The Squid and the Whale backdrop
The Squid and the Whale movie poster

The Squid and the Whale

2005 • R • 1h 21m • Comedy, Drama • Samuel Goldwyn Films

Joint custody blows.

🍅 91% 81% MC 82 LB 3.70 IMDb 7.3

Box office summary

Opening Weekend
$130K
3-day opening
Domestic Total
$7.4M
Final
Worldwide Total
$11.2M
$3.8M international
Domestic Legs56.8x
Budget$1.5M
Compare with other movies

Cast & Crew

Full Baumbach filmography
Noah Baumbach Noah Baumbach Director Jeff Daniels Jeff Daniels Starring Laura Linney Laura Linney Starring Jesse Eisenberg Jesse Eisenberg Starring Anna Paquin Anna Paquin Starring William Baldwin William Baldwin Starring
ScreenplayNoah Baumbach Produced byWes Anderson Music byDean Wareham, Britta Phillips StudioSamuel Goldwyn Films
Save comparisonsSave your matchups and
revisit them any time
Predict the weekendPredict the top five and
move up the leaderboard
Rate filmsRate movies and pin your
favorites to your profile
One account.
The whole box office.
Save comparisonsSave and track the matchups you create
Predict the weekendPredict this weekend’s top 5, top the leaderboard
Rate filmsRate movies and display favorites on your profile
Create free account

The run

WkWeekendRankGrossChgTheatersAvgTotal
1 Oct 7-9 37 $129.8K — 4 $32,461 $154.5K
2 Oct 14-16 24 $279.9K +115.6% 27 $10,368 $501.2K
3 Oct 21-23 30 $315.3K +12.6% 40 $7,883 $915.5K
4 Oct 28-30 28 $285.2K −9.6% 59 $4,834 $1.3M
5 Nov 4-6 20 $400.2K +40.3% 81 $4,941 $1.8M
6 Nov 11-13 23 $410.9K +2.7% 90 $4,566 $2.4M
7 Nov 18-20 20 $280.9K −31.6% 80 $3,511 $2.8M
8 Nov 25-27 23 $353.6K +25.9% 82 $4,312 $3.3M
9 Dec 2-4 22 $307.3K −13.1% 102 $3,012 $3.7M
10 Dec 9-11 23 $220.6K −28.2% 115 $1,918 $4.0M
11 Dec 16-18 19 $218.1K −1.1% 132 $1,652 $4.3M
12 Dec 23-25 23 $146.5K −32.8% 123 $1,191 $4.6M
13 Dec 30-Jan 1 24 $289.9K +97.8% 131 $2,213 $5.1M
14 Jan 6-8 26 $275.6K −4.9% 151 $1,825 $5.6M
15 Jan 13-15 29 $269.8K −2.1% 143 $1,887 $6.0M
16 Jan 20-22 32 $204.0K −24.4% 117 $1,744 $6.3M
17 Jan 27-29 38 $165.6K −18.8% 110 $1,505 $6.6M
18 Feb 3-5 42 $105.7K −36.2% 82 $1,289 $6.8M
19 Feb 10-12 47 $87.8K −16.9% 76 $1,156 $6.9M
20 Feb 17-19 49 $94.1K +7.1% 66 $1,426 $7.1M
21 Feb 24-26 52 $73.8K −21.5% 56 $1,319 $7.2M
22 Mar 3-5 58 $60.3K −18.4% 57 $1,057 $7.3M
23 Mar 10-12 61 $34.0K −43.6% 32 $1,063 $7.3M
24 Mar 17-19 75 $13.2K −61.1% 12 $1,102 $7.4M
Charts show the first 10 weeks · the run above is the full record
Weekend grossWk 10 · $220.6K
$129.8K
$279.9K
$315.3K
$285.2K
$400.2K
$410.9K
$280.9K
$353.6K
$307.3K
$220.6K
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10
Weekend-over-weekend dropWk 10 · −28.2%
+115.6%
W1→2
+12.6%
W2→3
−9.6%
W3→4
+40.3%
W4→5
+2.7%
W5→6
−31.6%
W6→7
+25.9%
W7→8
−13.1%
W8→9
−28.2%
W9→10
Steepest −31.6%Biggest gain +115.6%

Profitability

Return on Budget
Theatrical breakeven point is approx. 2.5x production budget

Domestic vs International Split

Similar movies

Frances Ha 2012 · Baumbach $4.1M While We're Young 2014 · Baumbach $7.6M The Truman Show 1998 · Weir $125.6M A Real Pain 2024 · Eisenberg $8.3M The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou 2004 · Anderson $24M Bad Words 2014 · Bateman $7.8M

Box office comparisons

Build your own comparison →

No head-to-head comparisons featuring The Squid and the Whale yet — build one in seconds.

Build your own comparison →