‘Wildwood’ Adds Screens, Passes $20M At The Domestic Box Office

Laika’s Wildwood has passed $20 million in North America after eight days, with distributor Fathom Entertainment projecting a $7–8 million second weekend. That would push its total past $25 million through Sunday.

Travis Knight’s stop-motion feature earned approximately $2.4 million on Friday, with roughly 200 screens still to report. That’s down about 18% from its opening Friday, excluding previews.

The full weekend projection points to a 35–43% decline from its $12.3 million debut, a respectable hold roughly in line with earlier Laika releases.

Kubo and the Two Strings offers the clearest comparison: it opened to $12.6 million in 2016 before dropping 37.8% to $7.8 million in its second weekend. That said, Laika’s two preceding films started bigger and held as well or better: ParaNorman fell 38.7% after a $14.1 million debut, while The Boxtrolls slipped 30.7% after opening to $17.3 million.

Fathom also added 150 screens for Wildwood’s second weekend, bringing the film to 3,103 across the U.S. and Canada. That expansion will surely contribute to the film’s hold, wherever it lands.

Along with today’s numbers, Wildwood producer and Chief Marketing and Operations Officer at Laika, Dave Burke, said:

We made Wildwood for audiences who love bold, imaginative cinema, and our ambition has always been to expand the traditional family audience. We trust audiences to embrace a film that takes risks, both in the story it tells and how it’s made. Passing $20 million in eight days, alongside an ‘A’ CinemaScore, gives us confidence as we continue bringing Wildwood to more moviegoers. This is a film made to be experienced on the big screen, and we’re proud to see audiences relishing it.

As we reported after its debut, Wildwood earned an A CinemaScore. Its early audience reception and second-Friday performance are encouraging, although the projected weekend result would put it in familiar territory for Laika rather than mark an unusually strong hold.

There’s still plenty of ground to cover against a reported $100 million production budget. The film appears to be avoiding a steep second-weekend fall, but building a substantial theatrical run from its modest opening will take more than one decent hold. Laika’s films can have a long commercial life, as Coraline has demonstrated, but it’s too early to know whether Wildwood will follow that path.