Sony Pulls Klara and the Sun From Theaters
The Kazuo Ishiguro adaptation earned about $15 per theater on its final day before Sony stopped reporting daily grosses.
Updated on Nov. 10, 2026 in Science Fiction
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Sony removed Klara and the Sun from theaters after it earned an average of $15 per theater. The film, based on the sci-fi novel by Kazuo Ishiguro and starring Amy Adams and Jenna Ortega, opened in a little under 900 theaters on October 23, 2026.
Why it matters
The film's weak box office and poor reviews reportedly led Sony to cancel its wide release and global rollout, showing how quickly a major studio science fiction release can be pulled. The result is a sharp example of the financial risk studios face when a high-budget genre film fails to find an audience.
The film's opening weekend gross was $701,000 and its total global gross is less than $3 million against a reported budget as high as $44 million. Its final daily gross was just over $13,000, and the filing does not confirm the exact production cost.
The players
Sony
Sony is a major Japanese multinational entertainment company whose film studio distributes Hollywood releases worldwide.
Taika Waititi
Taika Waititi is a New Zealand filmmaker known for directing and writing acclaimed comedies and fantasy films.
The details
Sony stopped reporting the film's daily grosses after two weeks, and the film's final daily gross was just over $13,000. The film is rated 26% on Rotten Tomatoes and will be available on PVOD.
Timeline
October 23, 2026: Klara and the Sun opened in a little under 900 theaters.
November 5, 2026: Sony stopped reporting the film's daily grosses.
Industry Dynamics
The release fits a broader pattern in which studios pull back on mid-budget theatrical films that fail to find an audience in a crowded market. Sony's decision to cancel the wide release marks a sharp departure from the usual approach of expanding a film after an opening.
Viewers who wanted to see Klara and the Sun in theaters have lost that option after its removal, and the film is expected to reach home viewing through PVOD. Audiences will need to rent or buy it digitally rather than watch it on a big screen.
The takeaway
A major studio's decision to pull a science fiction film after two weeks shows how quickly poor reviews can end a theatrical run. Readers interested in the genre can track how these releases perform as the market evolves.
Further reading
Explore more on Science Fiction to see how the genre's theatrical releases compare with this underperforming adaptation.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Collider.
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