It was, all that is considered, a fairly calm end of summer weekend at the box office. Netflix has marked an unexpected number one success with “Kpop Demon Hunters” ($ 18 million), but it’s still a fairly small number for a high -end. Indeed, the new outings of the weekend failed to reach a large part of an audience, with the exit in English of A24 from the animated blockbuster “Ne Zah 2” (1.5 million dollars) and “Honey Don’t” by Ethan Coen ($ 3 million) in the lead. But it was “Eden” by director Ron Howard who was perhaps the greatest disappointment.
Inspired by real events, the film focuses on a group of foreigners who settle with each other on an isolated island to discover that their greatest threat is not the elements but, rather, each other. The cinema features Sydney Sweeney (“Euphoria”), but it is only the tip of the iceberg here, because the distribution also includes Jude Law (“Captain Marvel”), Ana de Armas (“Knives Out”), Vanessa Kirby (“The Fantastic Four: First Steps”) and Daniel Brühl (“Captain America: Civil War”). However, all this star power was very little.
Released by Vertical Entertainment, “Eden” made only $ 1 million out of 664 screens during the weekend, placing itself well outside the Top 10 and landing at number 14 on the national charts at the box office. Unfortunately, that made two bad weekends in a row for Sweeney, because her film “Americana” was widely ignored and did only $ 500,000 in its opening earlier this month. Of course, it would be very unfair to place one of these failures downright on Sweeney’s shoulders, but it will certainly not help to argue that she is a movie star in good faith.
Anyway, it is a flop for AGC studios. The production cost $ 55 million before generous Australian tax incentives, which brought this number to 35 million net dollars (per deadline). Even so, there is no way to transform this into a success. “Americana” will manage because Lionsgate spent only a few million on it after Bron goes bankrupt. AGC and Imagine Entertainment were not as lucky with “Eden”.
Eden is an overwhelming reminder how difficult the box office can be nowadays
Person who makes a film of this size with an impressive casting would be satisfied with an opening weekend of $ 1 million. Period. In the long term, there is a chance that the AGC will be good, because many international rights in the film have been sold, including at Amazon Prime Video in many territories. Indeed, “Eden” looks like the kind of film that should not catch up once it happens in streaming, but that does not do much to help the fact that it is a bomb by theatrically standards.
Vertical has picked up the film’s distribution rights for relatively little, so it can also be good. But it’s far from the point. The biggest point is that it is the latest example of an unanterable film in difficulty at the box office. Although it is based on a true story, it works essentially as an original for the public. And yes, 2025 has always brought us original massive successes such as “F1” from Apple, which crossed the brand of $ 600 million worldwide this weekend, as well as Ryan Coogler’s “sinners” ($ 365 million worldwide) and Zach Cregger’s “weapons” (200 million dollars).
The failure of “Eden” leaves many questions. Admittedly, Howard has not achieved a great theatrical success for a while, but we are still talking about the guy who directed “Apollo 13” and “The Da Vinci Code” making a sexy thriller and dotted with stars. Without a doubt, it should have been higher, even if the film critics were mixed. It would be difficult to assert that competition was a problem. The coast was clear for it to find its audience.
As for Sweeney, it has taken off like a rocket after “anyone but” made you more than $ 200 million at the box office, but it has not yet produced a significant theatrical success since. “Immaculate” was a modest success, but that’s about it. Did the American controversy Eagle Jeans harmed its short-term renown? Is it just that she is only a star of Butts-in-Seass for the good exact film? Time will tell us, but, for the moment, it is clear that all the internet chatter here does not represent much at the box office.
“Eden” is now playing in theaters.
