'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[Disney Irish]

Agreed. Regardless of the artistic merits of the film, flops like this seem to butt up against a unique set of financial and cultural physics when it comes to recovering after a disastrous opening.



I always wonder what the financial impact of becoming a cult hit long after the theatrical run is for a studio?

Rocky Horror Picture Show was a total bomb in its theatrical run around the Bicentennial as I remember. But several years later it became a cult classic by doing Midnight showings in big cities where fans would dress up as their favorite character and act scenes out in the theater aisles. By the 1980's it was a regular Saturday night offering in every college town in America; dress up and go see Rocky Horror Picture Show at Midnight (usually under the influence).

But did 20th Century Fox get any real money for those showings years after it bombed in the theater? I can't imagine they did, so long after its release and after they shared the profits with the theater houses doing the Midnight showings.

According to screenrant last year, Rocky Horror has grossed over $120M during its continual theatrical run.

Rocky Horror Appears on Box Office Charts 46 Years After Its Release

The Rocky Horror Picture Show reappears on box office charts.

screenrant.com

Yes Fox and now Disney still get some of that even today either through the ticket sales or through a "rental" fee paid by the theater to show an old run movie.

 

[erasure fan1]

I never saw Prince of Persia. Is it on D+ ?

It is well worth a watch. It's my favorite video game movie, very underrated. It's too bad it performed so poorly as the 2nd and 3rd games would have been great to adapt. They were darker stories and would have translated well to a movie.

 

[TwilightZone]

Reviews are coming in for "Puss n' Boots"

Which is strange, is it out yet?

EDIT: There's comments on reddit of people seeing it. So it is out early somewhere
EDIT 2: Early screenings confirmed

 

[Ghost93]

But did 20th Century Fox get any real money for those showings years after it bombed in the theater? I can't imagine they did, so long after its release and after they shared the profits with the theater houses doing the Midnight showings.

Yes. Even if the profits are split, Rocky Horror Picture show has sold 55 million tickets domestically and has grossed $112 million (worth $516 million if you adjust for inflation). It also became popular in the DVD era, especially during October.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

Reviews are coming in for "Puss n' Boots"
View attachment 682270
Which is strange, is it out yet?

EDIT: There's comments on reddit of people seeing it. So it is out early somewhere
EDIT 2: Early screenings confirmed

I'm curious what the production budget is. I did a quick google search but couldn't find any hard numbers.

 

[Ghost93]

Reviews are coming in for "Puss n' Boots"
View attachment 682270
Which is strange, is it out yet?

EDIT: There's comments on reddit of people seeing it. So it is out early somewhere
EDIT 2: Early screenings confirmed

Oh no, with these glowing reviews for Puss in Boots James Cameron must be quite nervous! How can Avatar: The Way of Water compete!?!

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Oh no, with these glowing reviews for Puss in Boots James Cameron must be quite nervous! How can Avatar: The Way of Water compete!?!

Submarine man goes brrrrrrrr

 

[TalkingHead]

Saw it last night. Wouldn’t be a bad movie if the character beats were even slightly convincing, but it’s all weighed down by inept writing.

Take the scene when Searcher bumps into Jaegar after 25 years: son’s reaction doesn’t scan as remotely believable from an emotional standpoint. Same when Jaegar has his first convo with Ethan. Grandson is embarrassed about his mom knowing he has a crush but he spills his guts to his grandfather within five seconds.

The mother is a nonentity for the emotional storyline, she has only the briefest interaction with Jaegar, and then she disappears for the final scene. Why is she even there? Rhetorical question. Having her risk her life to fly to the ship to inform Searcher their son has stowed away doesn’t make a lot of story sense. Happily ever after ending isn’t very satisfying or convincing, but I think that’s true of a lot of modern Disney.

Not sure Gyllenhaal was right for the lead, but either way, why’s Disney bother to pay premium for recognizable actors to do voice work like this? Surely that’s one area they could cut expenses. On the positive side, the serial-style wipes and irises are a nice touch, and the flat pulp comic book visuals used in the intro were striking. Wish the whole film had committed to that level of stylization.

 

[Ghost93]

The mother is a nonentity for the emotional storyline, she has only the briefest interaction with Jaegar, and then she disappears for the final scene. Why is she even there? Rhetorical question. Having her risk her life to fly to the ship to inform Searcher their son has stowed away doesn’t make a lot of story sense. Happily ever after ending isn’t very satisfying or convincing, but I think that’s true of a lot of modern Disney.

I think Disney probably wanted to have female characters in the movie for marketing/representation reasons but couldn't really decide what to do with them. Meridian could have been better developed as a character.

Lucy Liu's brief pivot into the story's antagonist and unearned redemption also felt EXTREMELY undercooked.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Not sure Gyllenhaal was right for the lead, but either way, why’s Disney bother to pay premium for recognizable actors to do voice work like this? Surely that’s one area they could cut expenses. On the positive side, the serial-style wipes and irises are a nice touch, and the flat pulp comic book visuals used in the intro were striking. Wish the whole film had committed to that level of stylization.

I've been saddened over the past few years that Disney/Pixar has gone this route with all the other animation studios. If they casted known actors previously, it was usually because the voice quality added something unique to the character. Think Monsters Inc or Wreck-It Ralph, for example, with their near-perfect voice castings. Now compare that, for example, to the generic, insert-the-celebrity performances of Tina Fey in Soul or Tom Holland and Chris Evans in Onward.

