The trio of Yorgos Lanthimos, Emma Stone, and Jesse Plemons has teamed up yet again for a mind-bending visual experience, as the science fiction satire Bugonia made its nationwide debut in theaters last weekend. A remake of Jang Joon-hwan‘s 2003 South Korean comedy Save the Green Planet!, the film boasts a stellar lead performance from Stone that many are calling her best since winning the Best Actress prize under Lanthimos’ guidance for 2023’s Poor Things. The film may have received positive praise from many critics and audiences, including an 86% rating from the former and 83% from the latter on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, but has it been a box office hit?
Sadly, Bugonia, like all other movies currently in theaters, has fallen to one of the worst Halloween weekends in modern memory, during an October month that has proven record-breakingly bad. Nevertheless, amid the negative carnage, Lanthimos’ latest mind-bender has reached its first box-office milestone, officially passing the $10 million mark worldwide. Split between $6 million domestically and $5.3 million from overseas markets, Bugonia‘s $11.3 million to date is born of a first wide-release weekend in which it finished fourth in the U.S. ranks. Only three movies were able to beat Bugonia this past weekend, with Sony’s Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc taking third place, the critically panned Regretting You in second, and the horror sequel Black Phone 2 in first place. For anyone yet to see Bugonia, a synopsis of the movie reads:
“Two conspiracy-obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.”
Yorgos Lanthimos Is Ready To Take a Break
Lanthimos has been one of the most prolific directors in recent memory, with him and Stone regularly teaming up on offbeat movies destined to become critical darlings. However, it seems this fast-paced schedule is taking its toll on the director, with Lanthimos admitting in an interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub that he is ready to take a break. In reference to the pace at which he makes movies, Lanthimos answered, “I can’t keep doing that anymore,” adding, “It’s a big mistake. I think I need a break. I’ve said that before in between the other three, but I’m serious now. You can hold me to it. I’m going to take a little break.”
Bugonia is playing in theaters now.
- Release Date
-
October 31, 2025
- Runtime
-
118 minutes
- Director
-
Yorgos Lanthimos
- Writers
-
Will Tracy, Jang Joon-hwan
- Producers
-
Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone, Lars Knudsen, Miky Lee, Ari Aster, Jerry Kyoungboum Ko
