DreamWorks’ Filipino-inspired film opened fifth in North America, at the low end of tracking, with the weekend’s best audience grade. The Philippines contributed $1.5 million overseas.

The Philippines got Forgotten Island early. DreamWorks Animation opened the film in local cinemas on September 23, two days ahead of North America.

The film reached 3,548 theaters in the US and Canada on September 25 and took about $13 million over its opening weekend, fifth place. Pre-release forecasts had ranged from $13 million to $18 million, putting the result at the very bottom of expectations, and TheWrap said the film was “sputtering out of the gate.”

A Crowded Weekend

Forgotten Island opened against a busy slate. A theatrical reissue of Avengers: Endgame, timed ahead of December’s Avengers: Doomsday, finished first with $26 million. Resident Evil took second with $23.3 million. Brad Pitt’s survival thriller Heart of the Beast opened third with $20 million, and A24’s Primetime, starring Robert Pattinson, came in fourth at about $19 million.

The day-by-day numbers look better for the film. It made about $4.4 million on Friday, previews included, then rose roughly 13% on Saturday to $4.96 million before dipping to $3.47 million on Sunday. Family films tend to peak on Saturday, when parents take children to matinees.

Previews had pointed higher. The film took $1.48 million from Thursday shows and earlier sneak screenings, more than the $1.1 million DreamWorks’ The Bad Guys made from previews in 2022. The Bad Guys opened at $23.9 million.

An “A” From Those Who Went

Audiences who bought tickets rated the film highly. It earned an A on CinemaScore, an exit poll that grades opening-night reactions from A+ to F, and no film scored higher that weekend. For a family release, an A usually signals good word of mouth.

Deadline flagged one weaker figure. Only 63% of children under 12 said they would push their parents to see the film, a measure the trade calls the “nag factor.” It often drives the first weekend of an animated release.

Awareness was the bigger hurdle. Forgotten Island is an original story, with no bestselling book or earlier film to lean on. DreamWorks’ The Wild Robot, adapted from a popular novel, opened to $35.7 million in September 2024. Forgotten Island, set in a 1990s Philippines that few American parents had seen on screen, had to introduce itself from scratch. Its reported budget is $80 million.

A Precedent From Crawford’s Last Film

Co-director Joel Crawford has seen a start like this before. His Puss in Boots: The Last Wish opened to $12.4 million in December 2022 and went on to earn $480.4 million worldwide as word of mouth spread. That run had the holiday season behind it. The Hollywood Reporter noted that Forgotten Island faces few major family releases until early November, which leaves it room to grow.

The Philippine Share

Overseas, the film has made $7.8 million so far, for a worldwide total of about $20.8 million. TheWrap reported that $1.5 million of the overseas figure came from the Philippines, roughly a fifth of all international earnings from a market that opened two days early.

At home, that translated to ₱97.2 million over the local opening weekend, according to Universal Pictures Philippines. The distributor called it the biggest opening weekend for a DreamWorks Animation film in the country, where Forgotten Island finished the weekend as the top title.

ElysPlanet has followed the film since DreamWorks’ casting and budget announcement, through Liza Soberano’s seat on a Venice Film Festival jury, to its perfect Rotten Tomatoes debut. Soberano voices Raissa opposite H.E.R.’s Jo. Lea Salonga, who received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on September 4, voices the Dreaded Manananggal.

What We Don’t Know Yet

The second weekend, October 2 to 4, will show whether the A grade turns into repeat business. Several overseas markets have yet to open, and Universal has not announced a streaming date.