Just because Inside Out 2 has nabbed the top spot on the list of the highest-grossing animated movies of all time doesn’t mean that it’s guaranteed to win Best Animated Picture at the Oscars next year. DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot has been getting rave reviews recently, and it’s emerged as a contender for next year’s film awards. The Wild Robot is even projected to bring in $20 million or more during its opening weekend, which may potentially be enough to take the No. 1 slot at the box office.
Chris Sanders wrote and directed the adaptation of Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot, and the story follows Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), a robot who has been lost and stranded on a forest island. But instead of fruitlessly trying to escape, Roz learns how to communicate with the animals as she befriends a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal) and an opossum called Pinktail (Catherine O’Hara). Roz even adopts a baby goose, Brightbill (Kit Connor), and raises it from a hatchling. She has found her purpose in the forest, but the lingering remains of Roz’s former existence may drag her away from the creatures that she has come to love.
Now that The Wild Robot has arrived in theaters, it’s time to answer the question that brought you here.
Is The Wild Robot streaming?
No. There have been DreamWorks Animation flicks that debuted in theaters on the same day as their streaming premieres, but The Wild Robot will not be one of them. In many ways, this film represents the end of an era for DreamWorks Animation, which will be moving away from animated movies in-house. There will still be DreamWorks animated flicks, like the upcoming Shrek 5, but The Wild Robot may be the studio’s chance to go out on a high note for its internally produced animated films.
Knowing DreamWorks’ track record, it’s entirely possible that there will be sequels to The Wild Robot if the movie attracts a steady audience over the next few weeks. The film’s budget was reportedly $78 million, so it shouldn’t be impossible for the movie to be profitable as long as it doesn’t collapse at the box office.
When will The Wild Robot be available to stream?
That depends entirely on how well the film does over the next few weeks. NBCUniversal — the parent company of DreamWorks Animation — has been known to rush underperforming movies to Peacock as soon as possible. For example, The Fall Guy kicked off the summer 2024 box office season and it was streaming by August. Meanwhile, Despicable Me 4, which was a major hit in July, has yet to begin its streaming run.
Another thing to keep in mind is that Peacock’s arrangement with DreamWorks Animation and Illumination only gives the streamer a few months with each new release before they go to Netflix for an extended period. The Wild Robot will likely follow the same pattern, but it won’t arrive on Netflix until some time in 2025.