The Day the Earth Stood Still Remake Box Office: Keanu Reeves Sci-Fier Bombs Domestically

The Day the Earth Stood Still remake with Keanu Reeves: Box office underperformer in the domestic market.

The Day the Earth Stood Still remake box office: No. 1 position on the domestic chart likely not enough

Dec. 12–14 weekend box office: Distributed by 20th Century Fox, directed by Scott Derrickson, and starring Keanu Reeves, the critically panned The Day the Earth Stood Still remake was the no. 1 movie on the North American (U.S. and Canada only) chart, with $30.5 million from 3,560 theaters according to final studio figures found at boxofficemojo.com.

The alien non-invasion drama could theoretically reach the $100 million milestone in the domestic market, but that won’t get even close to covering its $80 million budget (as always, not including marketing and distribution costs).

Also in the cast: Oscar winner Jennifer Connelly (A Beautiful Mind, 2001) as a Princeton University astrobiologist and the alien’s romantic interest, Jon Hamm, Jaden Smith, Kyle Chandler, John Cleese, and another Oscar winner, Kathy Bates (Misery, 1990), as the United States Secretary of Defense.

Directed by Robert Wise, the 1951 classic starred Patricia Neal and Michael Rennie.

Solid global box office gross likely not enough

Update: After dropping nearly 70 percent on weekend no. 2, it became clear that the 2008 The Day the Earth Stood Still remake would not get close to $100 million domestically. Indeed, it ultimately collected only $79.4 million in the U.S. and Canada, in addition to more than twice that amount – $153.7 million – internationally. Worldwide total: $233.1 million.

That’s a solid global figure, though likely not enough for the movie to recover its overall cost at the box office alone.

The Day the Earth Stood Still’s top international markets were Japan ($25.1 million), the United Kingdom/Ireland ($10.9 million), Russia/CIS ($10.2 million), France ($9.8 million), Mexico ($9.6 million), Spain ($8.8 million), Germany ($8.1 million), South Korea ($7.5 million), Italy ($6 million), Australia ($5.6 million), and Brazil ($5 million).

Reese Witherspoon returns to the no. 1 slot with Four Christmases

Dec. 5–7 weekend box office: Starring Oscar winner Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line, 2005) and Vince Vaughn, Seth Gordon’s “family” – or rather, “families” – holiday comedy Four Christmases was the top movie for the second consecutive weekend, raking in $16.8 million while lifting its domestic cume to $69.4 million.

Although the holiday comedy can hardly be called a blockbuster, its sturdy domestic performance is surely good news for Reese Witherspoon, whose commercial allure was badly battered by the 2007 box office dud Rendition ($9.7 million domestically; $27.1 million worldwide).

In fact, when it comes to Witherspoon’s personal box office chart, Four Christmases’ $31.1 million first-weekend (Nov. 28–30) gross trails only that of Andy Tennant’s Sweet Home Alabama, which took in $35.6 million (not adjusted for inflation) back in September 2002.

Now, a quick reality check: Four Christmases reportedly cost a hefty $80 million – or about as much as The Day the Earth Stood Still. In other words, the Witherspoon-Vaughn combo is still a long way from breaking even at the box office.

Besides Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn, the Four Christmases cast also includes Tim McGraw, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Favreau, and a quartet of Oscar winners from decades past: Sissy Spacek (Coal Miner’s Daughter, 1980), Mary Steenburgen (Melvin and Howard, 1980), Robert Duvall (Tender Mercies, 1983), and Jon Voight (Coming Home, 1978).

Strong domestic performer – but not a profitable one

Update: The Reese Witherspoon-Vince Vaughn combo Four Christmases ultimately collected $120.1 million domestically and $44 million (apparently incomplete) internationally. Worldwide total: $164.1 million – not enough for the holiday comedy to recover its sizable budget.

Its top international markets were the United Kingdom/Ireland ($15.9 million), Australia ($4.9 million) and Russia/CIS ($2.6 million).

Note: France’s figure ($1.8 million) appears to be incomplete.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still Remake Box Office” endnotes

Unless otherwise noted, “The Day the Earth Stood Still Remake Box Office: Keanu Reeves Sci-Fier Bombs Domestically” box office information via Box Office Mojo. Budget info – which should be taken with a grain of salt – via BOM and/or other sources (e.g., the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Screen Daily, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Deadline.com, etc.).

Comments about The Day the Earth Stood Still, Four Christmases, and other titles being hits/profitable or flops/money-losers at the box office (see paragraph below) are based on the available data about their production budget, additional marketing and distribution expenses (as a general rule of thumb, around 50 percent of the production cost), and worldwide gross (as a general rule of thumb when it comes to the Hollywood studios, around 50–55 percent of the domestic gross and 40 percent of the international gross goes to the distributing/producing companies).

Bear in mind that data regarding rebates, domestic/international sales/pre-sales, and other credits and/or contractual details that help to alleviate/split production costs and apportion revenues are oftentimes unavailable, and that reported international grosses may be incomplete (i.e., not every territory is fully – or even partially – accounted for).

Also bear in mind that ancillary revenues (domestic/global television rights, home video sales, streaming, merchandising, etc.) can represent anywhere between 40–70 percent of a movie’s total take. However, these revenues and their apportionment are only infrequently made public.

Keanu Reeves The Day the Earth Stood Still movie image: 20th Century Fox.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still Remake Box Office: Keanu Reeves Sci-Fier Bombs Domestically” last updated in February 2023.