The Phoenician Scheme Worldwide Box Office: Wes Anderson’s Dark Comedy Earns An Underwhelming Sum Of Less Than $10M

Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme has collected a little over $9 million since its debut, despite a strong RT score and a star-studded cast.

By
Arunava Chakrabarty
- June 8, 2025 | 6:23 PM IST
• Follow Us
• Join Us

The Phoenician Scheme is already running in theatres and has completed a week recently, but this time Wes Anderson’s signature style doesn’t seem to be drawing the same enthusiasm at the box office. Despite being a filmmaker with a solid reputation for crafting visually distinct stories and drawing consistent praise from critics, Anderson hasn’t struck gold with the general crowd with this new release.

The movie features a stacked cast led by Benicio del Toro, including Jeffrey Wright, Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Willem Dafoe, Benedict Cumberbatch, and many more.

The Phoenician Scheme: CinemaScore Reveals A Lukewarm Start

The Phoenician Scheme opened in just six locations and, as expected, delivered the best limited debut of the year. However, the film’s wider release brought a CinemaScore of B-, which is a dip compared to his last few outings. Asteroid City, for instance, had a B rating. For a director like Anderson, who often sidesteps mainstream trends and works with moderate budgets, this may not be alarming on the surface, but it hints at a slightly rougher road ahead.

The Phoenician Scheme Earns An Underwhelming Total At The Worldwide Box Office

The Phoenician Scheme had its limited release on May 30, 2025, and a wider release on June 6, 2025. It was released in the UK and Ireland on May 23, 2025, and in some select theatres on May 27, 2025. So far, the film has earned a total of $9.4M at the worldwide box office (via Box Office Mojo) at the time of writing. That’s a fair sum for a movie made on a $30 million budget (via Collider).

The Phoenician Scheme Box Office Breakdown:

• Domestic – $3.2M
• International – $6.1M
• Worldwide – $9.4M

The film’s Rotten Tomatoes score sits at a comfortable 79%, showing that critics are still on board even if the audience isn’t as excited this time.

Justin Chang of The New Yorker wrote, “The result is more digestible, though also less moving, than Anderson’s recent Asteroid City, but it does have a stealth emotional weapon in Threapleton’s Liesl, who exudes the intelligence and self-possession of a young Anna Karina.”

Sandra Hall of The Sydney Morning Herald penned, “Sometimes [Wes Anderson] strays too far into the arcane and the laughs get lost in the confusion but his best work is so gloriously ridiculous that you can forgive him anything. The Phoenician Scheme is in that category.”

The Grand Budapest Hotel Still Remains Wes Anderson’s Biggest Hit

The pattern becomes hard to overlook when compared to Anderson’s past projects (all numbers retrieved via Box Office Mojo). Asteroid City brought in about $53 million worldwide on a $25 million budget. The French Dispatch did roughly $46 million with a similar cost.

Going back further, Fantastic Mr. Fox reached $58 million globally with a better CinemaScore. The standout in his filmography remains The Grand Budapest Hotel, which crossed $174 million and still feels like the peak of Wes Anderson’s commercial reach.

Note: Box office numbers are based on estimates and various sources. Numbers have not been independently verified by Koimoi.

Stay tuned to Koimoi for more box-office updates and stories!

Must Read: Lilo & Stitch North America Box Office Day 15: Scores 2nd Biggest 3rd Friday Ever For A Memorial Day Release!

Follow Us: Facebook | Instagram | Twitter | YouTube | Google News