# Imagine Entertainment's How to Rob a Bank Opens in 2,810 Theaters After Whalefall Flop

> Amazon MGM's How to Rob a Bank, produced by Imagine Entertainment, is tracking below $10 million from 2,810 theaters.

- Published: 2026-11-12T15:59:59+00:00
- Section: Business
- Author: News Desk
- URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-11-12/imagine-entertainment-how-to-rob-a-bank
- Source: [Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/whalefall-flops-imagine-entertainment-return-153000414.html)

## Key takeaways

- How to Rob a Bank, an Amazon MGM Studios release produced by Imagine Entertainment, is tracking to fall short of $10 million from 2,810 theaters in its domestic debut.
- Imagine's previous wide release, Whalefall, finished with a $39 million worldwide total after its October opening.
- How to Rob a Bank carries a $40 million production budget, and Imagine's next wide release is Spaceballs: The New One in April 2027.

[Imagine Entertainment](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0005yzx/imagine-entertainment)'s "How to Rob a Bank" is tracking to fall short of $10 million from 2,810 theaters in its domestic debut, [Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/movies/articles/whalefall-flops-imagine-entertainment-return-153000414.html) reported on November 12, 2026. The [Amazon MGM Studios](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00q2m6z/amazon-mgm-studios) release follows the October opening of Imagine's "Whalefall," which finished with a $39 million worldwide total.

## How to Rob a Bank Follows Whalefall's $39 Million Run

"How to Rob a Bank" is an Amazon MGM Studios release co-produced by director David Leitch's 87North, and it carries a $40 million production budget. Yahoo reported that the film has drawn career-low reviews for Leitch and faces intense competition in the Thanksgiving season.

"Whalefall," a survival thriller about a scuba diver trapped inside a marine mammal, opened in October with a $39 million worldwide total. Amazon and Disney, respectively, fronted the budget and marketing spend on the two films.

The two features are Imagine's first to play across more than 2,000 domestic screens in more than eight years; the last was Lionsgate's "The Spy Who Dumped Me" in 2018. Imagine was founded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, and a spokesperson for the banner declined to comment for the report.

## Imagine Entertainment's Production Record

Imagine Entertainment is an independent film and television production company founded in 1986 by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). The Beverly Hills company has operated for more than 40 years and produced films and series including "8 Mile," "Apollo 13," "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," "Arrested Development" and "Empire."

The same records list a Best Picture Oscar for "A Beautiful Mind" among its awards, and note that the original 2000 live-action "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" grossed over $345 million worldwide. The records show one funding round on file, a 2016 round led by The Raine Group.

## Raine Group's Stake Sale Talks

On October 1, 2026, TheWrap reported that Raine Group was nearing a deal to sell its 51% stake in Imagine Entertainment, which it bought for $100 million in 2016, to a private equity-backed marketing firm, with the sale expected to close within two weeks.

In July 2026, Brian Grazer said at the Allen & Co conference that fearing AI is unproductive, in an interview that focused on industry perspectives amid media consolidation and technological advances, CNBC reported.

## Spaceballs Sequel Set for April 2027

Imagine's next wide release is "Spaceballs: The New One," a legacy sequel comedy from Amazon MGM Studios due in April 2027. Universal is distributing a Snoop Dogg biopic that Imagine developed with the rapper's Death Row Pictures, and Howard's Adam Driver military thriller "Alone at Dawn" is slated for a Christmas 2027 theatrical release from Amazon MGM.

## Companies in this story

- [Imagine Entertainment company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/0005yzx/imagine-entertainment) · website: http://www.imagine-entertainment.com
- [Amazon MGM Studios company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/00q2m6z/amazon-mgm-studios) · website: https://amazonmgmstudios.com

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