A Spirited Dirty Dozen ...

[Magenta Panther]

Only three Potters have pulled in greater than 100, really two that qualify as more than 'only'.

People are expecting Rouge One to do 25% of TFA's business and Fantastic Beasts 100% of Deathly Hallows?

Both predictions are wildly off and need to meet in the middle.

Good points. My question with "Beasts" is whether or not a Harry Potter film without Harry Potter in it is really going to interest that many fans. For my part, the only reason I toiled through J.K. Rowling's mostly-tedious prose was to find out what was going to happen to Harry. Well, at least at first. After that I kind of focused on Snape (good guy? bad guy? Will he live? Will he die?)

 

[Siren]

Yeah, but does anybody even care about Tim Burton's X-Men movie? I mean, when's the last time a Tim Burton movie was successful? Johnny Depp in Burtonland?

Hi @Tahu! Ewww, I don't wanna see that. Did you see the back of that little girl's head? It looks like Jaws. I totally expect this movie to bomb. Also, I am not a Tim Burton fan -- his stuff is just way too dark and twisted for me.

Fantastical Beasts will beat Mona... Mona will have legs but the first couple weeks the Potter fans are going to go nuts...

Hi @gmajew! Well, I totally adore the lead actor, ever since I saw him in Les Miserables -- and I did not care for Les Miserables. But, I don't know if he alone can carry this film. I'm also not convinced that the casual Potter fan will turn out either, especially after JK Rowling officially declared that Potter was "done".

On the other hand, Moana is set in a gorgeous, exotic paradise. And, everyone will want to see Disney's newest princess and how she fits in. The story does feels a little familiar -- kind of like a mashup of Mulan and Lilo and Stitch or something but I could be wrong.

Both films are slated to release around Thanksgiving and word of mouth will be a very important factor for each movie -- since neither film has a following.

Fantastical Beasts looks extremely good but also dark, so I am still going to bet on Moana due to its wider appeal among the general audience. It will be a good showdown.

Or throws in the towel with video game development entirely.

Disney totally made the right choice.

As an aside, I don't like the thought of Disney buying Twitter. With that said, I would only pay $1.5 - $2 Billion tops and not a cent more.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I still have my DVC and there is LOTS to do in Central FL besides the decaying corpse of WDW. And there is much to criticize in Disney business like their latest attempt to to catch a falling knife i.e. buying Twitter

That is only a rumour, and hopefully not true. I would have to completely agree that it would be a bonehead move to purchase Twitter.

 

[ford91exploder]

He works at Cedar Faire

Absolutely correct @the.dreamfinder this is what happens when you post with too much blood in the caffeine system...

 

[ford91exploder]

That is only a rumour, and hopefully not true. I would have to completely agree that it would be a bonehead move to purchase Twitter.

It's a rumor but one which has hit the mainstream business press It's exactly the kind of bonehead move that Disney would pull especially since Dorsey is on the TWDC BoD

 

[ford91exploder]

or just snatch out netflix, they are producing quality comparable to HBO. And they could get finally a full already developed platform for all their movies.

Agree Netflix would be an excellent acquisition but it would not be cheap and the Netflix executives would demand a 'seat at the table' they would not be content to 'siddown, shaddup and do what yer told'.

Netflix has the most important factor for success they have secured peering and transit agreements so their traffic can flow unimpeded and they have local distribution servers on all of the major ISP's networks.

 

[ford91exploder]

Only three Potters have pulled in greater than 100, really two that qualify as more than 'only'.

People are expecting Rouge One to do 25% of TFA's business and Fantastic Beasts 100% of Deathly Hallows?

Both predictions are wildly off and need to meet in the middle.

Since we know Iger hated the dark Rogue One and insisted that it be 'Toddlerized' and reshot I think the fans will probably hate it. The fans have wanted to see Vader/Palpatine unleashed for a long time Rogue One was the story which was supposed to give them that. Iger thinks Star Wars makes money because of the BRAND and that Star Wars is primarily a vehicle to market toys.

Pottermania is still very much a thing just look at the sales of the 'Cursed Child'

 

[ford91exploder]

Complete stray thought...just thinking of other complementary acquisitions instead of Twitter. I guess there is an argument for Twitter's video ambitions in combo with Maker and BAMTech. It just doesn't feel like the right move to add a whole new pillar to TWDC in a way that isn't organic to its existing businesses.

The ONLY smart moves Iger made have been Pixar, Marvel and Lucasfilm everything else has been a unmitigated disaster or stock price fluffing.

 

[VJ]

Since we know Iger hated the dark Rogue One and insisted that it be 'Toddlerized' and reshot I think the fans will probably hate it.

If you think Rogue One will be 'toddlerized', as you say, you've obviously never seen Star Wars Rebels.

 

[Bairstow]

Since we know Iger hated the dark Rogue One and insisted that it be 'Toddlerized' and reshot I think the fans will probably hate it.

DO we know this?
What are you basing this on?

 

[LuvtheGoof]

If you think Rogue One will be 'toddlerized', as you say, you've obviously never seen Star Wars Rebels.

