Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

[Disstevefan1]

We wanted to see it in the theater because we didn’t give it enough chance when we watched it at home and kept getting distracted. We had tickets purchased but then our local AMC canceled the showtimes. We ended up seeing something else.

AMC cancelling show times. That’s interesting

 

[vikescaper]

AMC cancelling show times. That’s interesting

The AMC I usually go to is a little strange at times. I checked other AMC’s in the area and they didn’t cancel any of those show times but I wasn’t going to drive over a half an hour to watch a movie that is on D+.

 

[PiratesMansion]

For those Har-har-ing about Disney's bad box office this weekend, it's worth noting that big swaths of the country got plenty hammered with bad weather this past week.

Here in IL, most of the state got not one but two big batches of snowfall and extreme cold within this past week, and I know that we weren't alone.

When it's -8 feels like -26 out with windchill, with a bunch of snow on top of it, the last thing on my mind is leaving my house unless I absolutely have to, let alone going to see a movie, when I have so many options that I can pull up without leaving my couch. No one's going to go out and see a rerelease in particular in that situation, even if it's for a film that's more beloved than Soul.

Just a bit of context that seems to have been entirely unremarked upon over the past few pages.

 

[brideck]

For those Har-har-ing about Disney's bad box office this weekend, it's worth noting that big swaths of the country got plenty hammered with bad weather this past week.

Here in IL, most of the state got not one but two big batches of snowfall and extreme cold within this past week, and I know that we weren't alone.

When it's -8 feels like -26 out with windchill, with a bunch of snow on top of it, the last thing on my mind is leaving my house unless I absolutely have to, let alone going to see a movie, when I have so many options that I can pull up without leaving my couch. No one's going to go out and see a rerelease in particular in that situation, even if it's for a film that's more beloved than Soul.

Just a bit of context that seems to have been entirely unremarked upon over the past few pages.

It didn't seem to impact the overall box office that much (MLK 2024 was down only $9 million [7%] compared to MLK 2023), but I could definitely buy that argument as having some impact in particular on a re-release easily available at home.

Personally, I went to 4 movies in theaters over the long weekend despite the temperature barely hitting double digits at any point. [Note: None of them were Soul, but I'm not sure I'll have the room in my viewing schedule to make it happen anyway.]

 

[Disstevefan1]

For those Har-har-ing about Disney's bad box office this weekend, it's worth noting that big swaths of the country got plenty hammered with bad weather this past week.

Here in IL, most of the state got not one but two big batches of snowfall and extreme cold within this past week, and I know that we weren't alone.

When it's -8 feels like -26 out with windchill, with a bunch of snow on top of it, the last thing on my mind is leaving my house unless I absolutely have to, let alone going to see a movie, when I have so many options that I can pull up without leaving my couch. No one's going to go out and see a rerelease in particular in that situation, even if it's for a film that's more beloved than Soul.

Just a bit of context that seems to have been entirely unremarked upon over the past few pages.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I think it’s odd people are being so judgy about a re-release, or so puzzled that it happened.

 

[TP2000]

For those Har-har-ing about Disney's bad box office this weekend, it's worth noting that big swaths of the country got plenty hammered with bad weather this past week.

Here in IL, most of the state got not one but two big batches of snowfall and extreme cold within this past week, and I know that we weren't alone.

When it's -8 feels like -26 out with windchill, with a bunch of snow on top of it, the last thing on my mind is leaving my house unless I absolutely have to, let alone going to see a movie, when I have so many options that I can pull up without leaving my couch. No one's going to go out and see a rerelease in particular in that situation, even if it's for a film that's more beloved than Soul.

Just a bit of context that seems to have been entirely unremarked upon over the past few pages.

Valid point. I know Portland had record low temps and hundreds of thousands of people and businesses were without power for most of the weekend in the Portland metro area. Two old friends in the southern suburbs had no power for 56 hours straight, and now have two dead Teslas that won't charge because they're too cold to register. (Or something like that from their Facebook updates, I'm not really sure how that works with electric cars) Last night they took an Uber to stock up at a Costco that had power 15 miles away, because freezing rain is forecast for this afternoon. Unprecedented cold in the Great Pacific Northwest!

