The Hate U Give (2018 film) George Tillman Jr.

Box office

The Hate U Give grossed $29.7 million in the United States and Canada, and $5.2 million in other territories, for a total worldwide gross of $34.9 million.[4] When Disney acquired Fox, The Hollywood Reporter stated that the film had lost Fox a total of $30–40 million due to its $23 million production budget and $30 million spent on marketing.[24][25]

In its limited opening weekend, The Hate U Give made $512,035 from 36 theaters, for an average of $14,233 per venue, finishing 13th.[26] Playing in a total of 248 theaters the following weekend, the film made $1.8 million, finishing ninth.[27] The film was projected to gross $7–9 million when it expanded to 2,303 theaters on October 19.[28] It made $2.5 million on its first day of wide release, including $300,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to gross $7.5 million over the weekend, finishing sixth at the box office.[29] It fell 33% to $5.1 million the following weekend, remaining in sixth.[30]

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 225 reviews, and an average rating of 8.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Led by a breakout turn from Amandla Stenberg, the hard-hitting The Hate U Give emphatically proves the YA genre has room for much more than magic and romance."[31] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 81 out of 100, based on 44 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[32] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an 88% positive score and a 74% "definite recommend".[29]

Writing for Rolling Stone, Peter Travers gave the film four out of five stars, calling it an "exceptional adaptation", and writing, "It is impossible to over-praise Stenberg's incandescent performance, a gathering storm that grows in ferocity and feeling with each scene. Stenberg nails every nuance of a role that keeps throwing challenges at her, none more devastating than when it becomes impossible for Starr to remain stuck in neutral."[33] Scott Mendelson, writing for Forbes, stated that the film deserved to be an Academy Awards frontrunner for its screenplay, Stenberg and Russell Hornsby's performances, and the picture itself, saying it "belongs among the final list of would-be Best Picture nominees."[34]

Keith Watson of Slant Magazine, however, gave the film two out of four stars, writing, "Given its intensely relevant subject matter, the film can't help but churn up a lot of raw emotions—and the allusions to Michael Brown, Sandra Bland, and Emmett Till are reminders of the real-life sorrow that birthed this film—but Tillman's anonymous direction is content merely to illustrate the screenplay without ever bringing it to life. Even scenes that are meant to be tinged with menace and danger—run-ins with a local gang, a shooting at a party—feel about as raw as an episode of Degrassi".[35] The film was also criticized by some female African-American critics as well,[36][37] including Soraya Nadia McDonald of Andscape, who said that "In dealing with all of it, the book character finds her confidence and her voice. But the movie version of The Hate U Give leaves me unsure that its makers ever found theirs."[36]

Accolades