The Polar Express backdrop
The Polar Express movie poster

The Polar ExpressFollow

2004 • 1h 40m • Adventure, Animation, Family • Warner Bros.

A journey like you’ve never imagined.

Box office summary

Opening weekend
$23.30M
3-day opening
Domestic total
$163.00M
Final
Worldwide total
$286.00M
$123.00M international
Domestic legs6.98x
Budget$165M
2004 rank#10

Cast & crew

Full Zemeckis filmography
Robert Zemeckis Robert Zemeckis Director Tom Hanks Tom Hanks Starring Michael Jeter Michael Jeter Starring
ScreenplayRobert Zemeckis, William Broyles Jr. Produced bySteve Starkey, Robert Zemeckis, Gary Goetzman, William Teitler CinematographyDon Burgess, Robert Presley MusicAlan Silvestri StudioWarner Bros.

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal
1 Nov 12-14 2 $23.3M — 3,650 $6,389 $30.6M
2 Nov 19-21 4 $15.7M −32.8% 3,650 $4,292 $51.5M
3 Nov 26-28 4 $19.4M +23.8% 3,650 $5,312 $81.5M
4 Dec 3-5 3 $10.8M −44.4% 3,650 $2,952 $96.1M
5 Dec 10-12 4 $9.6M −11.0% 3,257 $2,943 $109.8M
6 Dec 17-19 4 $8.4M −12.3% 2,868 $2,932 $123.4M
7 Dec 24-26 6 $6.5M −22.4% 2,618 $2,493 $140.2M
8 Dec 31-Jan 2 8 $5.6M −14.1% 2,513 $2,232 $155.1M
9 Jan 7-9 13 $2.1M −63.1% 2,007 $1,030 $158.7M
10 Jan 14-16 21 $1.0M −51.2% 445 $2,269 $160.2M
11 Jan 21-23 24 $409.3K −59.5% 201 $2,036 $161.2M
12 Jan 28-30 27 $278.4K −32.0% 112 $2,485 $161.6M
13 Feb 4-6 32 $178.6K −35.8% 100 $1,786 $161.9M
14 Feb 11-13 26 $235.8K +32.0% 302 $780 $162.1M
15 Feb 18-20 30 $190.2K −19.3% 203 $937 $162.4M
16 Feb 25-27 37 $122.8K −35.4% 173 $710 $162.6M
17 Mar 4-6 40 $83.6K −32.0% 104 $803 $162.8M
Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record
Cumulative total$183.7M
Nov 10Nov 8Dec 24Jan 2Dec 7
Weekend grossWk 10 · $1.0M
$23.3M
$15.7M
$19.4M
$10.8M
$9.6M
$8.4M
$6.5M
$5.6M
$2.1M
$1.0M
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10
Theater countPeak 3,650 → 18 −99.5%
3,650 open18 now
Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · −51.2%
−32.8%
W1→2
+23.8%
W2→3
−44.4%
W3→4
−11.0%
W4→5
−12.3%
W5→6
−22.4%
W6→7
−14.1%
W7→8
−63.1%
W8→9
−51.2%
W9→10
Steepest −63.1%Biggest gain +23.8%

Run milestones

$100M in 30 days
$100M
Day 30
Dec 9

Profitability

Return on Budget
Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

A Christmas Carol 2009 · Zemeckis $138M Cast Away 2000 · Zemeckis $234M Forrest Gump 1994 · Zemeckis $327M WALL·E 2008 · Stanton $224M The Book of Life 2014 · Gutierrez $50.2M Return to Never Land 2002 · Budd $48.4M

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