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

[Disstevefan1]

Then why do you post here?

That's the response to anyone posting "why does it even matter?"

It seems, it matters to you.

Not any more.

For a time I did have an interest in the numbers, but the fact is, we have no idea how much it costs to make a movie; a movie budgeted for X dollars does not mean it cost X dollars to make, it could have gone over budget, we have NO IDEA how much the marketing cost are, we have an idea how much of the box office goes back to Disney, we have no idea how much a movie makes from other sources of income like merch, etc.

I will glance at the numbers going forward for entertainment value only,

So I will say if I like a movie or not (if that's ok)

If the movie makes money OK if the movie does not make money OK.

I post here because its fun especially when the Penguin replies to one of my posts.

 

[Disney Irish]

To nitpick: there are plenty of valid points that simply can’t be made in this forum because of forum rules. Political points, perhaps most notably.

More private groups could be quite fun.



I remain blissfully unaware. Highly recommend!

One can actually post quite openly here about many topics including those points without breaking forum rules, I do it all the time. And if it wades into those topics and gets too extreme then the mods clean it up and we move on. This is actually one of the most open forums I’ve been on in many many years.

 

[Disney Irish]

Well I hate their management…it’s a clown show of compiling mistakes and showing what not to do based on their own History…

But that is NOT hating Disney. It’s the opposite.

There will be less bickering around here when the “standard” doesn’t fall into the “cheerlead or hate” factions

Oh yes we all know your stance on things very well, you only post about it almost non stop.

As for the other, you’ll always have the “love vs hate” bickering, that is just par for the course in a fandom.

 

[brideck]

So I will say if I like a movie or not (if that's ok)

If the movie makes money OK if the movie does not make money OK.

This pretty closely matches my philosophy re: movies. I love them, and I could care less on an individual level which ones make the most. (In fact, the ones that make the most money are generally among my least favorite because by the nature of making a billion dollars they have to appeal to the broadest audience possible, which pretty much always means that a lot of creative compromises have been made.) I do care, in general, that the industry figure things out and succeed, though, because that's how future me gets more new movies.

Also, keeping an eye on what movies succeed and fail help me understand why trends in the industry happen (sequels and franchises, right now) and (specifically from the context of a Disney parks forum) help me see what is popular/successful enough for Disney to leverage in future park shows and attractions.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

One can actually post quite openly here about many topics including those points without breaking forum rules, I do it all the time. And if it wades into those topics and gets too extreme then the mods clean it up and we move on. This is actually one of the most open forums I’ve been on in many many years.

I’m glad it works for you. I feel very restricted. I think there are relevant points that affect a segment of Disney fandom (and their reaction to more recent films, attractions, and TV shows) that we can’t discuss because…reasons.

I couldn’t even say what I wanted directly in that sentence.

 

[Disney Irish]

I’m glad it works for you. I feel very restricted. I think there are relevant points that affect a segment of Disney fandom (and their reaction to more recent films, attractions, and TV shows) that we can’t discuss because…reasons.

I couldn’t even say what I wanted directly in that sentence.

I'm aware that it can feel restricting, but I think it all comes down to how things are said and if it gets heated or not. So many times topics raise the heat so much that it just ends up in fights and losing the conversation and that is when things have to be cleaned up. I've had plenty of posts removed that I felt were fine, but its just par for the course in a public forum. Still doesn't mean I don't feel I can say what needs to be said, I just try to find ways to say it without having to break the rules. I'm sure you've seen me go on plenty of multi-page rants about very deep topics. So obviously I can rant with the best of them.

 

[easyrowrdw]

Of course not. It's the relentless framing and narrative spinning that is the nonsensical part. I can't really think of many other posters around here who show up (on this particular thread anyway) absolutely intent on telling a particular story. Ad nauseum. They almost write themselves at this point.

From my perspective, I think that’s fairly common in this thread. After reading for a while, I think one can pretty reliably predict the general tenor of a post (positive or negative) for certain posters. I think maybe that’s why it seems to be the same arguments over and over again

 

[Ghost93]

I haven't commented too much on the box office of Mufasa as it's not a film I feel passionately about one way or the other. I'm glad it's not an utter debacle — both artistically and commercially —but it's not a movie that inspires extreme love or hatred. It's perfectly "fine." I suspect the soundtrack (which admittedly has a few good songs), is playing a role in the movie having better legs with families than Moana 2 (Which opened strong at the box office, but has had more significant drops due to poor word of mouth and forgettable songs).

