 Before the film 's release , there was already skepticism of its potential to be financially successful . Chris Taylor from Time magazine noted that video game adaptations had a poor track record at the box office and that it was Sakaguchi 's first feature film . The film debuted on July 2 , 2001 at the Mann Bruins Theater in Los Angeles , California , and was released in the United States on July 11 , making $ 32 million in North America and going on to gross $ 85 million in worldwide box office receipts . The film achieved average to poor results at the box office in most of Southeast Asia ; however , it performed well in Australia , New Zealand and South Korea . In 2006 Boston.com regarded it as the 4th biggest box office bomb , estimating the film 's losses at the end of its cinema run at over $ 94 million . In March 2012 CNBC considered it to be the 9th biggest box office bomb , though Time 's list of the ten biggest box office failures , which was released on the same day , did not include the film . 
