'Lightyear' Coming Summer 2022

Disney Irish

Premium Member
I think the magic of the bundle comes into play here. D+ alongside Hulu and ESPN+ for the less than most of Netflix's plans is a very nice deal with a wide and varied content library, and much like Netflix covers a very wide range of content especially if Disney continues to pull whatever content they can from Netflix (and others) and port it over to Hulu/D+ to further bolster their strong lineup.
I agree, my personal feeling is D+ will be the leader here in the very near future.
 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I don't disagree that has been and will likely continue to be the model for the most part at least for the near term.

However we're in a paradigm shift, and you're going to see a more hybrid model in the medium term. I mentioned earlier in this thread that the music industry did this in the early 00s. You don't go out and buy a CD much any more, you stream that music digitally now on a service or buy the songs/album from places like iTunes. The same is happening right now with movies/tv. So longer terms going to the movies will end up being like going to a concert just like @Mousertainment just mentioned. It'll be an event, sort of like it was in the golden age of Hollywood.
But people still go to concerts. And people are still going to movie theaters.

Disney+ is certainly going to hurt DVD sales though. :p
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
And people are still going to movie theaters.
Do they in the same numbers as prepandemic? And for how long? Or are more consumers going to end up wanting more choice in the long term?

We'll have to see over the next couple years if the number of tickets sold goes up or starts to trend down. But I suspect longer term that less and less tickets will be sold as more consumers use the movies as an event experience (once a year) rather than a weekly or monthly trip.

Disney+ is certainly going to hurt DVD sales though. :p
I think Netflix started that trend.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
I still don't think you're understanding D+ and why $8 per month can cover this.

As of the end of Q2FY22 D+ has 44.4M subs in the US. At an average of $8 per month Disney is bringing in $355.2M per month on those subs.

How much does it cost Burbank per month to keep Disney+ running? Advertising, overhead, massive computer server farms across the globe sucking up coal-fired electricity, at least a few hundred middle managers working from their Sherman Oaks home via Zoom with Merlot in their coffee mugs?

What's the overhead to keep Disney+ running month to month I wonder?

Netflix can't figure out how to make big profits on a $15 per month plan, so how does Disney+ pencil out for only $8 per month?

 

TrainsOfDisney

Well-Known Member
I agree, my personal feeling is D+ will be the leader here in the very near future.
Netflix is so far ahead of them both in subscribers and top watched content i highly doubt they ever win that race. The fact is, coming in as #2 is a pretty big success.

Do they in the same numbers as prepandemic?
Yes, the numbers are getting pretty close to pre-pandemic levels and that’s with 2022 having a pretty big wave.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Netflix is so far ahead of them both in subscribers and top watched content i highly doubt they ever win that race. The fact is, coming in as #2 is a pretty big success.
Across all of its streaming platforms Disney has just 15M less than Netflix worldwide, so I wouldn't say they are far ahead. But just D+ alone if they hit their sub target number by 2024, again Netflix won't be ahead at all if they lose that 2M they project next quarter. Netflix is bleeding right now.

Yes, the numbers are getting pretty close to pre-pandemic levels and that’s with 2022 having a pretty big wave.
Total ticket sales have been trending down for over a decade now, even though total BO has been up due to higher prices. So while 2022 might hit 2019 levels, its not a trend that'll likely remain if the last decade is any indication.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Yes, the numbers are getting pretty close to pre-pandemic levels and that’s with 2022 having a pretty big wave.

If Lightyear hadn't fallen so badly on only its second weekend, this past weekend would have been one of the biggest box office weekends since 2016. Four films shot above the $20 Million mark last weekend, and if Lightyear hadn't failed to attract an audience, it could have been the fifth film to crest $20 Million. That hadn't happened since the summer of 2016.

I get it that in hip neighborhoods in LA, New York and DC (plus the Portlandia-wannabe's of America) that masks are still de rigueur. But for 95% of America Covid is over, theaters are back, and anyone who still uses "Covid!" as a reason why a product fails in the marketplace is just making excuses for a failed product.

"Lightyear, the well-reviewed but (relative to Pixar) indifferently received Toy Story spin-off earned just $17.7 million in its second domestic weekend. That’s a record-for-Pixar drop of 65%. Lightyear’s “falling without style” drop single-handedly prevented theaters from getting the first “the entire top five grosses $20 million each” weekend since July of 2016."

 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Something on TV just made me laugh out loud very hard. Which got me thinking... Is Lightyear funny?

All of the marketing for it made it seem kind of depressing; Buzz screws up and strands a bunch of people on a desserted planet and everyone hates him? Or something? Is that maybe part of the problem?

