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

[Casper Gutman]

Box Office: ‘Inside Out 2’ Passing ‘Dune: Part Two’ to Become Top Movie of 2024 in North America

The Pixar feature is expected to achieve the feat on Friday, only its eighth day in release. Elsewhere, 'The Exorcism' looks to be among the worst wide openings of Russell Crowe's career.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

 

[BrianLo]

Had the Inside Out series been announced before this week? Because seeing Disney return to milking a successful franchise into what is sure to be diminishing returns shows they are so, so back.

With the turnaround timeframe on animation, I would be either surprised it wasn’t already in the works, or is just a bunch of shorts, in which case it probably won’t do much in the way of diminishing returns since Toy Story and Despicable Me both did a bunch.

They need to resist the urge to make IO3 under 7+ years from now. If they can do that it can hit an ok nostalgia plateau for more. Assuming they take it to the young adult college years where the bulk of their 13-17yo audience will then be.

 

[Casper Gutman]

With the turnaround timeframe on animation, I would be either surprised it wasn’t already in the works, or is just a bunch of shorts, in which case it probably won’t do much in the way of diminishing returns since Toy Story and Despicable Me both did a bunch.

They need to resist the urge to make IO3 under 7+ years from now. If they can do that it can hit an ok nostalgia plateau for more. Assuming they take it to the young adult college years where the bulk of their 13-17yo audience will then be.

So what sequels will we be seeing before then? Toy Story 5 is on the schedule. I believe Nemo and incredibles have been mentioned. The way they’re pushing Coco, I have to think they’ll try and milk that franchise. Monsters seems obvious. Do little gems like Rat and WALL-E stay as one offs? I’d kind of like it if they tried sequels to some less likely candidates - how about A Bugs Life 2? Or Luca 2? If we’re stuck in the sequel rut, let’s get weird with it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

With the turnaround timeframe on animation, I would be either surprised it wasn’t already in the works, or is just a bunch of shorts, in which case it probably won’t do much in the way of diminishing returns since Toy Story and Despicable Me both did a bunch.

They need to resist the urge to make IO3 under 7+ years from now. If they can do that it can hit an ok nostalgia plateau for more. Assuming they take it to the young adult college years where the bulk of their 13-17yo audience will then be.

Why wait?

Nobody can resist bobs personal brand…

Disney at 100: Why the Mouse House flopped hard in its centenary year

Until quite recently, the studio looked unstoppable on its way to dominating Hollywood. But in 2023, its box office plummeted, and its magic faded. What has gone wrong?

www.bbc.com

 

[Disney Irish]

I honestly think there is more common ground here than many want to realize or admit.

Overall Disney had a bad 2023 at the box office comparatively and its for many reasons. Those reasons can and will be debated for many many many years to come. So far 2024 looks to be way better than 2023 and may end up with Disney being back on top at the box office.

What we may end up having is that 2023 was just a blip year and the company corrected itself quickly to rebound in 2024.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I honestly think there is more common ground here than many want to realize or admit.

Overall Disney had a bad 2023 at the box office comparatively and its for many reasons. Those reasons can and will be debated for many many many years to come. So far 2024 looks to be way better than 2023 and may end up with Disney being back on top at the box office.

What we may end up having is that 2023 was just a blip year and the company corrected itself quickly to rebound in 2024.

Easy there…they’ve released 1 decent movie so far?

They’re benefiting from this one and will from Deadpool…the rest are heading back to tiredville.

They continue to have a bad philosophy of pumping out fatigued material.

And didn’t yutz just decree he’s gonna do MORE of that?

Looks like he may be looking to jump ship again…which is nothing but a positive.

And yes…there is more common ground here than it seems. In Disney forums that is almost always the case.

 

[erasure fan1]

I honestly think there is more common ground here than many want to realize or admit.

Hallelujah​

Finally coming around to my point of view I see.

I've said that a few times.

 

[Disney Irish]

Hallelujah​

Finally coming around to my point of view I see.

I've said that a few times.

This isn't "finally coming around to your point of view", as I've always thought that there is common ground here. And no offense but it doesn't come across as though you've been saying that, but maybe I missed it.

I still disagree with a lot of your takes on things. But really think that most of what a majority are saying is just different shades of gray rather than black and white divided.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This isn't "finally coming around to your point of view", as I've always thought that there is common ground here. And no offense but it doesn't come across as though you've been saying that, but maybe I missed it.

I still disagree with a lot of your takes on things. But really think that most of what a majority are saying is just different shades of gray rather than black and white divided.

You need to get your sarcasm detection radar into the shop and have it looked at

 

[Disney Irish]

Easy there…they’ve released 1 decent movie so far?

They’re benefiting from this one and will from Deadpool…the rest are heading back to tiredville.

They continue to have a bad philosophy of pumping out fatigued material.

