Sony bet on a bestselling novel, an Oscar-winning director, and one of Hollywood’s most-followed young stars, aka Jenna Ortega. The gamble failed spectacularly, and the reasons reveal plenty about what actually sells tickets in today’s theatrical market.
Why Klara and the Sun did so badly at box office
Klara and the Sun collected just $701K domestically last weekend. Sony had booked the Jenna Ortega-led film at 880 theaters, and it still posted a per-screen average below $800. Critics gave away the first blow.
Reviews out of the London Film Festival savaged the movie, and its Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 24%, as of writing. The Telegraph labelled it as “the most infantile film of the year.” Sony reacted by shrinking the release from wide to moderate and slashing marketing spend below $30 million worldwide. For a film that lives or dies by reviews rather than spectacle, that retreat sealed its fate.
Additionally, the audience simply didn’t match the marketing. Ortega’s massive social following never converted into ticket sales. Women over 25 accounted for 33% of attendees, while only 19% of the audience came in under 25. One Deadline insider summed it up: “The Jenna Ortega fans were not seeing this as their movie. They might have expected one thing, but didn’t get it.”
Moreover, the source material posed its own hurdles. Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel is acclaimed but not widely read, so Klara and the Sun came without a built-in fanbase. Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go similarly stumbled in theaters, managing $2.4M domestically.
Notably, production wasn’t the culprit. Taika Waititi wrapped on time and under budget, and test screenings landed at 83% positive before reshoots pushed that figure to 87%. Exit polls over opening weekend told a different story, though: 69% positive and just 48% definite recommend.
All in all, strong test scores and studio care couldn’t overcome brutal reviews and a mismatched audience. Klara and the Sun joins a growing list of films proving that in a crowded marketplace, critics still hold real power over commercial outcomes.
