DreamWorks’ Forgotten Island opens Sept. 25 with a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score but soft box office tracking. Its story of two teen best friends echoes Be Fri, the Pixar film Disney reportedly scrapped.
Forgotten Island hasn’t opened yet, and it’s already the best-reviewed movie DreamWorks has ever made.
The animated film hits U.S. theaters Friday, Sept. 25. As of Wednesday, it held a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes from more than 30 critics. That’s higher than Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon, per SuperHeroHype.
The box office forecast is a different story. And it’s hard not to think about a Pixar movie that never got the chance to find out.
What is Forgotten Island about?
Two best friends, one magic island, and a ticking clock on their memories.
The movie is set in the Philippines in the 1990s. Jo and Raissa have been friends since they were little. Right around high school graduation, they get into a fight, and then they get pulled into Nakali, a hidden island full of creatures from Filipino folklore.
The catch is that the island erases memories. If they don’t get out fast, they’ll forget each other.
Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado wrote and directed it. They’re the pair behind Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, and they based the movie partly on their own friendship.
Is Forgotten Island going to flop?
Too early to say, but the numbers are soft.
Boxoffice Pro’s long-range forecast from Aug. 28 had the movie opening between $20 million and $30 million. By Wednesday, Box Office Theory had it lower, at $14 million to $19 million, pointing to “modest pre-sale activity” with about 95% of schools in session.
Boxoffice Pro also called out Universal’s “scanty marketing campaign.” Original animated movies don’t come with a built-in audience the way a sequel does.
There’s a real upside, though. Box Office Theory said it “wouldn’t be surprising” to see word of mouth push it higher, with fall breaks ahead and not much family competition. DreamWorks’ Abominable opened to $20.6 million in the same late-September slot in 2019.
This weekend it goes up against the Avengers: Endgame re-release, Resident Evil, Primetime and Heart of the Beast.
What was Pixar’s Be Fri?
A movie that sounds a lot like this one.
Be Fri was an original Pixar film from director Kristen Lester, who made the Pixar short Purl. It followed two teen girls who are best friends. Their friendship cracks after they find out their favorite TV show, a Sailor Moon-style series, is real.
It was in the works for about three years before Disney shut it down, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal and The Hollywood Reporter this spring.
Why did Disney cancel Be Fri?
The reported reason caused a stir.
The Hollywood Reporter quoted an unnamed Pixar staffer in April who said, “Disney just didn’t feel like little boys could see themselves in the film enough.” That staffer wasn’t in the meeting and was passing along what they’d heard, so take it with some salt.
Still, that’s a worry about who buys tickets. None of the reporting said Disney expected the movie to flop.
So here’s the question Forgotten Island might answer this weekend. Will families show up for a fantasy adventure built around two girls and their friendship? Disney bet no. DreamWorks and Universal bet yes.
Who is in the Forgotten Island voice cast?
A strong lineup, with a lot of Filipino talent.
H.E.R. as Jo
Liza Soberano as Raissa
Dave Franco as Raww, a were-aspin (a shape-shifting dog creature)
Lea Salonga as the Dreaded Manananggal
Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Dolly de Leon, Ronny Chieng and Jo Koy
The soundtrack features Filipino acts including the pop groups Bini and SB19, plus H.E.R. and Salonga. Parts of the 2D animation were done by Snipple Animation, a studio based in Manila.
Is Forgotten Island OK for kids?
It’s rated PG and runs 1 hour and 49 minutes. Some of the folklore creatures are meant to be scary, and Salonga’s manananggal is a monster from Filipino legend that splits its body in half to fly at night. Younger kids may want a hand to hold.
The Philippines got the movie first, on Sept. 23. DreamWorks first announced it in April 2025 and showed an early cut at CinemaCon this past April.
The movie also got a big send-off Wednesday night in Los Angeles. It was the first film to hold a premiere at George Lucas's new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, per Laughing Place. Filipino fast-food chain Jollibee, which has a promo tie-in with the movie, sent its famous bee mascot to walk the carpet.
If it opens small and hangs around, that’s a win too. Plenty of animated movies make most of their money after the first weekend. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish opened to about $12 million and ended up a hit, and that’s the same directing team.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Rotten Tomatoes (accessed Sept. 23, 2026), the score, rating, runtime and cast
SuperHeroHype (Sept. 2026), the comparison with Shrek and How to Train Your Dragon
Boxoffice Pro (Aug. 28, 2026), the long-range forecast and marketing quote
Box Office Theory (Sept. 23, 2026), the weekend forecast and quotes
The Hollywood Reporter (April 10, 2026), via The A.V. Club, the Be Fri report and staffer quote
Laughing Place (Sept. 2026), the Lucas Museum premiere
Wikipedia (accessed Sept. 23, 2026), the plot, cast, soundtrack and release dates, as a starting point only
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