Toy Story is funny. It has humor that both adults and children can get and laugh at. Buzz Lightyear is a bit pompous and a tad arrogant (not unlike me during my second cocktail of the evening!), but he is also not really that big of a deal (also like me during my second cocktail of the evening!) and that makes him funny. His friends and foils also bring out and play up his inherent humor.

Was there humor in this Lightyear film and the marketing never showed it?

My friends and I often marvel at how humorless the younger generation is, and how they seem to smother any enjoyment out of their lives quite easily, almost as a badge of honor. Is it possible the New Generation at Pixar made Buzz Lightyear no longer funny? Or was the movie funny and the marketing was just that bad?
 
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Disney Irish

Premium Member
How much does it cost Burbank per month to keep Disney+ running? Advertising, overhead, massive computer server farms across the globe sucking up coal-fired electricity, at least a few hundred middle managers working from their Sherman Oaks home via Zoom with Merlot in their coffee mugs?

What's the overhead to keep Disney+ running month to month I wonder?

Netflix can't figure out how to make big profits on a $15 per month plan, so how does Disney+ pencil out for only $8 per month?

As far as I'm aware, unfortunately Disney doesn't break out the operational expenses of the streaming services let alone D+ by itself.

Netflix has an issue right now as its losing all its licensed content to other streaming providers.
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Something on TV just made me laugh out loud very hard. Which got me thinking... Is Lightyear funny?

All of the marketing for it made it seem kind of depressing; Buzz screws up and strands a bunch of people on a desserted planet and everyone hates him? Or something? Is that maybe part of the problem?

Toy Story is funny. It has humor that both adults and children can get and laugh at. Buzz Lightyear is a bit pompous and a tad arrogant (not unlike me during my second cocktail of the evening!), but he is also not really that big of a deal (also like me during my second cocktail of the evening!) and that makes him funny. His friends and foils also bring out and play up his inherent humor.

Was there humor in this Lightyear film and the marketing never showed it?

My friends and I often marvel at how humorless the younger generation is, and how they seem to smother any enjoyment out of their lives quite easily, almost as a badge of honor. Is it possible the New Generation at Pixar made Buzz Lightyear no longer funny? Or was the movie funny and the marketing was just that bad?
In my opinion, it has various funny moments just as it has some heart warming moments. But overall is a standard Sci-Fi movie with more action and serious tones.
 

spacemt354

Chili's
Total ticket sales have been trending down for over a decade now, even though total BO has been up due to higher prices. So while 2022 might hit 2019 levels, its not a trend that'll likely remain if the last decade is any indication.
This is true - but the trend correlates with a similar drop in the number of films the top 6 major studios produced per year, which are the films that typically amass the most crowds.

So less big studio films = less total tickets sold, but more box office per film due to inflated ticket prices over the decade.
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Based on 2022 trends according to this site - we're almost halfway through the year and on pace for one of the biggest ticket sale years since the mid-2000s.

 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
In my opinion, it has various funny moments just as it has some heart warming moments. But overall is a standard Sci-Fi movie with more action and serious tones.

Got it. Sooooo... it's not really funny. The marketing wasn't hiding anything. But I'm sure the very earnest 28 year olds in Emeryville who helped make it were very proud of themselves for turning Buzz Lightyear into a statement of some kind, of some sort, somehow. :rolleyes:

Can we add that to the laundry list for why this thing bombed, please?
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
This is true - but the trend correlates with a similar drop in the number of films the top 6 major studios produced per year, which are the films that typically amass the most crowds.

So less big studio films = less total tickets sold, but more box office per film due to inflated ticket prices over the decade.
View attachment 649261
View attachment 649262

Based on 2022 trends according to this site - we're almost halfway through the year and on pace for one of the biggest ticket sale years since the mid-2000s.

Thats not really true, 2018 saw the largest number of movies released with 873, its been increasing over the same period as overall tickets sold went down.


So while the majors maybe released less tentpoles, there were more movies released overall.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
On a side note, how about that legacy content that hasn’t made its way to the Plus yet? Are we just to assume movies like Johnny Tremaine and Something Wicked This Way Comes are a lost cause at this point??

Once you tell me that that Disney+ has got Herbie Goes Bananas and The Monkey's Uncle upscaled to 4K and Dolby Atmos, they can take my 8 bucks a month for all eternity! :cool:

 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Got it. Sooooo... it's not really funny. The marketing wasn't hiding anything. But I'm sure the very earnest 28 year olds in Emeryville who helped make it were very proud of themselves for turning Buzz Lightyear into a statement of some kind, of some sort, somehow. :rolleyes:

Can we add that to the laundry list for why this thing bombed, please?
Or maybe the marketing relied too heavily on the "Toy Story" aspect and should have marketed more as a kids action film starring the real life inspiration for Buzz in Toy Story.
 

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