Forgotten Island Looks Unlikely to Clear $25 Million Opening Weekend

Universal and DreamWorks Animation's "Forgotten Island" is set to open wide domestically on September 25, with the studio and trade press confirming the release date well in advance. That much is settled fact. What isn't settled is the number that matters for this market: The Numbers still lists the domestic box office field as "n/a," meaning no estimate or actual has surfaced yet for the three-day opening weekend. The only hard figures on the board come from overseas, where the film has already begun its international rollout. Australia delivered a modest $523,093 debut, and the worldwide total sits at roughly $1.5 million heading into the U.S. launch. These are early, foreign-market numbers, not a stand-in for the domestic three-day gross, and they shouldn't be read as decisive. But they do add a note of caution about how loudly this title is registering with audiences ahead of its stateside bow. Without domestic tracking, presale reports, or an official estimate in hand, there is no direct evidence pointing to a blockbuster-sized domestic opening. That absence of strong signal, combined with the modest early international returns, is consistent with hesitation about reaching the $25 million mark. The single thing to watch is the first domestic estimate itself, likely to surface once Thursday previews and Friday numbers are reported, which will finally replace speculation with an actual trajectory.