That said, from Friday to Sunday, Soul did only $431,000 for all three days combined and came in down in 22nd place for its debut weekend. At the same time, the top 5 movies did over $75 Million in box office combined that same weekend. Even the animated/family movie competition that's been in theaters for weeks (or months) trounced Soul, so it's not like families didn't go to the movies this past weekend. This is a story about Soul failing in theaters, not about weather keeping the entire nation at home from coast to coast. Just the upper Midwest and the Great Pacific Northwest.

Reverend MLK Holiday Weekend Domestic Box Office - Animated/Family Films
Wonka = $8,465,000 from 5th Weekend In Release
Migration = $6,232,325 from 4th Weekend In Release
The Boy & The Heron = $1,140,120 from 6th Weekend In Release
Trolls Band Together = $505,005 from 9th Weekend In Release
Soul = $431,840 from 1st Weekend In Release

 

[TP2000]

I think it’s odd people are being so judgy about a re-release, or so puzzled that it happened.

I think we're all just surprised it did so poorly. I didn't expect Soul to do regular box office as if it was just released, but only 22nd place for its debut weekend in 1,350 theaters??? That took me by surprise. I also think we're trying to determine exactly what their strategy is for this string of re-releases. Surely this wasn't the box office reaction they were expecting.

Next up, Turning Red!

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think it’s odd people are being so judgy about a re-release, or so puzzled that it happened.

I agree. It's no surprise that a relatively recent movie that is on Disney+ would not do well at the theater.

Disney has a VAST movie library and could have picked a movie that hasn't been on the big screen in decades. I am thinking maybe it was fast and cheap for Disney to get Soul out to the theaters where if they wanted to re release an old movie there would have been costly technical hurdles to jump in order to make it happen.

 

[TP2000]

On the issue of Soul box office, through Monday it has made $558,000. Assuming a 60% take for Pixar, that's $334,000 in ticket revenue for Burbank from its debut holiday weekend.

On that trajectory, Soul is going to make a total of $1 or $2 Million in ticket revenue (optimistically) before it's replaced by Turning Red next month. They're likely losing millions of dollars, as even with a miniscule marketing budget the costs for distribution and operations to get the film in 1,350 theaters nationwide would be more than a couple million dollars.

I hope the morale boost for Emeryville employees was worth losing millions of dollars on these re-releases.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

They're likely losing millions of dollars, as even with a miniscule marketing budget the costs for distribution and operations to get the film in 1,350 theaters nationwide would be more than a couple million dollars.

Distribution should all be digital now, essentially free, as long as they dont break the bank on marketing they should at least break even.

I would have picked different movies but with nothing new to show in theaters this is the cheapest way to keep them open.

 

[PiratesMansion]

I'm just saying that the top box office for ANY movie during a holiday weekend was what, $8 million?

Not going to pretend I have any knowledge of year-over-year box office trends when it comes to this specific holiday weekend, but it hardly seems like anything did super well this weekend, so it just seems weird to me to focus solely on how Disney didn't meet whatever imagined threshold they needed to meet over a long weekend that was clearly impacted by weather.

 

[Disstevefan1]

On the issue of Soul box office, through Monday it has made $558,000. Assuming a 60% take for Pixar, that's $334,000 in ticket revenue for Burbank from its debut holiday weekend.

On that trajectory, Soul is going to make a total of $1 or $2 Million in ticket revenue (optimistically) before it's replaced by Turning Red next month. They're likely losing millions of dollars, as even with a miniscule marketing budget the costs for distribution and operations to get the film in 1,350 theaters nationwide would be more than a couple million dollars.

I hope the morale boost for Emeryville employees was worth losing millions of dollars on these re-releases.

Disney loses hundreds of millions on movies they release and they feel good about those "important" releases.

 

[TP2000]

I'm just saying that the top box office for ANY movie during a holiday weekend was what, $8 million?

