Henry Cavill’s Argylle suffered tremendously not only at the box office but also in the critic reviews. The spy thriller film helmed by Kingsman director Matthew Vaughn led a promising introduction with its star-studded cast, but even with the tandem of The Witcher star and John Cena, the movie still flopped.
Meanwhile, the animated adventure comedy film The Garfield Movie is making waves on its weekend premiere. The beloved cat is definitely attracting viewers out of pure nostalgia, and funnily enough, its box office debut earned higher than Argylle’s worldwide gross!
The Garfield Movie Director Reveals Why The Character Remains Timeless
Director Mark Dindal talked about the inspiration behind creating The Garfield Movie and why it remains a popular figure throughout the decades. He told Animation Scoop:
There’s a universal quality to him, which there has to be because he’s been around for 45+ years. And what I thought was interesting, because we had access to the 45 years’ worth of comics in the database to do research… you could go to comics from last week or 30 years ago.
The reason why many fans find Garfield so relatable is that he shares the same mundane preferences as humans. The filmmaker stated how “universal things as loving food, hating Mondays, wanting to take a nap” make him a timeless character.
Bringing Garfield to the big screen entails a lot of creative brainstorming. Fans who grew up with the character have absolutely seen many shows featuring the famed orange cat. The film needs to introduce something novel.
I was really excited about that element from the start, because in a feature, especially, we always look for other facets to the character… other levels of dimension and depth you can explore.
Dindal shared that they added “another facet of Garfield in terms of vulnerability and insecurity that we haven’t seen very much.” He also remarked that the movie promises tons of “absurd comedy and visual humor” but it will also find “a place for some heart.” Can fans expect some tear-jerking moments? There’s only one way to find out!
Fans Roasted Henry Cavill’s Argylle
The Garfield Movie has opened in theaters, and despite its low Memorial Day opening while simultaneously battling Anya Taylor-Joy’s Furiosa, the film proved to be a better option for moviegoers than Henry Cavill’s Argylle.
As per Box Office Mojo, The Garfield Movie earned $98 million on its debut weekend, while Argylle has a disappointing worldwide total of $96 million. The latter’s budget was $200 million, causing Universal Pictures to lose tons of money.
Fans also agree that The Garfield Movie is so much better than Argylle. Read their tweets below:
Makes sense lol
— Chainsaw Reacts (@ChainsawReacts) May 27, 2024
Admittedly I saw Argylle in theaters. It was like my funeral for Matthew Vaughn
— ThisIsAllYourFault (@ASometimesBest) May 27, 2024
As it should. Argyle is one of the worst films of all time.
— Travjt2 🇵🇸🍉 (@Travjt2) May 27, 2024
One of these movies has a cat begging to be buried in cheese.
The other has a cat that gets hurled into the air.
This isn't hard.
— Scott Rohrbeck (@scottler424) May 27, 2024
Gardield gonna cooked by greatness pic.twitter.com/Qsu3PscAoO
— CJ (@Christi84323915) May 27, 2024
There’s no denying that the poor marketing for Argylle has greatly affected its performance, but more significantly, the early negative reviews have spread like wildfire, convincing fans that it’s not worth their time.
Argylle is available to stream on Apple TV+. The Garfield Movie is now showing in theaters worldwide.