 

[WorldExplorer]

I've been saddened over the past few years that Disney/Pixar has gone this route with all the other animation studios. If they casted known actors previously, it was usually because the voice quality added something unique to the character. Think Monsters Inc or Wreck-It Ralph, for example, with their near-perfect voice castings. Now compare that, for example, to the generic, insert-the-celebrity performances of Tina Fey in Soul or Tom Holland and Chris Evans in Onward.

That was Chris Pratt.

But I think that just emphasizes your point.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I've been saddened over the past few years that Disney/Pixar has gone this route with all the other animation studios. If they casted known actors previously, it was usually because the voice quality added something unique to the character. Think Monsters Inc or Wreck-It Ralph, for example, with their near-perfect voice castings. Now compare that, for example, to the generic, insert-the-celebrity performances of Tina Fey in Soul or Tom Holland and Chris Evans in Onward.

I thought Tina Fey was very good in Soul, and I don’t like Tina Fey much.

When you cast big name actors in voice roles, you get big name actors doing the PR circuit to promote your film. That’s a big payoff for relatively little investment. However, in the case of Strange World, I suspect they used most of the “celebrities” because they fit the roles - Jake Gyanhall, Lucy Liu, and Dennis Quaid don’t open movies. We’re not talking about the absurd Mario cast here. In retrospect, SW probably would have benefitted from a Rock or the like since it’s such a challenge to market otherwise.

 

[_caleb]

If they casted known actors previously, it was usually because the voice quality added something unique to the character. Think Monsters Inc or Wreck-It Ralph, for example, with their near-perfect voice castings. Now compare that, for example, to the generic, insert-the-celebrity performances of Tina Fey in Soul or Tom Holland and Chris Evans in Onward.

Phil Harris!

 

[Screamface]

When you cast big name actors in voice roles, you get big name actors doing the PR circuit to promote your film. That’s a big payoff for relatively little investment.

Only slightly relevant, but I remember Jack Black talking about promoting Kung Fu Panda in Asian countries where the film was dubbed by someone else. It is absurd.

 

[TP2000]

Box office is out for today. Going into its second weekend, Strange World has just dropped again, from yesterday's 4th place to 5th place. Strange World dropped the most week to week than any other film in the top 20, down 85%.

It's still in 4,174 theaters, but the historical and religious Christmas-themed film I Heard The Bells previewing in only 474 theaters seems to have the momentum going into Strange World's second weekend.

The legs on Strange World seem very, very short now. Burbank has heard the bells, indeed.

 

[Phroobar]

Box office is out for today. Going into its second weekend, Strange World has just dropped again, from yesterday's 4th place to 5th place. Strange World dropped the most week to week than any other film in the top 20, down 85%.

It's still in 4,174 theaters, but the historical and religious Christmas-themed film I Heard The Bells previewing in only 474 theaters seems to have the momentum going into Strange World's second weekend.

The legs on Strange World seem very, very short now. Burbank has heard the bells, indeed.

View attachment 682506

Weird that someone would want to see a Christmas movie this time of year.
I Heard the Bells is pretty highly rated.

 

[TP2000]

Weird that someone would want to see a Christmas movie this time of year.
I Heard the Bells is pretty highly rated.

I'm not a movie guy, so I hadn't heard of it. But when I just Googled it, it sounded absolutely fascinating! I love historical stuff and period pieces, if they are done really well.

It's rated PG-13 due to the violence shown in the Civil War scenes (and scandalously inappropriate pipe smoking!), but otherwise it seems a good movie for families with older children.

 

[Phroobar]

I'm not a movie guy, so I hadn't heard of it. But when I just Googled it, it sounded absolutely fascinating! I love historical stuff and period pieces, if they are done really well.

It's rated PG-13 due to the violence shown in the Civil War scenes (and scandalously inappropriate pipe smoking!), but otherwise it seems a good movie for families with older children.

I watched the trailer too. It actually looks pretty good. I like historical movies.

 

[_caleb]

Only slightly relevant, but I remember Jack Black talking about promoting Kung Fu Panda in Asian countries where the film was dubbed by someone else. It is absurd.

I don't fund it absurd. Asian audiences know Jack Black from other films so he was a celebrity endorsement. Also, his physicality likely went into some of the character design and animation, so in some ways the character was based on him (even if the dialog they heard was someone else).

 

[RobWDW1971]

The complete audience rejection of this movie continues and it is setting (unfortunate) records at the box office (all numbers in today's dollars).

Deadline: "Disney’s Strange World at 4,174 locations with $1.08M Friday and a second weekend of $4.4M, off 64%, for a running total of $25M." Some other sites have it estimated at approximately $5M, but the story is the same.

If that forecast holds, that would mean:

- Tied for the biggest second weekend drop for a (non-covid) Disney animated title in history at 64% with "Lightyear" (not a good trend)
- Lowest weekend box office for a movie on over 4,000 screens ever at $4.4M (even "The Nut Job 2:Nutty By Nature" did $6.2M, down 39% in its second weekend)

For perspective on historic Disney box office bombs' second weekends:

- Strange World: Down 64%, $4.4M
- Mars Needs Moms: Down 23%, $7.0M
- Treasure Planet: Down 54%, $9.1M
- Home on the Range: Down 42%, $12.8
- Lone Ranger: Down 61%, $15M
- Lightyear: Down 64%, $18M
- John Carter: Down 55%, $18M
- Chicken Little: Down 21%, $48M

With the lowest CinemaScore in the history of Disney animation, the film continues to generate no positive buzz/world of mouth from those who have seen it and will assuredly be unceremoniously dumped on Disney+ in the next couple of weeks.