which debuted with a soft $39 million globally this weekend, despite having opened in 50 international markets.
Both films have been directed by well-regarded names in the animation industry; Transformers One was helmed by Josh Cooley, the Pixar vet who previously co-wrote Inside Out and directed Toy Story 4. The movie holds a terrific 89% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, and an even better (and near-perfect) 98% audience score on the platform. Similarly, The Wild Robot currently has a 97% RT score. The film was directed by Chris Sanders, best known for having helmed Lilo & Stitch and the first How to Train Your Dragon film with Dean DeBlois. DeBlois serves as an executive producer on The Wild Robot, a survival adventure that follows a robot who finds itself stranded on a strange new planet in the distant future.
‘The Wild Robot’ Is Based on a Book By Peter Brown
Lupita Nyong’o, who recently starred in the hit horror film A Quiet Place: Day One, voices the titular character. She’s joined by an eclectic cast that includes Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O’Hara, Matt Berry, and Ving Rhames. Minus Transformers One, which, by the way, still has a chance of bouncing back, the year 2024 has proven to be rather successful for animated films. Pixar’s Inside Out 2 emerged as one of the biggest hits in history with over $1.6 billion in global box office revenue, while Illumination’s Despicable Me 4 joined four of its predecessors in having grossed more than $900 million worldwide. You can watch The Wild Robot in theaters beginning this week, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.