The box office totals for the Top 5 this holiday weekend amounted to about $75 Million. Two in the Top 5 were family/animation movies; Wonka and Migration.

#1 Mean Girls = $33.6 Million
#2 The Beekeeper = $18.7 Million
#3 Wonka = $11.2 Million
#4 Migration = $8.5 Million
#5 Anyone But You = $8.4 Million

#22 Soul = $558,000

Not going to pretend I have any knowledge of year-over-year box office trends when it comes to this specific holiday weekend, but it hardly seems like anything did super well this weekend, so it just seems weird to me to focus solely on how Disney didn't meet whatever imagined threshold they needed to meet over a long weekend that was clearly impacted by weather.

Debuting in 22nd place over a holiday weekend can't be explained by cold weather in January in the upper Midwest and Northwest, because 21 other movies beat it during the same weekend with the same weather.

This box office response to Soul showing up in theaters simply can't be what they had planned for this strategy. I have to wonder if we'll get a beefed up marketing push for Turning Red, or if they just abandon the strategy entirely?

 

[TP2000]

Disney loses hundreds of millions on movies they release and they feel good about those "important" releases.

I had to chuckle at the interview with Pete Docter that Disney corporate released. He gushed over how his Pixar movies look and sound so much better in movie theaters and it's the only way to truly appreciate that art.

It's a valid point artistically, but seems undermined by releasing anything and everything on Disney+. If the art is so valuable that it must be screened by professionals in modern theaters to be appreciated, then why are you trusting it to Disney+ streamed to a cheap $250 TV set from WalMart that dad messed up the color tuning on?

 

[Phroobar]

I was really hoping Soul would make more money than Wish. That would have been funny.

 

[TP2000]

For those keeping score at home, the total domestic box office for this past four day holiday weekend was $122,806,495.
One hundred and twenty two million dollars and change, total for 4 days.

Soul had box office of $558,717 for those four days combined, or approximately 0.4% of the total domestic weekend box office.

The Numbers - Daily Box Office Chart for Thursday October 9, 2025

Daily Domestic Box Office Chart for Thursday October 9, 2025

www.the-numbers.com

 

[BuddyThomas]

It didn't seem to impact the overall box office that much (MLK 2024 was down only $9 million [7%] compared to MLK 2023), but I could definitely buy that argument as having some impact in particular on a re-release easily available at home.

Personally, I went to 4 movies in theaters over the long weekend despite the temperature barely hitting double digits at any point. [Note: None of them were Soul, but I'm not sure I'll have the room in my viewing schedule to make it happen anyway.]

What did you see and what did you think?

 

[drizgirl]

I agree. It's no surprise that a relatively recent movie that is on Disney+ would not do well at the theater.

Disney has a VAST movie library and could have picked a movie that hasn't been on the big screen in decades. I am thinking maybe it was fast and cheap for Disney to get Soul out to the theaters where if they wanted to re release an old movie there would have been costly technical hurdles to jump in order to make it happen.

I would have braved the bad weather to go see Sleeping Beauty (or some other classic) on the big screen.

 

[brideck]

What did you see and what did you think?

American Fiction - loved it. Absolutely hilarious critique of the way black culture is received and consumed by the predominantly white populace.
The Boy and the Heron (subbed) - Another classic Miyazaki effort. Maybe the most overtly adult effort he's ever produced.
The Iron Claw - Liked this, thought the performances were great, but I wish I'd gone in not knowing anything about the real-life story. The tragedies came too rapid fire in the 3rd act for my taste.
Memory - Simple story, but complex characters with very good performances. Not sure I'm onboard with all of the decisions/conclusions made, but definitely thought-provoking re: the reliability of memory and dementia.

We were going to see Fallen Leaves, but the screening was sold out, so saw AF instead. We were also going to see All of Us Strangers, but its strong performance let us push it to this upcoming weekend and see Memory instead. We don't tend to jump on movies right away in opening week, so I've always kept a pretty close eye on BO and screen count to know when to see stuff before it goes away.