^{Credit: Forgotten Island (Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation)}

Universal has ruled the box office throughout 2026, with Obsession, The Odyssey, Michael, Minions & Monsters, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie taking the Hollywood giant past $5 billion. Unfortunately, this winning streak hasn’t extended to DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island. On an $80 million budget, Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado’s film only managed to gross $12.8 million domestically over its opening weekend, plus $7.8 million from other territories. It came in fifth on the domestic chart behind Avengers: Endgame Encore, Resident Evil, Primetime, and The Heart of the Beast. Forgotten Island drastically underperformed despite great reviews, with Cartoon Contender giving it a 4.5 out of 5. 

One could argue that late September wasn’t the best time to release a family-friendly film with kids going back to school. Then again, that didn’t hurt The Wild Robot, another DreamWorks film released around this time two years ago. Maybe this particular weekend was too crowded for Forgotten Island to compete, although it’s not like the film has the same demographic as Primetime or Resident Evil. Endgame Encore likely fed into some of Forgotten Island’s box office potential. When given the choice between a seven-year-old movie with less than five minutes of extra footage and a completely original film, audiences chose the latter. Don’t get me wrong. Endgame is my favorite MCU movie, but you can’t blame Hollywood for not taking chances on originals when the general public doesn’t show up. 

That said, audiences have sought out other originals in 2026, with Obsession becoming one of the most profitable movies ever. On the animation front, Pixar’s Hoppers made just under $400 million. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to $1 billion+ that Toy Story 5 grossed. For a movie like Forgotten Island, though, almost $400 million sounds pretty good right about now. Even Disclosure Day’s $241 million or GOAT’s $195.3 million would be considered a win at this point. While some of the aforementioned films were more successful than others, all of them demonstrate that there are audiences who are thirsty for original stories. They just didn’t seek out Forgotten Island for whatever reason. 

Optimistically speaking, maybe people are being too quick to label Forgotten Island a box office bomb. If Coyote vs. Acme has proven anything over the past few weeks, it’s that legs and word of mouth still exist. Back in 2023, Elemental had one of Pixar’s worst opening weekends ever. That film stuck around over the ensuing weeks, though, eventually earning almost $500 million worldwide. Of course, Elemental’s opening weekend was more than double Forgotten Island’s. So, the DreamWorks film won’t just need to hang in there. It’ll have to climb to reach the break-even point. Elemental also got a huge boost overseas. Maybe Forgotten Island will too, but that remains to be seen.  

One could also compare Forgotten Island to another Crawford/Mercado film: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. That spinoff-sequel only made $12.4 million during its first three days, opening against Avatar: The Way of Water. The Last Wish remained in the domestic Top 10 for almost three months, however, ending its run with $480 million worldwide. The difference is that The Last Wish came out over Christmas, which radically increased its box office potential. Instead of the whole family being out on break, a good chunk of Forgotten Island’s target audience is cooped up in school for five days of the week. A September sleeper hit isn’t unheard of, but Forgotten Island desperately could’ve used a holiday season boost. 

At least Forgotten Island is already doing better than DreamWorks’ Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, which couldn’t even pass the $50 million point worldwide by the end of its run. Forgotten Island should cross that milestone, but it’s a pretty low bar. Unless Forgotten Island can turn things around over the next few weeks, it might be this year’s Elio. That Pixar film also got mostly positive reviews, but it barely made $150 million against a budget that might’ve exceeded $200 million. Although Forgotten Island didn’t cost as much as Elio, it may face similar struggles on its way to profitability. 

Elio nonetheless got something of a happy ending, scoring a Best Animated Feature nomination. Some might chalk this up to weaker competition and the so-called “Disney/Pixar mafia.” While 2025 might have fewer offerings than 2026, Elio still got in over several films that performed much better financially, including The Bad Guys 2, Dog Man, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle. I’m not gonna act like block voting doesn’t exist, but I don’t think Elio just got nominated because it was a Pixar film. I believe that the Academy’s Animation Branch wanted to support an original film in a year where almost every animated theatrical release was based on an existing IP. Although audiences didn’t do right by Elio, the Academy did. That may also be the case for Forgotten Island. 

The animation community wants to embrace original stories that feel personal to the filmmakers. Few 2026 films overflow with more creativity or culture than this one. Box office success or not, Forgotten Island still stands a much better shot at an Oscar nomination than a fun yet risk-free blockbuster like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. A win might be harder to pull off with disappointing box office, but a nomination may be enough to vindicate DreamWorks’ investment. Forgotten Island doesn’t deserve to be forgotten. It isn’t just an original animated film. It’s one that takes every advantage of the medium, pushing it forward through the craft and themes on display. Whether it eventually finds an audience at the box office or through streaming, the Academy should remember. 

Nick Spake is the Author of Bright & Shiny: A History of Animation at Award Shows Volumes 1, 2, and 3. Available Now!