Daisy Ridley's New Movie Is In Theaters – But Disney Won't Reveal Its Box Office Numbers

Daisy Ridley, known best for her role as Rey in the "Star Wars" sequel trilogy, had a brand new, critically acclaimed movie in theaters this past weekend. One would be forgiven for not knowing that, though, as Disney didn't launch a huge campaign for the release of "Young Woman and the Sea." Be that as it may, the Mouse House believes they have a winner on their hands, which is why they put the movie in theaters in the first place. But it's not trying to rake in big bucks at the box office, that's for sure. In fact, the studio isn't even reporting box office numbers for the film at all.

Disney is not sharing official figures for "Young Woman and the Sea," which is odd for a company known for its dominance at the box office in the 2010s. Granted, Disney hasn't been nearly as dominant in the pandemic era, but that's a conversation for another time. As it relates to the movie at hand, the studio simply put this one in theaters believing that it has a shot at qualifying for awards later in the year. So, rather than dump it directly to Disney+, the company opted to give it a short run in theaters to perhaps bring some prestige in the form of awards season glory. That's what this is all about.

Estimates suggest that director Joachim Rønning's film brought in around $500,000 over the weekend, which isn't exactly a big number. That may well be why Disney isn't reporting numbers for this one. If the whole thing is about awards season and optics, then reporting underwhelming box office figures wouldn't help the cause any. For what it's worth, the film was originally going to be a Disney+ exclusive, but positive test screenings are what shifted the studio's thinking. They just didn't feel the need for a full-blown release with a major marketing push.

The film stars Ridley as Trudy Ederle, the accomplished swimmer who overcame adversity in the early 1900s to become the first woman to complete a 21-mile swim across the English Channel from France to England. Tilda Cobham-Hervey ("Hotel Mumbai"), Stephen Graham ("The Irishman"), Kim Bodnia ("The Bridge"), Christopher Eccleston ("Doctor Who"), and Glenn Fleshler ("Barry") also star. The film was originally set up at Paramount before Disney scooped up the rights in 2020.

Critics and audiences are very much on this one's side. "Young Woman and the Sea" holds an 84% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes to go with a near-perfect 98% audience score. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer said it was the highest testing film of his impressive career at CinemaCon earlier this year, which is no small thing. (You can listen to our own interview with Bruckheimer in the player at the bottom of this article.) So while the theatrical audience is relatively small thus far, those who have seen it seem to love it. It's a crowd-pleaser.

Might it have fared well if Disney pushed it more aggressively, rather than giving it a token awards-qualifying release? It's difficult to say. Original dramas without a genre hook have struggled during the pandemic era, with movies like director Sean Durkin's wrestling drama "The Iron Claw" ($45 million worldwide) and A24's Oscar-nominated "Past Lives" ($42 million worldwide) serving as relative exceptions. Whatever the case, it seems audiences will have be largely left to discover this one on streaming later this year.

"Young Woman and the Sea" is in theaters now.