The Garfield Movie has almost completely recovered its initial investment prior to its release in domestic theaters. Chris Pratt plays the voice of the recognizable orange cat in the animated Sony Pictures film, which follows the character as he reunites with his father Vic in a brand-new big-screen adventure.
In addition to Harvey Guillén as Odie and Nicholas Hoult as Jon Arbuckle, the voice cast is replete with celebrities. Although the American release of the 2024 Garfield film is not scheduled until the end of the month, around the Memorial Day holiday weekend in the United States, it made its premiere on May 1 in certain overseas markets.
The Garfield Movie, which is currently in its third overseas market, brought in an additional $10.3 million this weekend at international theaters, bringing its total abroad earnings to $49 million, according to Deadline. Even though the film is supposedly worth $60 million, it has already recovered more than 80% of its production costs before it even opens in the United States. In addition, it has not yet opened in a number of significant overseas markets, including as France, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Without accounting for publicity expenses, movies typically need to recoup double their production budgets in order to turn a profit because theaters keep half of the ticket revenues. Accordingly, the Chris Pratt film will probably require a lift from the domestic market to reach its break-even goal, which is approximately $120 million.
Though it’s unclear whether this is feasible, historical performance may provide some indication of the film’s commercial potential.
International box office receipts for the first two live-action Garfield films, which starred Bill Murray in the lead role, exceeded domestic receipts. But in North America, the 2006 follow-up A Tail of Two Kitties clearly did poorly.
With negative reviews and current Rotten Tomatoes scores of 14% and 12%, respectively, the animated film with a rating of 73% may have a better chance of winning over viewers. When it opens during Memorial Day weekend, it doesn’t appear like it will defy convention and gross higher than these current foreign totals.
The Garfield Movie’s worldwide total could potentially reach $70 million or more, given it still needs to open in 40% of its international territories. If it follows the same path as the first 2004 film, this might indicate a $41.3 million domestic gross.
In total, that would imply that it would make around $111.3 million globally, which is insufficient to break even. Though Pratt is fresh off a billion-dollar voice role in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, it remains to be seen if the film does better domestically than any of the previous entries in the franchise.