After one of the most disappointing film openings of 2019, Playmobil: The Movie has ended its theatrical run with just $1.1 million at the domestic box office. The film, which was inspired by the Playmobil brand toys and featured voice acting from Anya Taylor-Joy, Gabriel Bateman, Jim Gaffigan, Daniel Radcliffe, Adam Lambert, Kenan Thompson, Meghan Trainor, and Wendi McLendon-Covey and others, brought in an additional $14.3 million internationally though even that didn’t touch the reported $75 million budget for the film’s production.
The film, which opened on December 6, 2019 in North America, made the majority of its domestic take – $656,500 to be exact via Box Office Mojo – during its opening weekend. To put that into perspective, Joker made over $350,000 more during that same weekend which happened to be that film’s tenth in release. Playmobil’s low opening box office made it the lowest a movie showing in over 2,000 theaters has ever made in its opening weekend.
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The film did not fare well critically, either. Playmobil: The Movie sits at a rotten 17% on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer where a common critique is that it’s less a movie and more a long, semi-elaborate commercial that, according to RogerEbert.com’s Nell Minow doesn’t even work in that capacity, either.
“It does not even work as a commercial, never showing us why these toys could be especially fun to play with.”
You can check out the synopsis for the movie below.
“Playmobil: The Movie takes audiences on an epic comedy adventure through a sprawling imaginative universe in the first-ever feature film inspired by the beloved, award-winning Playmobil® role-play toys. Packed with humour and excitement the film combines endearing and hilarious characters, thrilling adventure and breathtaking scenery in this originally animated heart-warming tale.
When her younger brother Charlie (Gabriel Bateman) unexpectedly disappears into the magical, animated universe of Playmobil®, unprepared Marla (Anya Taylor-Joy) must go on a quest of a lifetime to bring him home. As she sets off on a fantastic journey across stunning new worlds, Marla teams up with some unlikely and heroic new friends – the smooth-talking food truck driver Del (Jim Gaffigan), the dashing and charismatic secret agent Rex Dasher (Daniel Radcliffe), a wholehearted misfit robot, an extravagant fairy-godmother (Meghan Trainor) and many more. Through their vibrant adventure, Marla and Charlie realize that no matter how life plays out, you can achieve anything when you believe in yourself!”