'Strange World' Disney's 2022 Animated Film

[TP2000]

Maybe they’ll do better than worrying about the overseas markets. Things change over time. It never hurts to be in front of things rather than behind.

You aren't the first one to say that, so don't mean to pick on you personally, but...

Burbank is trying to sell movie tickets and movie merchandise at Target in 2023. It's not trying to sell movie tickets and merchandise in 2040 right now. They'll worry about ticket sales and merchandise sales for 2040 in... wait for it... 2040. (Or maybe 2039 for the smartest cubicles.)

Any movie studio paying bills and making payroll today needs to sell tickets today, not create a future cult classic that will be popular in college dorms 20 years from now to pull in a tiny a fraction of today's profits.

 

[BuddyThomas]

You aren't the first one to say that, so don't mean to pick on you personally, but...

Burbank is trying to sell movie tickets and movie merchandise at Target in 2023. It's not trying to sell movie tickets and merchandise in 2040 right now. They'll worry about ticket sales and merchandise sales for 2040 in... wait for it... 2040. (Or maybe 2039 for the smartest cubicles.)

Any movie studio paying bills and making payroll today needs to sell tickets today, not create a future cult classic that will be popular in college dorms 20 years from now to pull in a tiny a fraction of today's profits.

Look! You said Burbank again!!!!! Hurray!!!!!!

 

[Chi84]

You aren't the first one to say that, so don't mean to pick on you personally, but...

Burbank is trying to sell movie tickets and movie merchandise at Target in 2023. It's not trying to sell movie tickets and merchandise in 2040 right now. They'll worry about ticket sales and merchandise sales for 2040 in... wait for it... 2040. (Or maybe 2039 for the smartest cubicles.)

Any movie studio paying bills and making payroll today needs to sell tickets today, not create a future cult classic that will be popular in college dorms 20 years from now to pull in a tiny a fraction of today's profits.

Ok. But Disney has always been a progressive company and it’s doing just fine. Minor hits don’t matter. You think all this is a big surprise to them?

 

[TP2000]

You think all this is a big surprise to them?

I'm fairly confident they didn't get a production budget approved for $140 Million to only make make back $67 Million at the box office.

 

[Chi84]

I'm fairly confident they didn't get a production budget approved for $140 Million to only make make back $67 Million at the box office.

Playing the long game. The past dies off.

 

[TP2000]

Playing the long game. The past dies off.

How do you meet payroll in the meantime while you wait for your failed 2022 film to become a cult classic in dorm rooms circa 2038?

 

[Mr. Engagement]

You aren't the first one to say that, so don't mean to pick on you personally, but...

Burbank is trying to sell movie tickets and movie merchandise at Target in 2023. It's not trying to sell movie tickets and merchandise in 2040 right now. They'll worry about ticket sales and merchandise sales for 2040 in... wait for it... 2040. (Or maybe 2039 for the smartest cubicles.)

No, Disney is changing its business and repositioning itself for the future. They’re actually NOT trying to sell movie tickets in 2023, they’re trying to pivot to streaming and rely less on box office. They’ve sad this for years, and they’re still in the middle of executing their plan.

What will Disney's film strategy be going forward, especially for those overseas markets that noticeably avoided Strange World?

Internationally, Disney’s strategy moving forward is to start charging (or serving commercials to) all the HotStar/Hulu subscribers who aren’t paying much at all just yet.

I'm fairly confident they didn't get a production budget approved for $140 Million to only make make back $67 Million at the box office.

The plan, I’m sure you remember, was to spend tons of money to bulk up and diversify their content so that their streaming platforms had enough to attract and keep subscribers, establishing market share. And it’s working:

Obviously Disney is currently in the most vulnerable phase of the plan: lots invested, lots to lose, uncertain economy, impatient investors, and leadership changes, but you can’t say the plan isn’t working. Well, you can, but you’d be wrong.

What remains to be seen is whether or not they can reach profitability (they are on track to do just that, and sooner than planned) and ultimately, if the pivot to streaming was the right decision to future proof the business.

How do you meet payroll in the meantime while you wait for your failed 2022 film to become a cult classic in dorm rooms circa 2038?

Theme parks and licensing.

 

[Chi84]

How do you meet payroll in the meantime while you wait for your failed 2022 film to become a cult classic in dorm rooms circa 2038?

Gee, maybe they never thought of that. But I doubt it.

 

[Disney Irish]

How do you meet payroll in the meantime while you wait for your failed 2022 film to become a cult classic in dorm rooms circa 2038?

Wait, wait, wait, so because of Strange World, and Lightyear because I know you'll throw that in there, didn't make back their budgets Disney can no longer meet payroll? That is what you're claiming? You're serious with this post?!?

I know you're trying to make a point in your normal hyperbolic way, but lets be real here. Disney is not in any risk of not being able to meet payroll as if they're insolvent. They can easily pay their employees as they have all the other films and other divisions that made money this year, plus $11.615B cash in reserve as of the last quarter, as well as the ability to borrow in order to fund the company if needed. So a couple films not making their budgets back isn't going to break the company, which if you know the history of the company is actually very common, and certainly isn't going to result in not meeting payroll.

So you can make all sorts of other claims here, but this one is very far from the reality and should never be in question.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Wait, wait, wait, so because of Strange World, and Lightyear because I know you'll throw that in there, didn't make back their budgets Disney can no longer meet payroll? That is what you're claiming? You're serious with this post?!?

