Hugh Jackman Suffers Lowest Box Office Opening...

Missed the Bullseye: Hugh Jackman Suffers Lowest Box Office Opening in Five Years with ‘The Death of Robin Hood’

LOS ANGELES — Barely a year after dominating global cinema with the multi-billion-pound success of Deadpool & Wolverine, Hollywood A-lister Hugh Jackman has suffered a rare box office misfire as his latest prestige drama completely stalled during its debut weekend.

The Death of Robin Hood, an R-rated, darkly revisionist take on the classic English folklore legend, opened across 1,762 theatres in North America on Friday 19th June, pulling in a disastrous $2.6 million (approximately £2.05 million).

The disappointing figure forced the film to settle for a lowly ninth place on the domestic charts. Crucially, the dismal reception marks Jackman’s lowest box office opening for a wide theatrical release in five years, underperforming against his live-action/CGI family hybrid The Sheep Detectives, which successfully secured a $15 million (£11.8 million) opening frame just last month.

A Grim and Gritty Tale Fails to Click

Distributed by indie powerhouse A24, who paid an initial $4 million for the film's domestic distribution rights, and budgeted at a modest $20 million (£15.8 million), the feature represents a sharp creative departure from traditional Sherwood Forest blockbusters.

Directed by Michael Sarnoski (Pig, A Quiet Place: Day One), the narrative explores a battle-weary, ageing Robin Hood (Jackman) grappling with his own mortality while severely wounded and trapped in the hands of a mysterious woman, portrayed by Emmy winner Jodie Comer. The star-studded ensemble cast is rounded out by Noah Jupe, Murray Bartlett, and Bill Skarsgård.

Despite making its world premiere to warm applause at the Sydney Film Festival on 12th June, the film's wider theatrical rollout ran into immediate trouble. General audiences flatly rejected the feature's bleak, adult-oriented tone, saddling the project with a highly damaging "C+" CinemaScore—a metric that usually signals rapid box office decline in the weeks ahead.

Crushed by the Summer Competition

Industry analysts note that while A24's financial risk remains relatively insulated due to the film's low production costs, the sheer density of the summer box office left little room for a slow-burning historical drama.

The weekend frame was completely dominated by Disney and Pixar’s record-shattering Toy Story 5, which pulled in a year-best $160 million (£126.3 million) to secure the biggest opening in franchise history. Adult audiences were also heavily drawn to holdover hits, including Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day, which retained second place with $17 million, and Neon's competing horror debut Leviticus.

The $2.6 million haul represents Jackman's poorest wide-release debut since August 2021, when his sci-fi noir Reminiscence tanked with $1.9 million. However, box office historians point out that Reminiscence opened under highly compromised, pandemic-era conditions while simultaneously streaming on HBO Max, leaving the unfiltered theatrical failure of Robin Hood looking significantly more severe.

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The Legacy Trap

The underwhelming debut places a sudden, uncomfortable spotlight on the commercial viability of revisionist period dramas, which have historically struggled to captivate modern younger demographics without the backing of an established franchise banner.

While Jackman’s star power remains entirely unquestioned globally following his historic superhero runs, the data indicates that audiences are increasingly selective about which projects they are willing to leave the house to support.

With A24 already pivoting their summer marketing efforts towards their highest-grossing historical horror hit Backrooms, Jackman's grim archer looks destined to quietly slip away from theatres and look toward a more favorable reception on digital streaming platforms later this autumn.