Escape from Pelican Rock: A Poptropica Movie

Escape from Pelican Rock: A Poptropica Movie (marketed as Poptropica: Pelican Rock or simply Pelican Rock) is a 2018 American prison comedy film based on 
Pelican Rock Island from the online game Poptropica. The film is the second in the Poptropica film series and is a stand-alone sequel to Survival: A Poptropica Movie. The film follows Damien (Kumail Nanjiani) as he is wrongly framed for a high-stakes robbery and thrown in prison, where he must communicate with other prisoners and sneak his way out while finding the person who framed him.
Released theatrically on June 1, 2018, the film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances and breakout scene but criticized the story. Nonetheless, the film was a box office success, grossing $78 million on a budget of $20 million. A sequel, titled Poptropica: Return to Pelican Rock, was announced but has since stalled in development hell.
== Plot ==
After Damien is wrongly framed for a bank heist, he must team up with his fellow inmates to break out of the prison and catch the real culprit behind it. - Official description on Poptropica website
== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
Escape from Pelican Rock: A Poptropica Movie has grossed $54 million in North America and $24 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $78 million against a budget of $20 million. Deadline Hollywood calculated the net profit of the film to be $15 million, when factoring together all expenses and revenues.
In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Adrift, Upgrade, and Action Point and was projected to gross $10-13 million in its opening weekend. However, after grossing $6 million on its first day, projections were raised to $15-20 million. The film debuted with $16 million, finishing third behind Solo: A Star Wars Story and Deadpool 2. In its second weekend, the film grossed $10 million, falling down to fifth.
=== Critical response ===
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 56% based on 209 reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The site's consensus reads, "Although Escape from Pelican Rock lacks a compelling story, it still boasts some hefty action sequences and another great turn from Kumail Nanjiani." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 54 out of 100, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A-" on a scale of A+ to F.
== Possible sequel ==
In November 2018, Jeff Kinney, creator of Poptropica, discussed a sequel, stating, "We're all glad that the film did so well. We would like to make a sequel, and we're working on some ideas." Further news did not come until September 2020, when Kinney responded to a fan's tweet on Twitter, saying, "We haven't written a script yet, but we would like it to be about Damien returning and breaking out the rest of his friends that didn't make it."