Harold and the Purple Crayon, the newest moviestarring Zachary Levi, is one of the top movies on Netflix.Harold and the Purple Crayon’srecent success comes just months after Netflix, the most popular streaming service in the world, refused to buy the film.Harold and the Purple Crayonis based on the children’s book of the same name, and follows Levi’s character, who resides in an animated world and can create anything just by drawing it. In addition to Levi, the movie also stars Zooey Deschanel, Tanya Reynolds, and Alfred Molina.
On Netflix’s Top 10 Movie chart,Harold and the Purple Crayoncurrently sits at no. 5. The movie was released in theaters in August 2024, and was distributed by Sony. However, before the film’s theatrical debut, Sony reached out to Netflix to see if they were interested in acquiring the movie to debut on the streaming platform. Months after Netflix declined to buy the movie,Harold and the Purple Crayonperformed extremely well on the streaming service. Other notable films in the Top 10 includedWoman of the HourandKing Fu Panda 4.
Why Netflix Didn’t Buy Harold And The Purple Crayon
Several Other Animated Films Have Performed Very Well At The Box Office This Year
In the lead up toHarold and the Purple Crayon’stheatrical release, Sony was unsure how it would compete against films likeInside Out 2andDespicable Me 4. This ended up being a valid concern, asInside Out 2made almost $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office, becoming the highest-grossing animated movie of all time, andDespicable Me 4raked in an impressive $965 million. In comparison,Harold & the Purple Crayononly made $31 million on a $40 million budget.
Netflix is more focused on spending money on making higher-quality movies, rather than buying movies from other production companies.
In recent years, Netflix has garnered a reputation for purchasing films that are no longer slated for theatrical release. Therefore, it made sense for Sony to reach out to the streaming service. However, Netflix was not interested inHarold and the Purple Crayondue totheir new content strategy plan to reestablish its reputation as a streaming service for quality films. Therefore, Netflix is more focused on spending money on making higher-quality movies, rather than buying movies from other production companies.
Our Take On Harold & the Purple Crayon’s Netflix Success
The Movie Was A Box Office Bomb
GivenHarold & the Purple Crayon’srecent success on Netflix, it does seem likely that the public reception of the movie would’ve been better if it was released directly on the streaming service. However, in addition to being abox office bomb, itsRotten Tomatoes score is only 27%, which likely convinced many not to go to the theater to seeHarold & the Purple Crayon. Therefore, while its failure likely would’ve been less noticeable if it premiered directly on Netflix,Harold & the Purple Crayonwas still undoubtedly not a successful film by any means.
Harold and the Purple Crayon
Cast
Harold and the Purple Crayon is a fantasy film based on the book of the same name by Crockett Johnson. Zachary Levi stars as Harold, alongside Lil Rel Howery, Zooey Deschanel, and Jemaine Clement. The film revolves around Levi’s character, who can make his drawings come to life with his purple crayon.
