Along with delivering some seriously good cinematic experiences. 2024's also brought some movie misfires and box office flops, including the live-action "Harold and the Purple Crayon" movie.
Carlos Saldanha's family action-comedy wasn't exactly well-received when it arrived in August. This new take on the beloved children's tale failed to charm moviegoers and it failed to recoup its reported $40 million budget at the box office.
Mere months after its unimpressive theatrical debut, however, "Harold and the Purple Crayon" has crashed into the Netflix Top 10 days after hitting the platform on October 31. At the time of writing, it's currently sitting in fifth place, not far behind Netflix originals like "Time Cut" and "Don't Move". That's got to sting for Sony, considering Bloomberg reported that the streamer refused to buy distribution rights from Sony in the months leading up to release.
Surprised that the box office bomb's finding some streaming success? Well, this isn't all that unusual. After all, poorly received flicks frequently draw in curious viewers once they become available on one of the best streaming services. Consider the fact that "Madame Web" was one of the most-watched movies on Netflix during the week it was released (per Netflix's global streaming chart) as further proof.
If you've spotted "Harold and the Purple Crayon" climbing the Netflix charts and are considering checking it out, here's a little more info about the movie to help you make your mind up.
What is 'Harold and the Purple Crayon' about?
Carlos Saldanha's "Harold and the Purple Crayon" is a live-action family action-comedy based on the children's book series written by Crockett Johnson.
The movie essentially serves as a continuation of the story. Having grown up with his titular magic crayon (which can bring anything Harold draws to life, via the power of imagination), the movie revolves around a grown-up Harold (played by Zachary Levi) who draws himself off the pages of his book and into the real world.
There, Harold discovers he has an awful lot to learn about life, and his powers can cause a little chaos. And when the power of imagination falls into the wrong hands, he and his friends set out to take it back, saving both the real world and his own in the process.
In addition to Levi, "Harold and the Purple Crayon" also stars Lil Rey Howery, Jermaine Clement, Tanya Reynolds, Alfred Molina and Zooey Deschanel.
Should you stream 'Harold and the Purple Crayon' on Netflix?
Honestly, no, I really don't think "Harold and the Purple Crayon" has much to offer viewers. 2024's given us some seriously good family-friendly movies, including "Inside Out 2", "Orion and the Dark" and "The Wild Robot" — to name just a few — movies which "Harold and the Purple Crayon" simply doesn't measure up to. Its humor falls flat, Levi's performance is, frankly, just kind of annoying, and there are just so many other things you could watch, instead.
Unless you're really curious to see why the movie disappointed so many viewers, I would recommend avoiding "Harold and the Purple Crayon". Check out our round-up of the best family movies on Netflix to plan your next movie night, instead.
It's not just me saying that, either. At the time of writing, "Harold and the Purple Crayon" has a paltry 27% critics' score (from 71 reviews) on the review aggregate site, Rotten Tomatoes, indicating very few critics loved the time they spent with it.
Case in point, RogerEbert.com critic Peter Sobczynski gave it a single half-star rating, writing: "Here is a film that pays lip service to the importance of creativity without ever displaying a demonstrable shred of it during its seemingly interminable run time.
Similarly, The Hollywood Reporter's Frank Scheck said it is "unlikely" that "Harold and the Purple Crayon" will have the same staying power as the original story, adding: "it's hard not to wish that in the future, Harold will stick to the cartoon world where he belongs".
That's not to say everyone disliked it. While I'm very suspicious of the 91% Popcornmeter score (just look at the audience comments to see why), there are some viewers claiming that their kids and younger family members had a blast watching "Harold and the Purple Crayon". And if it's working for them, maybe it will work for other families who stream it on Netflix, too.
That said, I'd still strongly recommend you take a look at our list of the best Netflix movies before committing to this particularly forgettable flick.
