Zendaya’s Latest Movie Does What Challengers Couldn't

An A24 movie featuring Zendaya has achieved a box office milestone that eluded her previous film in the genre, Challengers. The new movie has crossed the $100 million global threshold and is yet another hit in her filmography.

The Drama becomes fifth A24 movie to cross major milestone, beats Challengers

The Drama, a romance feature from writer-director Kristoffer Borgli, has crossed $100 million worldwide (via Deadline). The milestone places it among an exclusive group of A24 titles. It joins Marty Supreme ($181 million), Everything Everywhere All at Once ($148 million), Civil War ($127 million), and The Materialists ($108 million).

The Drama’s global total now exceeds the final worldwide total of Zendaya’s Challengers. The latter ended its theatrical run with $96.1 million globally, with $50.1 million domestic and $46 million international (via Box Office Mojo).

Produced by Ari Aster, Lars Knudsen, and Tyler Campellone, The Drama was made with a net budget of $28 million. It does not present a conventional romance narrative. The movie is broadly about whether one can accept the person they fell in love with or let their past mar the couple’s present.

After impeccable marketing and star cast camaraderie, the film opened to $14.3 million domestically, a figure comparable to Challengers’ $15 million domestic start, and an initial $28 million worldwide. Current running totals stand at $40 million stateside and $60 million from international markets.

In terms of international performance, The Drama recorded the highest opening for an A24 production in the United Kingdom at $2.8 million. It has a current cumulative total of $10.6 million in that territory. The film also secured the second-best debut for an A24 title in France at $1.8 million. This figure only trails Marty Supreme, with a total gross of $5.3 million. In Italy, the opening of $1.4 million represented the second-highest bow for the studio in that market.

Audience data provided by A24 indicates a demographic tilt toward women (60%) and viewers under the age of 35 (80%). Furthermore, polling suggests that 80% of attendees purchased tickets specifically to see both Zendaya and Robert Pattinson.