Jenna Ortega’s Sci-Fi Bomb Officially Cancels International Theatrical Release

It seems like we’re hearing more and more about box office disasters at the moment, but this one might be an exception to the rule. We’ve got something that is so expected to be a disaster that it doesn’t even get the chance to be a box office flop. That’s the situation that Jenna Ortega‘s latest film finds itself in, despite the fact it’s armed with an Oscar-winning director, a cast packed with recognizable names, and source material written by a Nobel Prize-winning author.

Klara and the Sun has reportedly had its planned theatrical release in Spain cancelled, following a disastrous opening at the domestic box office. According to Spanish publication Hobby Consolas, Sony Pictures has abandoned the film’s Spanish theatrical rollout for the time being following poor reviews and disappointing commercial returns. The movie opened in 880 North American theaters on October 23, earning just $701,059 during its first weekend, for an average of approximately $797 per theater.

Directed by Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok), the film adapts Kazuo Ishiguro’s acclaimed 2021 novel. The cast includes Ortega (Scream) as Klara, Amy Adams (Arrival) as Chrissie, Mia Tharia (September Says) as Josie, Aran Murphy (Lola) as Rick, Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire) as Capaldi, Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face) as the Store Manager, Rachel House (Hunt for the Wilderpeople) as Melania, and Davida McKenzie (Leviticus) as Simone.

• The Wachowskis’ 1999 film won four Academy Awards, including Visual Effects and Film
  Editing.
• Bullet time was shot with a rig of roughly 120 still cameras firing in sequence around the
  actors.
• Keanu Reeves trained in martial arts for about four months before a frame was shot,
  recovering from neck surgery the whole time.
• It opened the same year as Fight Club and eXistenZ, in a run of films about not trusting the
  world in front of you.

• Mad Max: Fury Road won six Academy Awards in 2016, more than any other film that year.
• George Miller storyboarded the entire film as roughly 3,500 panels before there was a
  script.
• The chase was shot almost entirely practical in the Namib Desert, with real vehicles and
  real stunt performers.
• Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth carried the prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, in 2024.

• Blade Runner 2049 won Roger Deakins his first Oscar for cinematography, on his fourteenth
  nomination.
• The film also took Best Visual Effects, 35 years after Ridley Scott’s 1982 original.
• Villeneuve shot it on large-format film and kept the fog and rain practical on set wherever
  he could.
• Three short films by Luke Scott and Shinichiro Watanabe bridge the 30-year gap between the
  two movies.

• Denis Villeneuve’s Dune won six Academy Awards in 2022, including Cinematography and
  Original Score.
• Hans Zimmer turned down Christopher Nolan’s Tenet so he could score Dune instead.
• Dune: Part Two arrived in 2024 and brought in Austin Butler, Florence Pugh and Christopher
  Walken.
• David Lynch’s 1984 version and Alejandro Jodorowsky’s unmade one are both their
  own legends by now.

• The 1977 original won six Academy Awards plus a special achievement award for sound effects.
• John Williams’ score was recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra and became the
  best-selling symphonic film soundtrack ever.
• Andor took the galaxy somewhere colder and earned Emmy nominations for drama series in both
  seasons.
• The saga now runs across eleven feature films and a growing shelf of series on Disney+.

How Badly Has ‘Klara and the Sun’ Performed?

The movie has earned approximately $1.44 million worldwide, including around $776,000 domestically, according to Box Office Mojo. It has also received overwhelmingly negative reviews, despite the acclaim surrounding its source material. Sony also scaled back its release in American theaters considerably, and had been expected to release it in approximately 1,900 North American theaters, but the eventual opening was considerably smaller.

Critically, it was a nightmare, too. It currently holds a dismal 25% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 73 reviews, and critics have largely taken issue with the film’s overly sentimental tone and its failure to capture the emotional complexity of the original novel, with The Guardian, The Times, and The Telegraph all awarding it just one star.

The Spanish release cancellation represents another setback for a production that had already experienced a lengthy delay. The film remains available theatrically in selected territories, including the United States. No replacement Spanish release date or confirmed streaming debut has been announced.

Klara and the Sun