Box office The film opened in second place behind
The Incredibles, earning $23.3 million from approximately 7,000 screens at 3,650 theaters, for a per-theater average of $6,390 and a per-screen average of $3,332 in its opening weekend. It also brought in a total of $30.6 million since its Wednesday launch. The weekend total also included $2.1 million from 59
IMAX theaters, for an IMAX theater average of $35,593, and had a $3,000,000 take since Wednesday. According to president Dan Fellman,
Titanic had put a different spin on the numbers for
The Polar Express. Among holiday movies,
The Santa Clause 2 opened in 2002 to $29 million and grossed $140 million, while
Elf debuted the next year at $31 million on its way to a $175-million take. The studio had high hopes for the movie, particularly since Zemeckis and Hanks had a history of success with
Forrest Gump and
Cast Away. Since ''
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was released in 2001, Warner Bros. Pictures had released 10 major films and all of them had dropped off at least 36% in their second weekend, but only seven dropped off at least 49%. Not one of them had a lower three-day opening weekend total gross as The Polar Express
itself. The overseas prospects for the film were not especially encouraging, even though The Last Samurai went on to make a considerable sum of money across the globe and was prematurely labeled a flop by the media. In its second weekend, The Polar Express
dropped to 33%, and grossing $15.7 million, averaging $4,293 from 3,650 venues and boosting the 12-day cumulative gross to $51.5 million. In its third weekend, which was Thanksgiving weekend, the film increased by 24%, earning $19.4 million, averaging $5,312 from 3,650 venues and raising the 19-day cumulative gross to $81.5 million. With a total gross of $71 million, The Polar Express
would hold the record for having the highest IMAX gross of any film until it was taken by Avatar five years later in 2009. The film has made $189,528,738 in North America, and $128,697,779 overseas for a total worldwide gross of $318,226,517 (including all re-releases). with some calling it an "instant Christmas classic" and others criticizing the characters as "lifeless zombies". The Independent'' reported in 2011 that the film "is now seen by many as a classic". Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film a rare average grade of "A+" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert gave the film his highest rating of four stars, writing of its: "deeper, shivery tone, instead of the mindless jolliness of the usual Christmas movie" and "haunting, magical quality". Acknowledging comments by other reviewers, Ebert said, "It's a little creepy. Not creepy in an unpleasant way, but in that sneaky, teasing way that lets you know eerie things could happen ... This one creates a world of its own, like
The Wizard of Oz or
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, in which the wise child does not feel too complacent."
Richard Roeper and
Mick LaSalle also gave highly positive reviews to the film, with the former saying that it "remains true to the book, right down to the bittersweet final image" and the latter giving it his highest rating of five stars, calling it, "an enchanting, beautiful and brilliantly imagined film that constitutes a technological breakthrough".
James Berardinelli gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, stating that it is "a delightful tale guaranteed to enthrall viewers of all ages", and ranked it as the 10th best film of 2004, tying with
The Incredibles. Ian Nathan of
Empire gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and said, "For all the fairy-lit wonder, some will rail at the idea of
Back to the Futures director dabbling with such a schmaltzy tale. Cynics will sneeze in shock; children will cuddle up and dream along."
Peter Bradshaw of
The Guardian also gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, saying, "After a promising and distinctive start, a railway adventure to meet Santa runs off the rails." The film's character animation was criticized by some critics for dipping into the
uncanny valley, as it was thought to falter in mimicking realistic facial expressions and emotions.
Peter Travers of
Rolling Stone gave the film 1 star out of 4, and called it "a failed and lifeless experiment in which everything goes wrong". Stephanie Zacharek of
Salon gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5 and said, "I could probably have tolerated the incessant jitteriness of
The Polar Express if the look of it didn't give me the creeps."
Geoff Pevere of the
Toronto Star stated, "If I were a child, I'd have nightmares. Come to think of it, I did anyway."
Paul Clinton from
CNN called it "at best disconcerting, and at worst, a wee bit horrifying".
Manohla Dargis of
The New York Times gave the film 1.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "There's no way of knowing whether they
drank the company Kool-Aid. Still, from the looks of
The Polar Express it's clear that, together with Mr. Zemeckis, this talented gang has on some fundamental level lost touch with the human aspect of film."
Accolades In 2008, the
American Film Institute nominated
The Polar Express for its
Top 10 Animated Films list. ==Sequel==