However, I can get excited about the box office success of something like Nosferatu! Glad to see an old-school horror film with such a distinct directorial stamp is being embraced by general audiences. It's just a shame the movie isn't getting any awards chatter, as it's better than some of the likely Best Picture nominees like A Complete Unkown or Emilia Perez.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I haven't commented too much on the box office of Mufasa as it's not a film I feel passionately about one way or the other. I'm glad it's not an utter debacle — both artistically and commercially —but it's not a movie that inspires extreme love or hatred. It's perfectly "fine." I suspect the soundtrack (which admittedly has a few good songs), is playing a role in the movie having better legs with families than Moana 2 (Which opened strong at the box office, but has had more significant drops due to poor word of mouth and forgettable songs).

However, I can get excited about the box office success of something like Nosferatu! Glad to see an old-school horror film with such a distinct directorial stamp is being embraced by general audiences. It's just a shame the movie isn't getting any awards chatter, as it's better than some of the likely Best Picture nominees like A Complete Unkown or Emilia Perez.

I’m hearing it’s good, but also: not for me. Apparently, too gross. I have no tolerance for gross or gory, just don’t enjoy it.

 

[Ghost93]

I’m hearing it’s good, but also: not for me. Apparently, too gross. I have no tolerance for gross or gory, just don’t enjoy it.

Don't watch The Substance then!

 

[Farerb]

When he first started posting about 'the biz,' he clearly knew next to nothing.

When we showed him where to find the stats, he cherry picked them to make Disney look bad, even going on a posting spree the year Disney's movies weren't doing well.

Then, in the year Disney movies were doing very well... a lot of silence.

Until he smelled blood in the water regarding Mufasa.

Some expert.

He's funny.

I don't understand why people here take it so seriously, they're just movies.

I think the worst thing to happen for film discourse is the obsession with box office and rotten tomatoes scores. Almost no one talks about anything else regarding Mufasa.

 

[brideck]

I haven't commented too much on the box office of Mufasa as it's not a film I feel passionately about one way or the other. I'm glad it's not an utter debacle — both artistically and commercially —but it's not a movie that inspires extreme love or hatred. It's perfectly "fine." I suspect the soundtrack (which admittedly has a few good songs), is playing a role in the movie having better legs with families than Moana 2 (Which opened strong at the box office, but has had more significant drops due to poor word of mouth and forgettable songs).

It feels like Moana 2 has also gotten a bigger holiday bump than I would've expected, especially with other family movies in the marketplace at the same time. But I suppose it's probably the safest one for the youngest audiences right now, and will be until Dog Man arrives. The long, slow climb to $450m (and beyond?) continues. And for what it's worth, I really enjoyed the music in this one -- good mix of Polynesian language stuff with the more poppy numbers.

However, I can get excited about the box office success of something like Nosferatu! Glad to see an old-school horror film with such a distinct directorial stamp is being embraced by general audiences. It's just a shame the movie isn't getting any awards chatter, as it's better than some of the likely Best Picture nominees like A Complete Unkown or Emilia Perez.

I haven't seen any of these three yet, but I'm sure Nosferatu is awesome -- Eggers is a master. GoldDerby tells me that it's probably in line for a Cinematography nomination, but yeah... none of the biggies. That could cut its legs off some as the calendar rolls into February.

Don't watch The Substance then!

Ha. Too true. Awesome movie, though.

 

[DKampy]

Don't watch The Substance then!

Speaking of surprise award contenders(in a good way) I never thought The Substance had a chance… but I think the film has a good shot at getting multiple Oscar nominations including best picture…. And Demi Moore may have just put herself among the front runners for lead actress after her speech at the Golden Globes

 

[TP2000]

I don’t know what your point is anymore… First Mufasa is a flop..then when it is performing better than thought Mufasa is still losing money…. Now that Mufasa has a path to profitability but look how much more Profits Wonka made.

That's not how the conversation on Mufasa went at all. You seem to be applying opinions I don't have (Mufasa being a flop, for example, which I never said) to words I didn't type (I didn't bring up Wonka, someone else did).

My posts with box office data stand on their own. No need to apply meaning that isn't there.

Heck, have we even had more than a dozen or so posts about Mufasa the past week? No one seems to be talking about Mufasa's box office much, which is why I thought to pull out the current box office data for it. I kind of felt bad that we aren't talking about the big Christmas tentpole much.

 

[DKampy]

That's not how the conversation on Mufasa went at all. You seem to be applying opinions I don't have (Mufasa being a flop, for example, which I never said) to words I didn't type (I didn't bring up Wonka, someone else did).

