Overview
- The film was completed in mid‑2023, shelved by Warner Bros. as a reported $30 million tax write‑off, shopped later that year, acquired by Ketchup Entertainment in 2025, and opened in theaters on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026.
- Critics and audiences have widely praised the movie, which holds roughly a 96% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, an A CinemaScore, about 95% audience RT, and a near‑7.6 IMDb rating.
- Box office through five days reached about $19.6 million domestically and $22.4 million worldwide, making it Ketchup Entertainment’s top North American grosser, though analysts say the film still faces a gap versus reported production and acquisition costs.
- Reviewers singled out the hybrid craft—hand‑drawn squash‑and‑stretch animation, practical puppetry on set, and selective 3D/CG integration by vendors including DNEG—as a key reason audiences are responding strongly.
- The film’s rescue, buoyed by fan campaigns and industry attention, has renewed scrutiny of studio shelving and tax‑writeoff practices and will be judged on its box‑office legs, international rollout, and ancillary sales to see if such rescues change studio behavior.