Why Jenna Ortega's Klara And The Sun Bombed At The Box Office

Less than a decade ago, Taika Waititi was one of the most popular filmmakers in the industry. He rejuvenated the Thor franchise with the cosmically delightful "Thor: Ragnarok," which radically changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Plus, he won an Oscar for "Jojo Rabbit." But now, it seems the director's reputation has cooled, as his name couldn't put butts in seats for his latest quirky sci-fi flick "Klara and the Sun," which is looking to be one of the biggest box office bombs of 2026. So what happened? Check out Looper's video above for the full breakdown.

First and foremost, "Klara and the Sun" failed to connect with critics. The film has an abysmal 24% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its audience score stands at 74%, which may seem all right, but general audiences are usually more forgiving with films like this. It seems like this was a misfire for Waititi, who was adapting the popular novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Ishiguro's novel can be fairly bleak. It's melancholic and offers a contemplative look at an AI friend trying to understand humanity through her new best friend. Waititi's film takes some quirkier diversions and places a greater emphasis on comedy. Fans of the book may have seen the trailers and decided to stay away, realizing — accurately — that what they loved about the novel wasn't what they were going to get here. 

"Klara and the Sun" got the short end of the stick before it even came out in theaters. Sony originally planned the film to release in 1,900 theaters in the United States but slashed that to 880 days before it came out. That'll naturally affect any film's box office performance. Worse, Following a disastrous showing, Sony went so far as to cancel the film's international release. Not only was the film designated as bad, but the studio gave up on it before it could find an audience.

But maybe finding an audience was always a fool's dream. After all, "Klara and the Sun" came out on October 23 in the midst of a ton of other options for moviegoers to check out, including DC's "Clayface," the video game adaptation "Street Fighter," and the surprise hit documentary "You Can See Everything." 

Ultimately, Taika Waititi is blaming critics for his film's poor showing. The filmmaker took to Instagram to write, "This Halloween, let's spare a thought for those sad lost souls who couldn't achieve their dreams of becoming artists, and thus settled, and became critics. The same people who also hated Jojo Rabbit." It's an odd statement, especially considering how "Jojo Rabbit" was generally well-received by reviewers. 

"Klara and the Sun" didn't resonate with audiences, who had plenty of other options to choose from. Hopefully, Waititi's next film performs better, and in the meantime, for those of you who watched and enjoyed "Klara and the Sun," there are other movies like it to tide you over. For more details surrounding the breakdown of "Klara" in theaters, watch Looper's video above.