DO we know this?
What are you basing this on?

Y'all do know that he just makes stuff up, right? After seeing the trailer, there is no way this toddlerized.

 

[doctornick]

Y'all do know that he just makes stuff up, right? After seeing the trailer, there is no way this toddlerized.

Furthermore, the notion that Star Wars fans will hate Disney mucking around with the films seems absurd in light of the popularity of The Force Awakens (especially compared to the "purity" of Lucas doing the prequels).

 

[peter11435]

DO we know this?
What are you basing this on?

Pretty much everything he says is made up.

 

[jakeman]

If you think Rogue One will be 'toddlerized', as you say, you've obviously never seen Star Wars Rebels.

DO we know this?
What are you basing this on?

Y'all do know that he just makes stuff up, right? After seeing the trailer, there is no way this toddlerized.

Furthermore, the notion that Star Wars fans will hate Disney mucking around with the films seems absurd in light of the popularity of The Force Awakens (especially compared to the "purity" of Lucas doing the prequels).

Pretty much everything he says is made up.

Put him on ignore. Perhaps if he's shouting in an empty room he'll eventually leave.

 

[GoofGoof]

Agree Netflix would be an excellent acquisition but it would not be cheap and the Netflix executives would demand a 'seat at the table' they would not be content to 'siddown, shaddup and do what yer told'.

Netflix has the most important factor for success they have secured peering and transit agreements so their traffic can flow unimpeded and they have local distribution servers on all of the major ISP's networks.

The execs wouldn't have a say. If Disney offers enough of a premium the shareholders would approve. They have almost 90% institutional owners. Wall Street wants a quick return on their investment.

 

[GoofGoof]

WDW already has passes with blackout dates... Why is this news?

That's a valid question. I think the difference is the variability of the blackouts. With the current passes you mostly know when the blackouts will be. With this potential change any time something new opens they would potentially black out several months. Let's say for example this started in 2017. If Avatar Land opens 5/1/17 then you would be blacked out for May and June. The issue is you wouldn't know that you were blacked out until a few months before the land opened. Maybe less of an issue for locals, but basically means you cannot rely on using your AP for a trip you want to book in advance. Let's say in the same example I have an AP and I own DVC and I booked a trip using my DVC points for the first week of June 2017 at the 11 month window back in July 2016. I find out in March that Avatar Land is set to open May 1st and now my pass is blacked out during my trip I booked 9 months earlier. I can either go and pay extra for a 1 day ticket or skip AK on that trip. I really can't cancel the trip since I'd likely lose my DVC points and I already booked flights too. There is something new potentially scheduled to open every year for the next 5 years so this would be a continuing problem.

Another issue with it is that it feels a little like punishing your most loyal customers. AP holders are obviously frequent park visitors and probably big WDW fans (they better be for what the AP costs). Its not like buying a season pass to Six Flags which pays for itself in 2 trips. There is a large investment and those guests should IMHO have the right to experience new attractions when they open instead of waiting several months. I know Disney is a business and they don't need to buy the AP, blah, blah, blah...but that to me is irrelevant. This is more about trying to gouge your most loyal customers one more time to either get them to pay for 1 day tickets or upgrade to premium APs. I have never owned and AP and probably never will so I have no skin in the game. This just seems wrong to me.

 

[Rteetz]

So someone came to me with this and I can't name the source but I assure you it isn't Jim Hill or a bus driver.

The source says that Universal might actually be getting ready to sell the marvel rights to Disney and then in return but the DC rights from six flags when that contract is up.

Has anyone else heard anything like this? I know Universal and Disney have been said by sources to be in talks or have been in talks.

 

[lazyboy97o]

So someone came to me with this and I can't name the source but I assure you it isn't Jim Hill or a bus driver.

The source says that Universal might actually be getting ready to sell the marvel rights to Disney and then in return but the DC rights from six flags when that contract is up.

Has anyone else heard anything like this? I know Universal and Disney have been said by sources to be in talks or have been in talks.

People have been saying that since 2010.

 

[ford91exploder]

DO we know this?
What are you basing this on?

The fact that Rogue One was being reshot has been news for at least three months - it recently hit the business press because of the reshoot

The original article was out of Australia of all places.

http://www.news.com.au/entertainmen...m/news-story/187aec218ee479263baa60d845ecbff6

Rogue One has fallen short of what J.J. Abrams did with Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens. So Disney has ordered reshoots.”

Edwards is well-known as a risk-taking director, but has also been reported to prefer to keep studio influence at a minimum. The source added, “Disney won’t take a back seat, and is demanding changes, as the movie isn’t testing well.”

Now who does Disney use when 'testing' their products kiddies, Oh that's right its the Disney Mom's Panel - It's not hard to figure out that Disney thought this would not play well to the under 8 set

There's even a rumor that JarJar Binks will have a role to play in Rogue One.

 

[SorcererMC]

There's even a rumor that JarJar Binks will have a role to play in Rogue One.

So it's a horror film then?