Smokewood Entertainment and Relativity Media were hoping to launch a new film franchise based on the popular kids book series. But the $20 million film, distributed by Relativity Media in the U.S., has grossed just $13.4 million to date.
Judy Moody and the NOT Summer Bummer arrived in theaters Friday, grossing $2.2 million to secure the No. 7 box office spot.
The Relativity Media film is based on Megan McDonald‘s bestselling book series (there are reportedly 13 million copies in print worldwide) and is targeting girls aged 6 to 12. Relativity Media is distributing the film on behalf of Smokewood Entertainment, which also came up with the film’s marketing budget.
Reviews for the 91-minute pic have been mixed, with some praising its stylized esthetic — The New York Times wrote “Take the animated adolescent flourishes of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and apply them to a hyperactive child’s imagination, and you have an idea of the texture of Judy Moody … Schultz’s rambunctiously exuberant film” — and others simply being underwhelmed. The Hollywood Reporter‘s Kirk Honeycutt writes that the summer flick, directed by John Schultz, is “a for-small-children movie that excludes everyone else.”
The film, written by McDonald and Kathy Waugh, chronicles Judy Moody’s (Jordana Beatty) determination to have the most thrilling summer of her life, aided by her brother Stink (Parris Mosteller) and fun-loving Aunt Opal (Heather Graham).
Producers are Smokewood’s Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness.
Check out the trailer below for a taste of the film.
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