Why the Star-Studded Cast Couldn’t Draw Crowds

Eden has been suffering at the box office, even though it boasts a cast that includes Ana De Armas, Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, and Vanessa Kirby. Directed by Ron Howard, Eden is a harsh and occasionally bizarre drama based on the conflict that brewed in 1929 when multiple parties tried to settle on the isle of Floreana in the Galápagos Islands. Despite having a cast that includes many of the year’s biggest stars, Eden has suffered at the box office and only debuted with a $1 million domestic gross.

While there are expectations that the film could eventually turn a profit through ancillary avenues, such as through home release and international distribution, Eden‘s lackluster showing at the box office stings because it’s exactly the kind of movie that used to be almost guaranteed a solid opening. There are multiple reasons the twisty and salacious drama of Eden didn’t even break the top ten at the box office, all of which speak to the current state of theatrical distribution in the cinematic landscape.

Eden Has Major Stars, But None Are Guaranteed Box Office Draws

Despite boasting a star-studded cast, Eden‘s theatrical release bristled against the realities of the theatrical landscape in some pretty disappointing ways. Sydney Sweeney, Vanessa Kirby, and Ana De Armas are all big-name actresses who are steadily cementing themselves as stars of the era. However, star power at the modern box office has limits.

This isn’t to decry the performances or the overall careers of the film’s stars. The main cast of Eden is uniformly fantastic, and do good work with their characters. However, Eden seems to be a reminder that even if they are considered to be A-list, none of them can draw in audiences just on their name alone.

Every major player in the film has been a star in a major hit, but none of them have proven to be bankable names all on their own. Sydney Sweeney may have helped launch Anyone But You into the cultural zeitgeist, but Eden is her second box office disappointment in as many weeks.

Jude Law and Daniel Brühl are stars, but are usually utilized in memorable supporting roles. Vanessa Kirby was arguably the star of Fantastic Four: First Steps, but it doesn’t seem like the acclaimed MCU film gave her much of a bump for this film.

Ana De Armas may be the future of the John Wick franchise, but her leading role in Ballerina only did okay at the box office — with the John Wick connection helping a lot. None of them is a guaranteed box office draw on their own, which seems to have failed to help Eden‘s domestic box office returns.

Eden’s Marketing Campaign Was Underwhelming

Sydney Sweeney gazes forward with a look of mild alarm in Eden

Something that underscores the difficulty Eden faced at the box office was the relatively reserved marketing campaign. Ron Howard directing a drama with this cast garnered plenty of excitement when Eden was announced, but there was little momentum from the studio to push the film.

When Eden premiered at TIFF in 2024, it was met with a mixed reception. While some, like Screen Rant’s Mae Abdulbaki, enjoyed the performances and the overall effect, others were more muted on the more overtly overwrought tone and purposefully dislikable characters of the movie.

The film even took a while to find a theatrical distributor, despite boasting an Oscar-winning director and plenty of successful stars. This gave the impression that there was little faith in the film’s box office hopes, or that the studio didn’t really know how to promote the island-based drama.

Eden’s Poor Box Office Is Part Of A Larger Problem

The box office problems for Eden aren’t just impacting Ron Howard’s new film. The theatrical landscape has morphed, especially with the rise of streaming as a home for new releases that can shorten theatrical release windows or bypass the big screen entirely. The kind of adult-oriented drama that Eden simply doesn’t move the needle as much at the box office anymore.

Ron Howard is one of the rare directors whose films always seemed to be the perfect mix of broadly appealing and high-minded material to do well at both the box office and in award season. However, more and more of those movies are moving to limited theatrical releases and then going to streaming, such as Spike Lee’s Highest 2 Lowest.

There’s an industry-wide challenge at the moment. Formerly safe bets like Disney Animation and the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been undercut by disappointing returns, even as their films do well and surge in popularity on VOD or streaming. Americana is another example of that challenge, a film that might have turned a tidy profit a decade ago that can’t draw audiences to the theater.

It was never on Eden to solve that problem, but the lack of publicity and mixed critical reception meant it had little chance of picking up steam before release. While Eden will likely find a second life when it makes the leap to streaming (which, as Deadline reports, is the likely expectation from the studio), it’s a shame the star-studded film couldn’t turn its impressive cast into box-office gold.