Taika Waititi Slams Critics After Klara Box-Office Flop — SkimNews
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- Taika Waititi launched a scathing social media attack on critics after Klara and the Sun flopped at the box office, calling them 'sad lost souls' who are 'out of touch' and 'obsolete'.
- Klara and the Sun earned $701,000 in its first weekend across 880 North American theaters, averaging under $800 per venue and landing at 16th place at the box office.
- Rotten Tomatoes shows a stark divide between audience and critic reception, with the film holding a 74% audience score compared to a 26% critics' score based on 90 reviews.
- Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film one star, calling it 'unbearably mannered' and 'unspeakably acted,' echoing his negative review of Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit.
- Wendy Ide in the Observer criticized the film as 'thin and cloying,' accusing it of replacing the novel’s depth with 'self-conscious quirkiness,' while Tim Grierson of the LA Times described its tone as 'stultifying' and 'exasperating'.
- Klara and the Sun saw a 79% drop in its second weekend, earning $145,000 from a similar number of theaters, signaling a steep commercial decline.
- The UK release mirrored the film’s North American performance, opening with £176,000 from 368 venues, averaging £477 per theater.
Why it matters: The film’s $44m investment now faces massive financial risk after earning less than 2% of its budget domestically in its first two weeks, while Waititi’s dismissal of critics risks alienating media voices crucial to future projects’ reception. The gap between audience and critic scores suggests a polarized response that could complicate awards or streaming performance.
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