I know you're trying to make a point in your normal hyperbolic way, but lets be real here. Disney is not in any risk of not being able to meet payroll as if they're insolvent. They can easily pay their employees as they have all the other films and other divisions that made money this year, plus $11.615B cash in reserve as of the last quarter, as well as the ability to borrow in order to fund the company if needed. So a couple films not making their budgets back isn't going to break the company, which if you know the history of the company is actually very common, and certainly isn't going to result in not meeting payroll.

So you can make all sorts of other claims here, but this one is very far from the reality and should never be in question.

The issue isn't payroll, but if Strange World was financed like most films from major Hollywood studios, the bondholders who need to be paid when those corporate bonds mature. Disney does not want their bond rating downgraded, because this makes future films more expensive to finance, so because that money isn't coming from Strange World profits, it has to be pulled from elsewhere in the company. Like you said, probably from their cash reserves, but this just means now that some other projects gets their budgets cut or cancelled outright.

 

[Disney Irish]

The issue isn't payroll, but if Strange World was financed like most films from major Hollywood studios, the bondholders who need to be paid when those corporate bonds mature. Disney does not want their bond rating downgraded, because this makes future films more expensive to finance, so because that money isn't coming from Strange World profits, it has to be pulled from elsewhere in the company. Like you said, probably from their cash reserves, but this just means now that some other projects gets their budgets cut or cancelled outright.

Except that wasn't the insinuation being made. It was that the failure of the last two movies would result Disney failing to make payroll, which is very far from being true.

We all know that budget cuts happen when movies don't make back their budgets, but the same goes for any Studio not just Disney.

 

[TP2000]

Wait, wait, wait, so because of Strange World, and Lightyear because I know you'll throw that in there, didn't make back their budgets Disney can no longer meet payroll? That is what you're claiming? You're serious with this post?!?

No, they'll meet payroll this month. And this quarter. And this year. It was a joke.

But if they keep vaporizing $100 Million on a summer film, then lose another $175+ Million on a Thanksgiving film, and then another big flop next summer.... the studio can't continue operating. Something must change. Either the films change, or the studio changes.

But it's not a sustainable business model long term. Especially when your budgets are bloated up beyond $150 Million per film.

 

[Disney Irish]

No, they'll meet payroll this month. And this quarter. And this year. It was a joke.

But if they keep vaporizing $100 Million on a summer film, then lose another $175+ Million on a Thanksgiving film, and then another big flop next summer.... the studio can't continue operating. Something must change. Either the films change, or the studio changes.

But it's not a sustainable business model long term. Especially when your budgets are bloated up beyond $150 Million per film.

You do realize that TWDC is not reliant on just WDAS and Pixar, right? You're making it seem like the revenue from these two studios are the only money Disney is relying on to make or break the company. WDAS and Pixar for the next decade could continue losing money and the company overall would still be fine financially. And it should be reminded that many Disney films over the years have been flops at the box office, and the company is still here to celebrate its 100th anniversary. So I'm not worry about them making payroll or whatever else you want to claim.

However with that said, and has been discussed MANY times in this thread and others, long term the company will make changes to hopefully make sure future WDAS and Pixar films aren't flops. Iger it appears is already be making those changes, such as the recent reorg to give decision making powers back to the studio heads.

 

[Heppenheimer]

You do realize that TWDC is not reliant on just WDAS and Pixar, right? You're making it seem like the revenue from these two studios are the only money Disney is relying on to make or break the company. WDAS and Pixar for the next decade could continue losing money and the company overall would still be fine financially. And it should be reminded that many Disney films over the years have been flops at the box office, and the company is still here to celebrate its 100th anniversary. So I'm not worry about them making payroll or whatever else you want to claim.

However with that said, and has been discussed MANY times in this thread and others, long term the company will make changes to hopefully make sure future WDAS and Pixar films aren't flops. Iger it appears is already be making those changes, such as the recent reorg to give decision making powers back to the studio heads.

If that were to ever happen, those two studios would likely be spun off from the larger company and canibalized for spare parts. Only during WWII did Disney films consistently lose money, and the studio only stayed afloat then because of US government contracts.

 

[Disney Irish]

If that were to ever happen, those two studios would likely be spun off from the larger company and canibalized for spare parts. Only during WWII did Disney films consistently lose money, and the studio only stayed afloat then because of US government contracts.

Nah that wouldn't happen as they would reorg the company first before it ever came to spinning off a whole studio let alone two or more.

 

[BuddyThomas]

Its a message board, it is kind of the point.

Also very substantial as not since "Waking Sleeping Beauty" Great Mouse Detective era has Disney not done well as their most famous game for the entire year this badly.

It's a message board, it's kind of the point of several members on here (not referring to you) to endlessly bash everything that has a gay character in it? Nope. I don't think that's kind of the point of a message board, but I think it is kind of the point of these haters. Also, they have not even seen the movie, but the obsessively post about it endlessly.

 

[Phroobar]

Strange World was not nominated for Best Animated Movie. My bet is Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red

 

[LittleBuford]

Strange World was not nominated for Best Animated Movie. My bet is Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red

Of the nominated films, I’ve seen only Turning Red. I didn’t love it. I’ll have to check the rest out at some point.

 

[DKampy]

Strange World was not nominated for Best Animated Movie. My bet is Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio.

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast
Turning Red

One of the easiest bets to make outside of Avatar winning best visual effects

 

[Phroobar]

One of the easiest bets to make outside of Avatar winning best visual effects

They might go Asian girl power and go Turning Red. However, I think Everything Everywhere All at Once might sweep.
Definitely Avatar wins best visual effects.
They will probably go with Angela Bassett best supporting actress with Michelle Yeoh for best actress.