Harold and the Purple Crayon Opens With $6 Million Domestically
Sony’s newest release, Harold and the Purple Crayon, released to less than pleasant reception last week. The film, based on the classic children’s book of the same name, stars Zachary Levi in the title role as a grown Harold who travels to the real world with his two friends, Moose and Porcupine. Interestingly enough, the latter two are animated animals who become live-action humans upon traveling to the real world with Harold, played by Lil Rel Howery and Tanya Reynolds respectively.
Keep in mind, however, the competition. Deadpool & Wolverine released in late July to absolutely electric success appealing to both Fox and Disney Marvel fans, and is on track to break even more records than it already had in its first weekend. The disaster film Twisters is still doing extremely well given its revival of a long-dormant IP, and Inside Out 2 was reported to still be selling enough tickets this past weekend to have outsold sales of Harold and the Purple Crayon. Things are looking rough for the guy.
Columbia Pictures’ output through Sony this year has been lackluster for the most part. With the exception of June’s Bad Boys: Ride or Die, the division hasn’t distributed many big hits this year that have gotten people talking. Incidentally, the films that HAVE gotten people talking haven’t been all too good. Interestingly enough, the linked film also underperformed. Hopefully the studio will see another hit sooner rather than later when Venom: The Last Dance releases in October.
Director Carlos Saldanha isn’t new to directing animated features, being a prominent alum of the late Blue Sky Studios. However, this is his first theatrical film to incorporate live-action elements as are prominent in the film’s marketing. It seems from most reviews that Saldanha’s direction shines a bit more when it comes to fully animated features rather than hybrids. When he’s directed past films with as much expressiveness and life as Ferdinand, it’s clear his career shouldn’t be written off because of one bad egg.
Harold and the Purple Crayon is now playing in theaters.