The French release of the film Ella McCay canceled after its poor start in the United States

It’s a big disappointment. Less than two weeks before its scheduled release in France, on January 7, 2026, the film by James L. Brooks, Ella McCay will ultimately not be broadcast on our big screens. The cause? A disastrous start in the United States.

Released on December 12, the comedy-drama only grossed around $2 million in more than 2,500 theaters during its first weekend, marking the weakest start of the decade for Disney. According to the World of Reel website, the film would barely collect $3 million in revenue in the United States, for a budget estimated at $35 million. Faced with this failure, Disney, which is also in charge of French distribution, chose to remove the film from the French poster.

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For her first American role, Franco-British actress Emma Mackey plays Ella McCay, a lively and talented young woman who “attempts to juggle his personal and professional life in a comedy about the people we love and how we must deal with the trials they can place in our path…”specifies the summary of the film on AlloCiné. The casting, however, looked promising: alongside Emma Mackey were Rebecca Hall, Jamie Lee Curtis, Woody Harrelson and Julie Kavner, the famous American voice of Marge Simpson.

Rewarded in his first feature film with the Oscar for best director in 1984, James L. Brooks performed with Ella McCay his big return behind the camera, fifteen years later How to know (2010). A long-awaited return which, for the moment, is going badly.