On Box Office Mojo, it goes like this:
OW: $14.7 million
DOM: $58.4 million
WW: $69.9 million
Curious George marked Universal’s first animated film released in theaters since the 1995 box-office-bomb-but-now-cult-classic, Balto. This film had been in development hell at Imagine Entertainment since 1990 with plans to either make a live-action or a full-CGI movie before settling on 2D at the suggestion of the producer and Imagine co-founder Ron Howard. Universal had bought merchandising rights to George from Houghton Mifflin in 1997, and following Vivendi Universal’s acquisition of the publisher in 2001, plans were made for Curious George to serve as the company’s Mickey Mouse-like mascot with the film being the launchpad to that goal.
The film received positive reviews upon release on February 10th, 2006 and opened at third place behind Pink Panther (#1) and Final Destination 3 (#2) with over $14 million. It had solid legs domestically thanks to having essentially no animated competition until Ice Age 2 was released at the end of March (Hoodwinked had been out for a month by that point and Doogal, released 2 weeks after Curious George, was dead on arrival). Domestic total was at over $58 million, outgrossing other 2006 animated films like Doogal, Hoodwinked, The Wild, Everyone’s Hero, and The Ant Bully. International box office was incredibly low however with just over $11 million.
Following this film, Universal Animation Studios refocused itself on producing animated films direct to video, including 5 Curious George sequels. A Curious George series also aired on PBS Kids in September of 2006 and would go on to air 13 seasons until 2022 (the last 4 seasons debuted on Peacock).
Universal launched a new family/animation studio called Illumination a year after Curious George’s release, with its first film Despicable Me premiering in 2010. Universal would then acquire DreamWorks Animation in 2016, helping the studio become a true competitor to Disney/Pixar in the theatrical animation landscape.
Matthew O'Callaghan hasn’t directed a theatrical animated film after this. He directed Open Season 2 which was released direct-to-video in most of the world (although it got a theatrical release in a few countries including Russia) and 6 3D Looney Tunes shorts for Warner Bros and Reel FX.
by Alberto9Herrera
4 Comments
50M? Really?
That means it lost ~$30 million even before marketing, right?
Such a cute movie. I watched it a lot when I was a kid.
I’ve remember that animated film during my childhood especially with an animated show on PBS Kids