THE BRIDE! is a Monster-Sized Box Office Bomb With $13.6M Opening Against $90M Budget
Things aren’t looking great for The Bride!, the monster movie from Maggie Gyllenhaal arrived in theaters with a lot of curiosity surrounding it, but the film’s opening weekend numbers paint a rough picture.
After four days in theaters, the movie has only managed to pull in $13.6 million worldwide, putting it on track to become one of the biggest box-office disappointments of 2026.
The film also landed with mixed reactions from critics. It debuted with a 60% score on Rotten Tomatoes, which has since slipped to 59%. While that score isn’t disastrous on its own, it didn’t help the film build much momentum with audiences heading into opening weekend.
Competition didn’t do it any favors either. The movie opened against Scream 7, Wuthering Heights, and Hoppers, all of which pulled attention away from Gyllenhaal’s offbeat monster tale.
On top of that, The Bride! has had to share premium screens, including IMAX, with the latest Disney Pixar release that launched the same day and has already brought in an impressive $88 million.
The numbers tell the story pretty clearly. The film earned $7.3 million domestically and another $6.3 million from international markets. That $13.6 million global opening is a tough start for a film that reportedly cost around $90 million to produce, with an additional $65 million spent on marketing, according to Variety.
The film features a pretty impressive cast led by Christian Bale and Jessie Buckley. The story puts a strange but interesting spin on classic monster lore.
Buckley plays famed author Mary Shelley as she shares a follow-up tale to her 1818 novel Frankenstein. In the story, Bale’s lonely Creature sets out to find a “mad scientist” capable of creating him a companion in 1930s Chicago.
Once the experiment succeeds and sparks literally fly, Frank and his new foul-mouthed partner hit the road. The two embark on a chaotic and violent journey across the country, dodging police and frightened townsfolk as they make their way toward Niagara Falls.
The supporting cast is loaded with talent as well, including Jake Gyllenhaal, Annette Bening, Peter Sarsgaard, and Penélope Cruz.
Unfortunately, star power hasn’t translated into ticket sales so far. With such a steep production and marketing budget, The Bride! faces an uphill battle if it hopes to claw its way toward profitability. For now, the film is off to a pretty disastrous start.
I personally enjoyed the movie, and thought it was a very unique take on the Frankenstein story. While the movie was messy, I appreciated what Gyllenhaal was trying to do and I liked how off the wall bonkers it was! But, its also easy to see what the movie didn’t connect with audiences.