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

[BrianLo]

Don’t you see how the game works? Someone will float a budget number of $135M to a legacy access media reporter and then the pro-Disney posters on here will run with that as the only credible number.

It’s not a game. Legacy media reporters will also change their figures as more information arises. Have we never failed to reach eventual consensus? The bad faith assumption is that the initial figures are always wrong and historically that’s not been particularly true.

There’s been a lot of disruptions on costs recently and eventually the wild gyrations will settle down and those initial figures will more often or not be close.

Yes, generally speaking I see slightly more value in trade figures than YouTuber guesses. That’s my bias out there.

 

[TP2000]

Uh, gang.... Is it me or did Daylight Saving Time completely sneak up on us this year?

Thank goodness for automatically adjusting clocks! And thank goodness for over-the-counter Melatonin!

Box Office is in for this Daylight Saving Time weekend. Captain America 4 had a 43% drop from last weekend.

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for October 3, 2025

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of October 3, 2025

thenumbers.com

 

[TP2000]

Also updated today is a general update on this weekend's overseas box office for Captain America 4, with a more accurate revision down to the exact Yen, Pound and Deutschmark coming in by Tuesday.

Captain America 4 has not performed strongly overseas.

As it stands now, Captain America 4 did not achieve escape velocity globally to meet or exceed the box office for Ant-Man Quantumania. But at least Captain America 4 in all his manliness can beat a group of girls, AKA The Marvels.

There's probably a few Title IX jokes in that comparison with The Marvels.

 

[Disney Irish]

Hmm. UK/Ireland is the second largest English-speaking box office market after the U.S. Spain doesn’t crack the top ten in terms of aggregate box office (English and non-English speaking).

I can’t remember the last time Disney did not host a major UK premiere in London with its principal cast and creators. They even did one for Lightyear and Strange World!

Chris Evans and Taika Waititi look dapper at the Lightyear premiere

The actors who are starring in the new Disney and Pixar movie showcased their close friendship on the blue carpet at their Lightyear premiere on Monday in London.

www.dailymail.co.uk

"Strange World" London Premiere Event Photos - What's On Disney Plus

Disney hosted a special European premiere tonight at London’s Cineworld Leicester Square for the new Walt Disney Animation Studios’ original

whatsondisneyplus.com

And that may all be true, but this isn't meant to be a normal premiere event anymore with the public. The idea, at least from what I gather, is to skip the normal public premiere to avoid any disruption (and safety of everyone involved) by potential public backlash and have a private one for press only instead, which I assume will still be all over the media. And really that can be had anywhere as the venue doesn't matter at that point if there is no public, so why not in Spain with a fairytale castle backdrop.

 

[networkpro]

I broke down and watched the new Captain America this weekend and I can see why its not as successful as the other installments of the franchise. They should have replaced the director and the editors. Its a shame because I absolutely love most of the actors (I loved Giancarlo Esposito and Harrison Ford) but the dialog was wooden and some of the casting choices like Shirra Haas left me say ? I'm afraid any subsequent films by this director are a hard skip for me.

​

 

[Disstevefan1]

Maybe its just me, but it looks like Disney is sparing no expense in the marketing budget when buying Ads for Snow White. I am seeing Ads for for Snow White everywhere!

Maybe they are using the money they did not use in the UK premiere and pouring that money into Ads?

 

[Disney Irish]

Maybe its just me, but it looks like Disney is sparing no expense in the marketing budget when buying Ads for Snow White. I am seeing Ads for for Snow White everywhere!

Maybe they are using the money they did not use in the UK premiere and pouring that money into Ads?

Personally, so far I haven't seen "more" ads compared to other Disney movies. While I don't know how much they've spent for Snow compared to other movies, I doubt the converted "premiere" monies toward this given that they are still having a premiere just not in the UK and not with the public. They will be having a premiere in Spain for press in front of a castle, so I doubt that is cheap and would take all the UK premiere money, if not a bit more.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Personally, so far I haven't seen "more" ads compared to other Disney movies. While I don't know how much they've spent for Snow compared to other movies, I doubt the converted "premiere" monies toward this given that they are still having a premiere just not in the UK and not with the public. They will be having a premiere in Spain for press in front of a castle, so I doubt that is cheap and would take all the UK premiere money, if not a bit more.

Good point. Disney is spending a lot on the marketing Snow.

Lets hope it pays off.

 

[Disney Irish]

Good point. Disney is spending a lot on the marking Snow.

Lets hope it pays off.

A "lot" compared to what though? Again we don't know if the marketing budget for Snow is more, less, or the same compared to say Mufasa or any other Disney movie. I mean for all we know its actually less and you just happen to be seeing more than you previously saw for other movies.

So I think we should avoid trying to quantify this as being something different than other movie marketing.

 

[Disstevefan1]

A "lot" compared to what though? Again we don't know if the marketing budget for Snow is more, less, or the same compared to say Mufasa or any other Disney movie. I mean for all we know its actually less and you just happen to be seeing more than you previously saw for other movies.

So I think we should avoid trying to quantify this as being something different than other movie marketing.

True. Maybe Snow is not getting enough money spent on marketing.

Maybe Snow is getting the same as others, no one actually knows how much Disney is spending, I just happen to see A LOT of Ads for Snow on cable and streaming.

Lets see what happens at the box office.

 

[Disney Irish]

True. Maybe Snow is not getting enough money spent on marketing.

Maybe Snow is getting the same as others, no one actually knows how much Disney is spending, I just happen to see A LOT of Ads for Snow on cable and streaming.

Lets see what happens at the box office.

Like I mentioned I haven't seen any more ads compared to any other recent Disney movie. But yes we don't know. The box office will be interesting to watch, but I don't think lack of ads will be its issue if it doesn't perform well.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I don't think lack of ads will be its issue if it doesn't perform well.

Totally agree. I could be seeing a lot of Snow Ads because of my viewing habits. To me, there is a noticeable amount of Ads for Snow being shown.

 

[Tha Realest]

I have seen a lot of ads. Gal Gadot was also on GMA today.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Totally agree. I could be seeing a lot of Snow Ads because of my viewing habits. To me, there is a noticeable amount of Ads for Snow being shown.

Certainly possible, I previously mentioned I’ve seen more ads for SW than any other Disney movies in the last half a decade and they haven’t decreased since.

I’ve been watching a lot of Hulu so a lot of SW ads there doesn’t surprise me but I’m seeing them regularly on YouTube also, it’s not proof they’re spending more but anecdotally it says a lot, I’ve been pretty hard on Disney marketing the last few years because they’ve released movies I’d never seen a single ad for, and my YouTube and online activity has to scream “Disney adult”, they’ve more than made up for that lack of ads with this one movie alone, I bet I’ve seen at least 60-70 ads for SW over the last month.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

I don't watch a lot (any?) of kids television programming, but on the channels I do watch (24 hour cable news and sports), I haven't seen one ad ever for this Snow White movie. They may be spending on marketing, but they aren't directing the advertisements to my demographic (49 year old man in the suburbs in Texas).

EDIT: I also watch a ton of reaction videos on YouTube, but I have an ad blocker and never see ads there.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I don't watch a lot (any?) of kids television programming, but on the channels I do watch (24 hour cable news and sports), I haven't seen one ad ever for this Snow White movie. They may be spending on marketing, but they aren't directing the advertisements to my demographic (49 year old man in the suburbs in Texas).

EDIT: I also watch a ton of reaction videos on YouTube, but I have an ad blocker and never see ads there.

That’s the odd thing with Hulu also, I’ve been on a huge crime/mystery kick lately and have been bingeing shows like White Collar, High Potential, and currently Will Trent… nothing that would indicate I’m a huge kids movie fan. (I am, just not sure how the algorithm figured it out.)

 

[Disney Irish]

That’s the odd thing with Hulu also, I’ve been on a huge crime/mystery kick lately and have been bingeing shows like White Collar, High Potential, and currently Will Trent… nothing that would indicate I’m a huge kids movie fan. (I am, just not sure how the algorithm figured it out.)

Hulu = Disney = Free advertising. You're on a Disney platform and they will use it to advertise as needed to its users.

 

[Dranth]

I don't watch a lot (any?) of kids television programming, but on the channels I do watch (24 hour cable news and sports), I haven't seen one ad ever for this Snow White movie. They may be spending on marketing, but they aren't directing the advertisements to my demographic (49 year old man in the suburbs in Texas).

EDIT: I also watch a ton of reaction videos on YouTube, but I have an ad blocker and never see ads there.

This. We mainly watch sports, but we also haven't seen a single ad for Snow White.

We also stream from D+ and Hulu regularly, the ad free version, but not even one of the obnoxious pre-stream ads everyone gets now had Snow White.

 

[Disney Irish]

This. We mainly watch sports, but we also haven't seen a single ad for Snow White.

We also stream from D+ and Hulu regularly, the ad free version, but not even one of the obnoxious pre-stream ads everyone gets now had Snow White.

This just shows the different ways that engagement happens these days. Someone could connect and not get any ads and another can connect and get 50 ads.

 

[Farerb]

Disney Scales Back ‘Snow White’ Hollywood Premiere Amid Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot Controversies

'Snow White' stars Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot have faced backlash for comments about the movie's reimagining and their views on the Israel-Hamas war.

variety.com