Summary
John Krasinski and Ryan Reynolds teamed up to makeIF, and the 2024 movie is now streaming after seeing its box office rebound. After making his mark as a director with the first twoA Quiet Placemovies, Krasinski shifted his focus to creating an original, family-friendly film about imaginary friends.IFstars Cailey Fleming as a young girl named Bea who discovers that she has the rare ability to see imaginary friends. Working with Reynolds' Cal, Bea makes it her mission to find new humans for the imaginary friends to be with.
WithIF’s castof recognizable faces and voices and the imaginative premise, expectations were high about what Krasinski would deliver after taking a break fromA Quiet Place. Reviews from critics were torn about what he delivered, asIF’s Rotten Tomatoes scoreimplies with its49% rating on the Tomatometer. Still, there was hope that the film would perform well at the box office after appealing to families and younger kids. The box office receipts indicate many skipped out on going to theaters by electing to wait to watchIFuntil it came to streaming.
IF Ending Explained
IF’s ending is a genuinely sweet way to close out the film, underscoring the thematic throughline of the story and expanding on the film’s twist.
Less than two months after premiering in theaters, people can nowwatchIFat homethanks to its streaming debut on Paramount+. The movie was released on Paramount’s streaming service on July 14, 2025. This came53 days afterIFdebuted in theaters, which was slightly longer than projections based on Paramount’s history. However, that is in line with how the studio treatedMean Girls, suggesting that the 53 day theatrical window could be the new normal moving forward.
IF’s story begins with a montage of Bea as a child and chronicles the heartbreaking time of her mom getting sick and dying from cancer. The film then picks up with Bea going to New York as her father, played by Krasinski, prepares for surgery. After moving in with her grandma, she realizes she can see imaginary friends and befriends Cal, who also has this gift and works to help rehome them. They keep failing to find new kids for the IFs, but Bea then helps change the approach to try and help the IF’s original kids remember them instead.
IF’s Box Office & Theatrical Performance Explained
The Movie’s $185 Million Performance Is Complex
IF’s streaming debut comes after a very complicated run at the box office that included many narrative shifts in terms of how the film is perceived. Krasinski’s movie looked like a major bomb after its opening weekend came in under expectations and only made $33 million domestically. Since it carries a reported $110 million budget,IFneeded to make around $220 millionto be considered a potential success. That opening weekend all but confirmed that it would not meet that mark, signaling a disappointing end result for a movie marketed by Krasinski and Reynolds.
49%
88%
46%
AlthoughIF’s box officestands at $185 million, still behind the $220 million target, the movie wound up performing better as the summer went on. It had strong legs throughout the weeks that followed its opening weekend, allowing it toaccumulate an impressive $110 million total domestically. It might not have been as successful as Krasinski’s previous movies financially, but the sustained interest inIFis a good indicator that audiences enjoy the film. That should only continue now that it is on Paramount+.
