Release: The Watsons Go to Birmingham

The Watsons Go to Birmingham
Genre: Family/Historical
Director: Dee Rees
Writer: Wesley Campbell
Producer: HG Hansen
Based on the novel by Christopher Paul Curtis
Cast: JD McCrary, Caleb McLaughlin, Lashana Lynch, Brian Tyree Henry, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Keith L. Williams, Sunny Suljic, Loretta Devine, Marcus Scribner, Keith David, Braylon Owens, Issac Ryan Brown



Budget: $30,000,000
Domestic Box Office: $14,481,998
Foreign Box Office: $5,105,442
Total Profit: -$35,082,987

Reaction: We knew the odds weren't great in this film's favor at the box office, but given the modest budget we were not expecting the film to be so far into the red financially. This is now the second film this season produced by HG Hansen to lose money at the box office (more on that in the Box Office Breakdown at the end of Round 9).

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"'The Watsons Go to Birmingham' goes too long, primarily due to its first third act setting up the characters\. But it's when the titular Watsons Go to Birmingham; it is where the fun happens. Dee Rees commands a great cast to embody the characters, who try to feel real but sometimes slip up. The story somehow finds a balance between family comedy & historical drama, where most strengths & weakness lies. If the film/story/plot fails you, standouts like McLaughlin, Devine, Tyree Henry, Lynch and/or JD McCrary (almost somewhat) showcase talents needed to polish it all out." - Janet Donnelly, Empire Magazine

"The Watsons overstay their welcome in this obscenely long family film. With a run time of right around 3 hours, it is double the length of the average family film - and it feels like it. The story takes forever to get going and once it does, the characters and their story ends up feeling underwhelming. You could easily cut out the first hour or so of the story without losing any important content. The main kids all feel way too old and the parents too young, resulting in an unconvincing film family. Only Brian Tyree Henry and Loretta Devine give convincing performances and feel entirely appropriate to their roles." - Ken Decker, Denver Post

“This film drags on, there is no need for it to be this long. On top of that this film didn’t need to be made. A made-for-TV film based on the same book was made in 2013 and I believe it is better than this. By no means is it a terrible film, I just don’t see the sense in making this film once more. Props go out to young JD McCrary however as I thought he delivered a solid performance.” - Francis McLaughlin, The Guardian

Rated PG for thematic material and some language