Summary
Harold and the Purple Crayon, a movie sequel to the children’s book of the same name, has become another entry in a string of recent box-office disappointments for star Zachary Levi. Levi had a recent hit when he starred in the 2019 DC superhero movieShazam!However, he followed that with roles in a string of underperforming movies, including the sequelShazam! Fury of the Gods, which became the second lowest-grossing movie of the entire interconnected franchise. This has now been capped off by theHarold and the Purple Crayonrelease.
PerDeadline, as of Saturday morning,Harold and the Purple Crayonis projected to earn a three-day opening weekend of roughly $6 millionat the domestic box office. This sees it debut outside the Top 5 entirely, coming in below the grosses ofInside Out 2weekend 8,Despicable Me 4weekend 5, theTrapopening weekend,Twistersweekend 3, andDeadpool & Wolverineweekend 2. This gross also pales in comparison to the movie’s $40 million budget, which likely gives it a break-even point of $80 million or more.
Can Zachary Levi Pull Out Of His Box Office Slump?
The Star’s Grosses Began To Slip In 2021
It remains to be seen if Levi will find himself on a career upswing afterHarold and the Purple Crayon.
Although the box office losses of theHarold and the Purple Crayonmoviecould be considerable, the movie’s performance is a reflection of a general trend for Levi in recent years.His overall box office performance began to slip in 2021during the time that many movies were failing to get a foothold at the global box office as theaters were reopening after worldwide pandemic-related closures. Below, see a breakdown of how his wide-release theatrical movies have fared since 2021:
$14 million
$7.5 million
$25 million
$26.5 million
~$125 million
$134 million
While it seems possible thatHarold and the Purple Crayonwill perform better thanThe Mauritanian, it is set to have a roughly similar domestic opening toAmerican Underdog’s $5.8 million, which could indicate that it ison track to earn less than $30 million worldwide by the end of its run. This could potentially be catastrophic for thenew Zachary Levi moviegiven its budget, especially if it cannot find a foothold on streaming after the end of its theatrical run.
Zachary Levi’s New Movie Is Weirdly Similar To A 22-Year-Old SpongeBob SquarePants Episode
Zachary Levi’s new movie, Harold and the Purple Crayon, is a fantasy adventure that is weirdly similar to a popular SpongeBob SquarePants episode.
It remains to be seen if Levi will find himself on a career upswing afterHarold and the Purple Crayon. However, his upcoming projects see him moving away from franchise filmmaking after the one-two punch ofShazam! 2andHarold, as he will next be seen in the 2025 survival thrillerNot Without Hopeand the family dramaThe Unbreakable Boy. While neither movie seems like a tentpole blockbuster, they are lower-budget movies that have stronger chances of earning their money back and setting the star’s prospects back on track before he moves back into bigger titles.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Cast
Harold and the Purple Crayon is a fantasy film based on the book of the same name by Crockett Johnson. Zachary Levi stars as Harold, alongside Lil Rel Howery, Zooey Deschanel, and Jemaine Clement. The film revolves around Levi’s character, who can make his drawings come to life with his purple crayon.
