Strong Word Of Mouth Helps ‘Wildwood’ Beat Projections With $9 Million Weekend, Second Sunday Up 2% Over First Week

Laika’s Wildwood grossed an estimated $9 million in its second weekend at the domestic box office, down just 27% from its debut frame and bringing its 10-day total to $27.4 million, according to updated figures distributor Fathom Entertainment sent out today.

Travis Knight’s stop-motion feature pulled in around $2.4 million on Friday and $2.7 million on Halloween Saturday, with Sunday sales climbing 38% to make it the film’s biggest day of the weekend and finish ahead of Fathom’s initial estimates.

Its second Sunday actually exceeded its opening Sunday by 2%, making it the day’s second-highest total ahead of Clayface.

Wildwood’s hold compares favorably when placed against previous Laika releases. Kubo and the Two Strings fell 37.8% in its second frame, ParaNorman declined 38.7%, and The Boxtrolls slipped 30.7%. As we wrote on Saturday, Wildwood also benefited from an expansion, with Fathom adding 150 second-weekend screens for a total of 3,103.

Audience polling offers further encouragement. According to PostTrak results supplied by Fathom, 96% rated the film excellent or very good, while 87% would definitely recommend it. That’s something to be excited about, especially with nearly one-third of those polled saying that positive word of mouth as a reason for buying a ticket over the weekend.

David Burke, Laika’s chief marketing and operations officer, said of the film’s sophomore performance:

Wildwood’s strong second-weekend hold is an encouraging sign of the staying power behind its exceptional audience response. Travis and the extraordinary team at Laika have created a film that audiences are embracing and enthusiastically recommending others experience in theatres. That response gives us real confidence as more moviegoers discover Wildwood in the weeks ahead.

Fathom CEO Jason Brenek added,

After partnering with Laika over the past decade to re-release films from its incredible catalog, Wildwood represents a landmark achievement for Fathom Entertainment. With an all-time high Fathom theatrical footprint and box office results tracking to meet or exceed the monumental success of our 2024 re-release of Laika’s Coraline for its 15th anniversary, Wildwood is demonstrating theatrical staying power; it’s a cinematic masterpiece, and we are heartened by its lasting box office appeal, exceptional audience reaction, and critical acclaim.

Against a reported $100 million production budget, Wildwood still has a long way to go, but as we’ve written previously, it’s a studio that, as much as any, doesn’t necessarily need immediate box office returns to justify its output. That said, the film’s second weekend and strong audience exit polling suggest that enthusiastic audiences can sustain its theatrical run beyond a modest opening, and that the studio may have another long-term fan favorite on its hands.