Harold and the Purple Pencilthe newest film starring Zachary Levi, is one of Netflix’s top films. Harold and the Purple Pencil The recent success comes just months after Netflix, the world’s most popular streaming service, refused to buy the film. Harold and the Purple Pencil is based on the children’s book of the same nameand follows the character of Levi, who resides in an animated world and can create anything just by drawing. In addition to Levi, the film also stars Zooey Deschanel, Tanya Reynolds and Alfred Molina.
Harold and the Purple Pencil released in theaters in August 2024 and distributed by Sony. However, before the film’s release in theaters, Sony contacted Netflix to see if they were interested in acquiring the film to premiere on the streaming platform. Months after Netflix refused to buy the film, Harold and the Purple Pencil performed extremely well on the streaming service, placing 7th on Netflix’s Daily Top 10 over the weekend. Other notable films in the Top 10 included Woman of the hour and King Fu Panda 4.
Why Netflix Didn’t Buy Harold and the Purple Pencil
Several other animated films performed very well at the box office this year
In preparation for Harold and the Purple Pencil theatrical release, Sony wasn’t sure how it would compete with films like Inside Out 2 and Despicable Me 4. This turned out to be a valid concern, as Inside Out 2 grossed nearly $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office, making it the highest-grossing animated film of all time, and Despicable Me 4 grossed an impressive $965 million. In comparison, Harold and the Purple Pencil made just $31 million on a $40 million budget.
Netflix is ​​more focused on spending money on producing high-quality films rather than purchasing films from other production companies.
In recent years, Netflix has earned a reputation for purchasing films that are no longer slated for theatrical release. So it made sense for Sony to turn to the streaming service. However, Netflix was not interested in Harold and the Purple Pencil due to its new strategic content plan to reestablish its reputation as a quality movie streaming service. Therefore, Netflix is ​​more focused on spending money on producing higher quality films rather than purchasing films from other production companies.
Our opinion on the success of Harold & the Purple Crayon on Netflix
The film was a box office bomb
Given Harold and the Purple Pencil recent success on Netflix, it seems likely that the film’s public reception would have been better had it been released directly on the streaming service. However, in addition to being a box office bomb, its The Rotten Tomatoes score is just 27%which probably convinced many not to go to the theater to see Harold and the Purple Pencil. So although its failure would probably have been less noticeable if it had debuted directly on Netflix, Harold and the Purple Pencil it was still, without a doubt, a successful film by any means.