$12.8 million in a very crowded weekend
Forgotten Island finished its first North American weekend with an estimated $12.8 million from 3,548 theaters. The film placed fifth behind Avengers: Endgame Encore, Resident Evil, Heart of the Beast and Primetime. With an average of roughly $3,600 per theater, the new DreamWorks release struggled to break through an unusually crowded marketplace.
The result also came in below pre-release tracking. In late August, Boxoffice Pro had projected a North American opening range of $20 million to $30 million. The final weekend estimate landed well below that range.
International markets have not changed the picture yet
Overseas, Variety reports $7.8 million from 34 markets, bringing the worldwide total to $20.6 million. There is an important qualification to that figure: Forgotten Island has yet to open in several major international territories. Its current worldwide tally therefore does not represent a simultaneous launch across its full global footprint.
There is room to grow, but growth is becoming necessary. Variety reports an $80 million production budget. Comparing that cost directly with the current $20.6 million gross cannot establish profitability after one weekend, especially because theatrical grosses and studio revenue are not the same thing. It does, however, make the coming weeks particularly important for Universal and DreamWorks.
An original movie in an industry that likes familiar names
Forgotten Island does not arrive with an established franchise attached. DreamWorks describes it as an original story written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, filmmakers from the team behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. H.E.R. voices Jo and Liza Soberano voices Raissa, lifelong friends who discover a portal to Nakali, an island populated by creatures drawn from Filipino mythology.
The studio built the adventure around their friendship: escaping Nakali may cost the two characters the memories that connect them. Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng and Lea Salonga round out the voice cast.
Filipino mythology sits at the center of the project
That setting is more than decorative world-building. Reuters highlighted the film's focus on Filipino folklore, including the Manananggal. Crawford and Mercado drew on stories and cultural influences connected to the Philippines, while several members of the cast have Filipino roots of their own.
That identity gives Forgotten Island something a three-day box-office figure cannot measure: a distinct cultural proposition within mainstream Hollywood animation. Distinction, however, does not automatically translate into ticket sales. That is exactly the industrial tension exposed by its opening weekend.
Word of mouth is now the number to watch
The opening is soft, but the theatrical trajectory is not settled. The movie entered release with favorable critical and audience reception, and family films can build their runs over several weeks instead of concentrating most of their business into opening weekend. Its staggered international rollout also gives it markets that are not fully represented in the current total.
Forgotten Island is therefore entering the less dramatic but more revealing part of its run: the holds. At $12.8 million in North America, opening weekend did not give DreamWorks the launch it wanted for an original production of this scale. At $20.6 million worldwide with territories still missing, it is equally premature to write the ending. The next few weekends will show whether audiences simply discovered Nakali late, or whether they still prefer islands whose names they already know.