My posts with box office data stand on their own. No need to apply meaning that isn't there.

Heck, have we even had more than a dozen or so posts about Mufasa the past week? No one seems to be talking about Mufasa's box office much, which is why I thought to pull out the current box office data for it. I kind of felt bad that we aren't talking about the big Christmas tentpole much.

You heavily implied Mufasa had failed in its opening weekend in your own way….at any rate I fail to see what Wonka has to do with Mufasa… completely different movies in completely different years

Well apparently you don’t visit the Mufasa thread… There has been plenty of discussion there

 

[TP2000]

You heavily implied Mufasa had failed in its opening weekend in your own way….

I have good typing skills (Thanks to Miss Postma in 7th grade!) and I know how to use the word "flop" in a sentence. Also the word "bomb". If I had wanted to claim that Mufasa had flopped, or was going to flop, or will bomb, or has bombed, I would have said that. But I didn't.

If you got the idea that I was "heavily implying in my own way" that concept, that's on you, I'm afraid.

at any rate I fail to see what Wonka has to do with Mufasa… completely different movies in completely different years

Your concern about daring to bring up Wonka in correlation to Mufasa does not lie with me.

Your concern with Wonka lies with @brideck who brought it up out of the blue last week. In brideck's defense, he has a valid point in that they are both Christmas tentpoles aimed at the family audience. The difference in their budgets and box office performance means that Wonka reached profitability much easier than Mufasa may.

How come you haven't shown the legs chart for this one? Mufasa is the recipient of this year's Christmas miracle. Here's the comp with last year's winner, Wonka.

Well apparently you don’t visit the Mufasa thread… There has been plenty of discussion there

I don't visit that thread as I haven't seen the movie, nor have any plans to, and so the discussion on its artistic merits aren't that interesting to me. This box office thread is for the box office data and hard facts that correlate to Disney's various movies, with interesting compare/contrasts to similar genres and demographics. As an example; a brief 3 post discussion on the box office for Mufasa versus Wonka from last Christmas.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

You heavily implied Mufasa had failed in its opening weekend in your own way….at any rate I fail to see what Wonka has to do with Mufasa… completely different movies in completely different years

Well apparently you don’t visit the Mufasa thread… There has been plenty of discussion there

On one of these threads, I pointed out the similarities. Christmas releases with disappointing openings, but good films with legs, probably partly due to word of mouth.

 

[brideck]

Your concern with Wonka lies with @brideck who brought it up out of the blue last week. In brideck's defense, he has a valid point in that they are both Christmas tentpoles aimed at the family audience.

I actually brought it up as a comp right after Mufasa opened, so it seemed right to revisit it. [We don't have many post-pandemic holiday release family movies to really compare/contrast.]

re: Mufasa -- It's all going to depend on audience reception/word of mouth. If it manages to be this season's Wonka (which I wouldn't count on given the number of prominent animated/musical movies out right now) it could end up in similar $200m/$600m territory even with its projected opening.

The CG animals have actually far outstripped the performance of last year's holiday season even after its relatively shaky opening, as it's headed north of that early $200m/$600m thought.

 

[Disney Irish]

I have good typing skills (Thanks to Miss Postma in 7th grade!) and I know how to use the word "flop" in a sentence. Also the word "bomb". If I had wanted to claim that Mufasa had flopped, or was going to flop, or will bomb, or has bombed, I would have said that. But I didn't.

If you got the idea that I was "heavily implying in my own way" that concept, that's on you, I'm afraid.

You may want to revisit some of your posts and how you word them then, as these several posts (along with others) give the real impression that you wrote off Mufasa after it didn't open strong. Something by the way that you often do even though time and again we have provided real world evidence to you that movies still can be very successful even if they don't open strong.

Okay gang, here's the Thursday box office with Preview showings for Mufasa and Sonic factored in. I'm afraid the king of the jungle is going to leave a photorealistic lump of coal in Bob Iger's stocking this year.

Or, better question, does Mufasa stand a chance to break even?

 

[TP2000]

I actually brought it up as a comp right after Mufasa opened, so it seemed right to revisit it. [We don't have many post-pandemic holiday release family movies to really compare/contrast.]

Thank you! It was a completely valid movie for you to bring up in a discussion about Mufasa's box office performance. That's what we do here in this thread; discuss box office performance and the various compare/contrasts across demographics.

Perhaps now that @DKampy understands that you dared to mention Wonka instead of me, they won't be so mad about it?