Jenna Ortega Movie Crashes Hard as Studio Hides Box Office Numbers Amid Conflicting Reports

A difficult theatrical start

Directed and co-written by Taika Waititi, Klara and the Sun adapts Kazuo Ishiguro’s science-fiction novel. Ortega plays Klara, an android sold as an Artificial Companion to a family in a dystopian future.

The film, which also features Amy Adams, Natasha Lyonne, Mia Tharia and Steve Buscemi, debuted on October 23. Its three-day domestic gross was $701,000, and worldwide earnings remain below $2 million.

Second-weekend figures differ

Variety reports that Sony Pictures Releasing is no longer publishing the film’s domestic box office results. The distributor has been contacted for comment, while a planned theatrical release in Spain was reportedly cancelled.

Outlets agree the movie played in 880 domestic theaters over Halloween weekend, but their estimates diverge. Box Office Mojo lists $45,000, a 93.6% drop from the previous weekend; The Numbers reports $145,000, down 79%.

Those figures would place the film differently in records of sophomore-weekend declines. Several other outlets have not published a figure, and The Numbers puts the 10-day global total at $1.84 million.

Reviews and commercial prospects

Variety’s report indicates the movie received a smaller release than originally planned. Taika Waititi’s 2023 film Next Goal Wins opened in 2,240 domestic theaters, compared with Klara and the Sun’s 880 during Halloween weekend.

Klara and the Sun has a 24% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics, while its Popcornmeter score is 74%, with an average audience rating of 4 out of 5. Even with the exact second-weekend drop unsettled, earnings so far amount to less than a tenth of the reported budget. Sony also has films performing strongly elsewhere: Spider-Man: Brand New Day is described as the third-highest-grossing movie of all time, and Resident Evil has passed $400 million worldwide.