The new Zachary Levi movie has debuted with a record low for the star. Levi is an American actor who had his breakout role in the NBC show Chuck, an espionage action comedy that ran for five seasons between 2007 and 2012. He scored his first movie hit in a leading role when he voiced the iconic character Flynn Rider in the 2010 Disney animated musical Tangled, a role that he followed by appearing in the successful superhero movies Thor: The Dark World, Thor: Ragnarok, and Shazam!.
However, more recently, Levi has led some notable theatrical flops. His 2023 sequel Shazam! Fury of the Gods grossed just $134.1 million against its roughly $125 million budget, making it the second-lowest-grossing DC Extended Universe movie behind that same year’s Blue Beetle ($130.8 million). Levi followed that by starring in the 2024 children’s book adaptation Harold and the Purple Crayon, which grossed $32 million against its $40 million budget. However, his new movie will likely gross even lower than either of those тιтles.
The Unbreakable Boy Has Broken A Record For Zachary Levi
It Earned His Worst Wide Release Debut
The Unbreakable Boy has broken a dismal record for Zachary Levi during its opening weekend. In the inspirational drama, Levi plays Scott LeRette, the father of Austin (Jacob Laval), who is on the autism spectrum and has brittle bone disease. The cast of the movie also includes Meghann Fahy, Drew Powell, and Patricia Heaton. The Unbreakable Boy release was delayed significantly for unknown reasons, as it was pulled from the schedule eight days ahead of its original release date on March 18, 2022, without an explanation.
Filming wrapped on The Unbreakable Boy in late 2020, so the now 17-year-old Laval is significantly older in real life than his onscreen character.
Per Variety, as of Saturday morning, The Unbreakable Boy is projected to earn a 3-day total of $2.4 million at the domestic box office by the end of its opening weekend. The movie, which is playing in 1,687 theaters, will debut outside of the Top 5 entirely. It also marks the worst wide release opening weekend that Zachary Levi has ever earned, behind the 2008 political parody movie An American Carol, in which he held a small role as Lab Tech 1. See how his new movie compares to his previous worst wide release domestic opening weekends below:
тιтle |
Theaters |
Opening Weekend |
---|---|---|
The Unbreakable Boy (2025) |
1,687 |
$2.4 million (projected) |
An American Carol (2008) |
1,639 |
$3.8 million |
American Underdog (2021) |
2,813 |
$5.9 million |
Harold and the Purple Crayon (2024) |
3,325 |
$6 million |
The Star (2017) |
2,837 |
$9.8 million |
Big Momma’s House 2 (2006) |
3,261 |
$27.7 million |
Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023) |
4,071 |
$30.1 million |
What This Means For The Unbreakable Boy
Its Budget Is Unknown
At the time of writing, the budget of The Unbreakable Boy has not yet been reported, though it is very likely much lower than those of Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Harold and the Purple Crayon, as both of those тιтles had significant special effects requirements. This means that, even though the movie is tracking even lower than those flops, it could very well make its money back. However, it still may struggle, as its quiet debut and 48% Rotten Tomatoes score indicate that it might not have much staying power at the box office.
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Source: Variety