The sequel to Julia Roberts' $315 million blockbuster beats the original in two major ways

White BirdThe follow-up to the wildly successful 2017 Julia Roberts movie Wonderhas been relatively well received by critics since its release in October 2024. However, for all the positives associated with the movie, White Bird failed to match the original in two key ways. Granted Wonders almost universal popularity, it is likely that any follow-up would struggle to match its impact. Even so, the contrast between the releases of the two movies seems particularly stark.

Whereas Wonder Centered on the coming-of-age story of Auggie Pullman (played by Jacob Tremblay) and the complex family dynamics affecting his parents (Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson), White Bird Focuses on other characters in the story. Instead of revisiting Auggie's journey, The sequel revolves around Julian Albans - An antagonistic presence in the first film - explores two different time periods as Julian's grandmother relays a story from the 1940s. This represents a major narrative shift, and perhaps explains why White Bird failed to be Wonder In two important ways.

Why White Bird's box office is more than $300 million lower than Wonder's

The original movie made $315 million

The most noticeable difference between the two movies is in their financial performance. Where the 2017 original made $315 million at the global box office, White Bird took just over $6.3 million – Despite the films almost identical budgets. Given the international success of the first film, this return is perhaps surprising. However, a closer examination reveals that there are clear reasons why White Bird is always likely to underwhelm.

For starters, the sequel lacks the star power of the original. While Helen Mirren is a famous actress, she doesn't have the box office pull of Julia Roberts and Owen Wilson. A second consideration is the story. Instead of following the same characters that proved so popular in Wonder, White Bird Acts like more of a spinoffPrioritize the stories of figures who previously were not popular parts of the story. For anyone familiar with Wonders story, the decision to focus on the previous movie's bully.

It is also the unusual story of the movie. White Bird is much less conventional than WonderTells two distinct stories over an 80-year period. For audiences already skeptical of the character focus, the structure may feel too unconventional and too much of a departure from what worked so well in Wonder.

White Bird's Rotten Tomatoes score compared to Wonder's: Why critics like it less

It's close, but Wonder clearly comes out on top

Both films in the franchise have done quite well with critics. Whereas Wonder Received 85% positive reviews according to the review aggregator Rotten tomatoes, White Bird Earned a less impressive but still noteworthy 72%. The 13% discrepancy comes down to some important differences between the projects - specifically in their tone.

Wow Wonder successfully managing to negotiate the difficult balancing act between sentimentality and believable emotion, Some critics felt that White Bird Got a little too branchy in places. In a mixed review for The Jerusalem PostCritic Hannah Brown complained of the film's "Moments of heavy kitsch"- indicative of issues other critics have with the film. The fact that White Bird Dealing with the complex subject of the Holocaust means that such over-sentimentality appears shocking in a way that it did not with Wonder - Perhaps explain the discrepancy in critical scores.

White Bird Beat Wonder's Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score

It has 99% on rotten tomatoes

maybe novelty White Bird has struck Wonder In one key area - its Rotten tomatoes Audience score. Wow Wonder holds a still impressive 88%, White Bird sits at a near-perfect 99%, indicating an overwhelmingly positive reaction from audiences who actually saw the movie. The key to this difference may actually lie in the function that some critics have taken issue with.

Whereas critics have proven consistently cynical when it comes to projects that emphasize sentiment (the negative critical scores of movies like The notebook being a prime example), these deliberately emotional stories often resonate with audiences. It's not unusual for similar projects to have noticeably higher audience scores (although 99% is exceptional by any metric). Although it is clear that White Bird Failed to find a huge audience, viewers who have seen the film seem to be impressed.