The dreaded box office bomb, a phrase every production studio fears. Earning this label is often interchangeable with failure, although nuance needs to be exercised. A Hollywood blockbuster that cost 200 million and opened in 4000 domestic theaters is saddled with different expectations than an independent production that cost 5 million and mostly got special screenings. Just because a project falls short at the box office does not mean it is not worth watching; conversely, a runaway hit that remains at the top of the charts for weeks could easily disappoint many viewers.
After the Hunt will be remembered as one of 2025's biggest disappointments, in more ways than ways. Directed by Luca Guadagnino and starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri, and Andrew Garfield, the film cost roughly $80 million, which is a hefty sum for a drama. After the Hunt did not come close to recouping its budget, however, it might be able to acquire a second lease on life on Amazon Prime Video. Should you go out of your way to stream this bomb?
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How Big Of A Box Office Bomb Was After The Hunt?
Pretty Big
When someone thinks "box office bomb," they will likely remember extravagant action epics that made a lot of noise as they stumbled their way into and, eventually, out of theaters. Films like 47 Ronin, John Connor, Black Adam, Ben-Hur, Cowboys & Aliens, Fantastic Four, The Flash, Ghost in the Shell (USA version), Snow White (2025), Speed Racer, and Tomorrowland are synonymous with the concept, even though they are mostly watchable. Except for notoriously awful flicks like Gigli, the most famous flops are big-budget Hollywood productions that needed silly returns to break even.
Typically, smaller-scale releases like After the Hunt don't garner this type of reputation, but most dramas do not have Hollywood actors, budgets that could pass for mid-tier action epics, or spend nearly two weeks at more than 1000 domestic theaters. Nobody should have expected After the Hunt to make $100+ million at the box office, but its minimum budget of $80 million pretty much guaranteed that it needed to crack around $150 million to become a success. According to Box Office Mojo, After the Hunt made less than $10 million worldwide, and failed to break $3.5 million domestically (the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico).
After the Hunt made roughly $680,000 on October 17, 2025, which marked the debut of its domestic wide release. It ranked 7th at the box office, which proved to be its peak, and the movie was out of most cinemas by October 30th.
For a movie to turn a profit, the general rule of thumb is that it needs to double its budget, as the reported figure does not include marketing.
That's A Shame, But Did After The Hunt Do Well With Critics? Surely, The Few People Who Saw It Must Have Loved It...
Well, About That...
Like previously stated, box office revenue is a reflection of a movie's commercial appeal and not its quality. Niche stories like After the Hunt inherently have a narrower reach than something like Zootopia 2 or Wicked: For Good, and they tend to rely on positive word of mouth (or, at least, the digital variant) to garner momentum. Unfortunately, After the Hunt got a middling reception, which likely did not encourage people who were on the fence to see it in theaters.
After the Hunt has 37% on RottenTomatoes and 5.9 on IMDb. So, not universally loved.
The performances got nearly universal praise, and the screenplay was a darling on The Black List before it was picked up. However, the film's tackling of its themes attracted quite a bit of criticism, mostly because it seemed reluctant to confidently engage with its challenging subject matter.
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Yet, You Should Still Watch After The Hunt If You Have Amazon Prime Video
A Great Showcase For Its Entire Cast, But Especially Julia Roberts
Despite not quite hitting the mark with all critics, After the Hunt is still a worthwhile watch, especially for anyone craving a thriller that focuses more on its characters than plot twists. If you have historically enjoyed Luca Guadagnino's films, like Call Me By Your Name, A Bigger Splash, and Challengers, you will want to try out After the Hunt now that it is on Prime Video. It might not quite hit the same way as any of those projects, but the director's unique flair is still present.
More importantly, Alma presents Julia Roberts with the perfect opportunity to play against type, as the professor is far removed from the typical American sweethearts the actress is known for portraying. While she is supported by a game supporting cast who all bring their very best, Roberts is the anchor that holds the entire film together, and she goes through pretty much every emotion imaginable while echoing the stages of grief. After the Hunt earned Roberts and Luca Guadagnino the "Visionary Tribute" award at the Gotham Independent Film Award.
Ayo Edebiri , who has become recognizable thanks to her role in The Bear, also gets to shine in After the Hunt, arguably her biggest live-action movie to date. Andrew Garfield and Michael Stuhlbarg are unsurprisingly great, too, and the former also goes against type.
What Is After The Hunt About?
After the Hunt follows a Yale professor named Alma (Julia Roberts) who gets pulled into a sexual assault case when a student (Ayo Edebiri) confides in her that she was taken advantage of by another professor (Andrew Garfield). Conflicted due to her own past, job security, and her friendship with the accused, Alma struggles to process the claim and takes an almost adversarial role against the victim.
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