Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken Is On Track To Become DreamWorks Animation's Biggest Flop Ever
Now that the first weekend of August is in the books, the most competitive part of the summer is over, giving us a reasonably good idea of what this year's biggest movie season looked like. Barring any surprise breakouts over the next few weeks, it's safe to call it a mixed bag. Sure, we had gargantuan hits like "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," but we had massive flops like "The Flash" and "Haunted Mansion." Yet, while high-profile misfires took the lion's share of the spotlight, it was "Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken" that slipped through the cracks as one of the summer's biggest duds. More than that, it may end up as the lowest-grossing movie in DreamWorks Animation's history.
After a miserable sixth weekend in which the film grossed a mere $30,000 domestically, "Ruby Gillman" has earned just $40.8 million worldwide. This includes a truly miserable $15.6 million domestically. Against a $70 million budget, Universal Pictures is probably going to take a bit of a bath on this one, unless it ends up doing gigantic business on VOD. That feels unlikely. It's a wildly disappointing result, given the storied nature of DreamWorks as a hit-maker. This is the studio responsible for "Shrek" and "Kung Fu Panda," after all.
While "Ruby Gillman" is still playing in some theaters, it currently ranks as the lowest-grossing DreamWorks animation release behind 2021's "Spirit Untamed" ($42.2 million). That movie was contending with the pandemic in a much more real way, and it also had a smaller $30 million budget. That kind of money can be made up over time. Even if we assume that Universal was thrifty with marketing, the total cost of "Ruby Gillman" was at least $100 million. Since theaters keep about half of the money made from ticket sales, DreamWorks is only going to see about $21 million from that pot. So, before VOD and other ancillary revenue, they could be over $80 million in the hole.
A rare flop for DreamWorks Animation
"Ruby Gillman" focuses on a shy teenager who discovers that she's part of a legendary royal lineage of mythical sea krakens. It also boasts an A-list cast that includes the likes of Lana Condor ("To All the Boys I've Loved Before"), Toni Collette ("Hereditary"), Annie Murphy ("Schitt's Creek"), Sam Richardson ("Hocus Pocus 2"), Will Forte ("MacGruber"), Colman Domingo ("Fear the Walking Dead"), and Jane Fonda ("Book Club"). That star power didn't prove to be much help.
Those who don't have young kids would be forgiven for never having heard of the latest from DreamWorks Animation, as it really came and went with little fanfare. The movie debuted in theaters alongside "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" on June 30 and had a terrible $5.5 million debut, arriving in sixth place on the domestic charts. Unlike Pixar's "Elemental," director Kirk DeMicco's animated adventure did not sprout long legs. Instead, it sadly kind of died on the vine.
Other misfires from the studio include "The Road to El Dorado" ($65.7 million worldwide/$95 million budget), "Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas" ($80 million worldwide/$60 million budget), and "Flushed Away" ($179 million worldwide/$149 million budget). Some of those movies may have lost more money in the end, but all of them sold more tickets than "Ruby Gillman."
The good news here is that this is not the norm for DreamWorks. Earlier this year, "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" became a surprisingly big animated hit ($484 million worldwide) with remarkably long legs. The studio also had "The Bad Guys" ($250 million worldwide/$70 million budget) last year, demonstrating that they can still turn out new potential franchises as well. Not to mention "The Croods: A New Age" making $215 million worldwide during the height of the pandemic. That's still remarkable. So, hopefully, DreamWorks and Universal can shake this one off and get back to doing what they do best.
"Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken" is in theaters and on digital now.