And didn’t yutz just decree he’s gonna do MORE of that?

Looks like he may be looking to jump ship again…which is nothing but a positive.

And yes…there is more common ground here than it seems. In Disney forums that is almost always the case.

Well that is just your opinion, as you like to claim the market will determine if the current strategy will work or not.

 

[Disney Irish]

You need to get your sarcasm detection radar into the shop and have it looked at

I knew it was sarcastic, so my radar is working just fine.

 

[Casper Gutman]

OK, box office. Are we still betting against Mufasa? I was pretty sure it would underperform, but I’m increasingly less convinced…

 

[Disney Irish]

OK, box office. Are we still betting against Mufasa? I was pretty sure it would underperform, but I’m increasingly less convinced…

I don't think it'll be a $1B movie, but I think it'll perform moderately well.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

OK, box office. Are we still betting against Mufasa? I was pretty sure it would underperform, but I’m increasingly less convinced…

It’s overkill…but may sell

I don't think it'll be a $1B movie, but I think it'll perform moderately well.

Actual agreement

It will perform “well” but the management will consider it a failure is my guess

 

[Disney Irish]

It’s overkill…but may sell

Actual agreement

It will perform “well” but the management will consider it a failure is my guess

And again it might surprise you, but I think after 2020-2023 "management" has reassessed what they consider a "failure".

 

[Casper Gutman]

I don't think it'll be a $1B movie, but I think it'll perform moderately well.

I’ve been amazed by the success of the live-action remakes, all of which seem pretty useless (Cinderella and Maleficent were OK, haven’t seen Cruella) so I’m not sure I trust my own judgement. I can see a slight underperformance… but I can also see an inexplicably huge blockbuster performance. We’ll have to see how the box office performs before then - for the last month, it’s seemed almost pre-pandemic normal (except for the low number of releases).

 

[Disney Irish]

I’ve been amazed by the success of the live-action remakes, all of which seem pretty useless (Cinderella and Maleficent were OK, haven’t seen Cruella) so I’m not sure I trust my own judgement. I can see a slight underperformance… but I can also see an inexplicably huge blockbuster performance. We’ll have to see how the box office performs before then - for the last month, it’s seemed almost pre-pandemic normal (except for the low number of releases).

I wouldn't say its back to pre-pandemic normal by any means, it was only a couple weeks ago when analysts were talking about the potential of summer 2024 being lost completely.

Its going to take a bunch of hits the rest of the year to be even close to last year, right now tracking over $2B below.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I’ve been amazed by the success of the live-action remakes, all of which seem pretty useless (Cinderella and Maleficent were OK, haven’t seen Cruella) so I’m not sure I trust my own judgement. I can see a slight underperformance… but I can also see an inexplicably huge blockbuster performance. We’ll have to see how the box office performs before then - for the last month, it’s seemed almost pre-pandemic normal (except for the low number of releases).

I think Mufasa is going to live or die by word of mouth reviews, people love the Lion King and it’s more of a sequel than a live action remake so it‘s a bit of an outlier.

More importantly I wanted to reply to say check out Cruella when you get a chance, it’s my favorite live action remake, in large part because it’s not a remake, more of a new take on an old story like Maleficent was.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I think Mufasa is going to live or die by word of mouth reviews, people love the Lion King and it’s more of a sequel than a live action remake so it‘s a bit of an outlier.

More importantly I wanted to reply to say check out Cruella when you get a chance, it’s my favorite live action remake, in large part because it’s not a remake, more of a new take on an old story like Maleficent was.

Oh, I want to see Cruella and I’m happy it’s getting a sequel. I have no real problem with live-action “reimagings,” though I do think the trend of “she wasn’t REALLY evil” movies is kind of funny. I’d love a satire with a character like Captain Hook desperately trying and failing to rewrite himself as the hero of the story.

I hated the live-action Lion King and I’m honestly baffled by its success. Given the increased importance of opening weekend (and LK had a huge one), I’m not sure word of mouth is as important as it once was. Certainly it can give something like Elemental legs or soften the drop off, but for Mufasa I think it’s all that opening weekend.

 

[brideck]

And here we are…the pretense any of it was good has been dropped….finally…but we can’t let go of our binkie that the holy company can’t fail.

Speak for yourself. My position was that it was a mediocre slate (for mass appeal, I enjoyed a couple of them myself), but not one *on its own* worthy of the amount of vitriol it received or the *scope* of failure it had at the box office. In other words, it even underperformed its decidedly mid quality. Especially when you consider that outside of Pixar, Disney hasn't generally made great movies over the last 10+ years, but have had many more raging successes than that.

But take a mediocre slate, add in a dash of pandemic-decreased audience, a tablespoon of overfocusing on streaming, and a smidgen of prominent negative attention in the culture wars? Yeah, I can see how a colossal failure could have happened given all of that.