Based on Jim Davis’ beloved comic strip about a Monday-hating, lasagna-loving feline, The Garfield Movie is primed to break a 20-year-old $208 million box office record when it hits theaters over Memorial Day Weekend. The Garfield Movie, which features Chris Pratt as the voice behind the grumpy title character, will go head-to-head with another massive franchise flick, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. However, given the films’ vastly different audiences, the cynical orange tabby cat, and the animated film’s comedic heist plot, has a shot at reeling in viewers of all ages.
The Garfield Movie‘s cast of characters is impressive, with Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) voicing Odie, Garfield’s dim-witted beagle pal, and Nicholas Hoult lending his voice to Garfield and Odie’s owner, Jon Arbuckle. The catalyst for the film is the stray cat Vic (Samuel L. Jackson), Garfield’s estranged father, though the movie’s ensemble also includes Ted Lasso actors Hannah Waddingham and Brett Goldstein, Abbott Elementary‘s Janelle James, Saturday Night Live favorites Cecily Strong and Bowen Yang, and even Snoop Dog. Of course, The Garfield Movie is hardly the first flick about the popular comic-strip character.
Twenty years ago, audiences “got ready for frisky business” when Garfield: The Movie hit theaters. A blend of live-action actors and animated characters, the 2004 Garfield adaptation features comedian Bill Murray as the voice of the CGI tabby. In the first flick, Jon Arbuckle (Breckin Meyer), Garfield’s owner, accidentally adopts Odie. A rambunctious dog and the enemy of Garfield, Odie doesn’t say more than two words to his eventual feline pal. Although Garfield: The Movie was slammed by critics, it made an impressive $208 million at the box office and spawned a sequel, 2006’s Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties.
Out of every Garfield movie, the 2004 film was the most commercially successful outing for Jim Davis’ cartoon cat. A Tail of Two Kitties was still a box office success, garnering $143.3 million, but it fell several million short of the 2004 movie’s peaks. While 2007’s Garfield Gets Real goes the self-referential Who Framed Roger Rabbit route, the fun flick was only released on Amazon Prime Video. Meanwhile, the feline’s more recent cinematic outings have been Tubi-exclusive specials. All of that to say, The Garfield Movie should have no problem surpassing Garfield: The Movie‘s box-office record.
Between Garfield‘s Chris Pratt, who recently voiced Mario in the runaway commercial success that was 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Sony Pictures Animation’s track record, The Garfield Movie will likely be a massive box office smash. Sony’s record-breaking animated hits have included franchises like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and the Spider-Verse films. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse garnered an impressive $690.9 million, while The Super Mario Bros. Movie earned a staggering $1.362 billion. It’s hard to imagine The Garfield Movie having the same pull as Mario, but the odds are certainly stacked in the cat’s favor.