‘The Cat in the Hat’ Opens to a Whisper, but Warner Bros. Is Betting on Word of Mouth
Dr. Seuss movies have had a complicated life at the box office. The 1957 book is a children’s classic, yet the 2003 live-action adaptation starring Mike Myers grossed $134 million worldwide against a $109 million budget. Seuss’s widow was so irate with the film that she prohibited any further live-action adaptations of her husband’s works.
Warner Bros. Pictures Animation and Dr. Seuss Enterprises set out to change that story with an animated take. The film is the first on a slate of projects the 2 companies are developing together, with Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja writing and directing and DNEG Animation serving as the studio partner. Carloni previously directed ‘Kung Fu Panda 3’, while Rivinoja wrote ‘Trolls’ and ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2’. After moving off its original February slot, it finally landed in theaters on November 6.
The opening weekend for ‘The Cat in the Hat’ was quieter than anyone at Warner Bros. would have hoped. The film earned $20.5 million domestically from 4,003 theaters, the widest release of any movie that weekend. It was made on a reported budget of $92 million.
The domestic debut was on par with the studio’s own projection, but it trails other Dr. Seuss adaptations by a wide margin. ‘The Lorax’ opened to $70.2 million in 2012, ‘The Grinch’ took $67.6 million in 2018, and even the maligned 2003 film debuted with $38.3 million. Forecasts had the new film above $40 million a month before release, and the number fell steadily as the weekend approached. One projection a week out had it between $25 million and $35 million, before tracking settled between $15 million and $22 million.
The film took second place behind ‘Godzilla Minus Zero’, which opened to about $31.6 million and set a North American opening record for a foreign-language live-action film. That means the Cat had the widest release of the weekend and still finished behind a Japanese sequel. Thursday previews were soft at roughly $1 million, and Friday brought $6 million, which is well below the $11.2 million the 2003 film made on its opening day.
Internationally, the picture added $10 million from 60 markets for a worldwide start of $30.5 million. Dr. Seuss films have not historically made a big splash overseas, and this one has staggered its international rollout, with around half of the territories set for later debuts through the rest of the year.
Audiences have been kinder than critics. The film earned an A CinemaScore, while reviews landed at 45% on Rotten Tomatoes and a middling 47 on Metacritic. It is still faring better critically than the 2003 version, which sits at 11% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Warner Bros. is hoping the strong audience grade helps the film play through Thanksgiving and into December. The run will face competition from Disney’s ‘Hexed’, which arrives on November 25. A family-friendly animated title can build slowly, and comparable titles show what is possible: ‘GOAT’ opened to $27 million and reached $195 million worldwide, while ‘The Wild Robot’ debuted at $35 million on its way to $334 million.
New trailer for ‘The Cat In The Hat’, in theaters on November 6th. The trailer features Hilary Duff’s new song “CATastrophe.” https://t.co/TJetaIUUZY
— ToonHive (@ToonHive) October 4, 2026
Bill Hader voices the Cat, who arrives in a new town to cheer up 2 siblings who are struggling to adjust. Hader also serves as an executive producer, alongside Susan Brandt, the president and CEO of Dr. Seuss Enterprises. The supporting voice cast includes Quinta Brunson, Bowen Yang, Xochitl Gomez, Matt Berry, Paula Pell, America Ferrera, Tituss Burgess and Giancarlo Esposito.
For Warner Bros., the stakes go beyond one weekend. Commentators have framed the debut as another disappointment in a year of mixed results for the studio, and unless the film rebounds, its $92 million budget leaves a lot of ground to cover.
Its performance also matters because it is the first feature in a planned Dr. Seuss animated universe. Warner Bros. had an incredible 2025 at the box office, stretching from ‘Sinners’ to ‘Superman’, which only sharpens the focus on how its 2026 slate is performing.
Do you think 'The Cat in the Hat' can recover from its disappointing opening weekend and become a holiday box office hit?
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