Picture: Sony Pictures
Over the summer, Sony Pictures unleashed its new family comedy movie Harold and the Purple Crayon, headlined by Zachary Levi, Lil Rel Howery, and Benjamin Bottani. The movie has become a bit of a punching bag and didn’t perform all that well at the box office, but will it get a second wind on Netflix? We’ll soon find out.
Directed by Carlos Saldanha, the new movie adapts the Crocket Johnson book about a young boy who can make anything come to life simply by drawing it. Despite positive audience reviews (albeit less than stellar critics reviews), the movie hasn’t set the box office on fire since its initial release, which grossed about $29.2 million in total, based on its budget of $40 million.
Reviews from critics weren’t very positive, with it only carrying 26% on RottenTomatoes, but it does have audiences on its side, with it carrying the new Verified Hot rating from audiences with a 91% score.
According to a recent Bloomberg report, Sony Pictures actually tried shopping the movie to Netflix ahead of its theatrical release, but the streamer wasn’t interested.
When will Harold and the Purple Crayon be on Netflix in the United States?
As the movie is with Sony Pictures, it will fall under the distributor’s first window deal with Netflix since the beginning of 2022. That deal states that following the theatrical window closing, Netflix will hold the movie for 18 months. That’s why movies like Madame Web, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, and others are all streaming on Netflix right now.
Typically, a movie takes around 120 days to drop onto Netflix following its initial theatrical release. In the case of Harold and the Purple Crayon, that’d make its preliminary Netflix US release date November 30th, 2024.
However, thanks to a Netflix Kids & Family newsletter, we know it’s actually coming much sooner. They confirm that Harold and the Purple Crayon will touch down on Netflix on October 31st, 2024! It’ll remain on Netflix for 18 months before moving to Hulu or Disney+ sometime around April 2026.
Harold And The Purple Crayon
When will Harold and the Purple Crayon be on Netflix Globally?
Netflix US won’t be the only region getting Harold and the Purple Crayon later this year. Around the same time (late November), Netflix in India will receive the film alongside the US, and soon after, regions like Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Africa will stream the movie.
Other regions, including some European territories, such as Germany and the Netherlands, will receive the movie in 2025.
For those in the United Kingdom or Canada, other providers have the first window rights, but from our observations, Netflix holds the second window rights, meaning it’ll be sometime in mid-2026 when the movie drops on Netflix there.
Are you checking out Harold and the Purple Crayon when it drops on Netflix? Let us know in the comments.
