The Big Picture

New Regency’s sci-fi film The Creator, starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, and Madeleine Yuna Voyles, has earned $97.3 million globally, just shy of $100 million. Despite facing competition and non-franchise challenges, the film has shown resilience and serves as a beacon of hope for original content. Certain international markets, particularly France, Germany, Japan, and Australia, have displayed strong holds and demonstrated the film’s broader appeal.

New Regency’s sci-fi original The Creator, which stars John David Washington, Gemma Chan, and Madeleine Yuna Voyles in main roles, has steadily advanced in the global box office rankings. By the close of its fifth weekend, The Creator has raked in an estimated $97.3 million worldwide and remains just shy of the $100 million mark that analysts initially predicted it would achieve. The figure can be further broken down into $38.8 million domestically and a commendable $58.5 million internationally.

Despite facing competition and the inherent challenges that non-franchise films often encounter Gareth Edwards’ The Creator has shown resilience. It now serves as a hope for original, non-IP content. The film will now enter its sixth week with international earnings seeing a 51% decline, bringing in $2.2 million during its fifth week. Meanwhile, the domestic earnings amounted to $1M. However, it wasn’t all downhill for the sci-fi IMAX-epic. Certain markets, France and Germany in particular, displayed solid holds and stood strong with 33% and 34% drops, respectively. Better yet, in Japan, the film holds the #1 spot for non-local movies, while in Australia, it ranks at #4.

While the film’s overall performance at a total budget of $80 million might not be ideal, the sustained interest in select international markets speaks to its broader appeal. The unique plot and visual approach of director Edwards, which was marketed well before the film’s release, appears to have resonated well with audiences in Europe and Asia (the film was shot in 80+ regions of Asia). The cumulative box office figures from key European markets such as the UK ($8.0M), France ($6.3M), and Germany ($5.0M), as well as Asian markets like Korea ($2.0M) and Hong Kong ($1.5M), underscore this trend.

‘The Creator’ and ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s’ Among 2023’s Unpredictable Box Office
Image via 20th Century Studios

The Creator was originally expected to have a good take-off at the box office — particularly because of the pre-release hype of its epic visuals on a low budget. In contrast, Five Nights at Freddy’s, which stands at a staggering critics rating of 25% on Rotten Tomatoes, has surprisingly taken off well and has earned $130M globally on its opening weekend. Both films pale in comparison to the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon of the summer with Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer opening to $174 million and Greta Gerwig’s Barbie bringing in $337 million that same weekend.

Gareth Edwards returned with The Creator after an extended break following the successes of his 2014 hit Godzilla reboot, which garnered $529 million globally, and 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story which earned a whopping $1 billion. The Creator has received varied responses with a fresh rating of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes. Collider’s Maggie Lovitt described it as, “neither a masterpiece nor a complete misfire,” in her review.

The Creator’s DVD and Blu-Ray release date has yet not been announced. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates. You can snag tickets to see it on the big screen in the U.S. down below while we wait for it to arrive on Disney+ or Hulu.

Purchase Tickets on Fandango

The Creator From writer/director Gareth Edwards (Rogue One, Godzilla) comes an epic sci-fi action thriller set amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence. Joshua (John David Washington, Tenet), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Gemma Chan, Eternals), is recruited to hunt down and kill the Creator, the elusive architect of advanced AI who has developed a mysterious weapon with the power to end the war… and mankind itself. Joshua and his team of elite operatives journey across enemy lines, into the dark heart of AI-occupied territory… only to discover the world-ending weapon he’s been instructed to destroy is an AI in the form of a young child (newcomer Madeleine Yuna Voyles). Release Date September 29, 2023 Director Gareth Edwards Cast Ralph Ineson, Allison Janney, Gemma Chan, John David Washington, Ken Watanabe Rating PG-13 Genres Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi