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

[brideck]

Anyone (rightfully) denigrating the Disney live-action remakes but celebrating How to Train Your Dragon is being more then a bit hypocritical.

HtTyD is almost a shot-for-shot remake. It's lazier and less adventurous then Snow White.

And the original is already incredibly cinematic anyway. They brought in Roger Deakins as a lighting consultant for goodness' sake.

 

[Casper Gutman]

the narrative "All Disney films used to be great but now none of them are," is a silly narrative largely fueled by a mix of nostalgia and concerns outside the quality of the film itself.

Lets take 2016, a year at which Disney is at the height of its power. Zootopia, Moana, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange! Wow!

Also Pete's Dragon, Alice Through the Looking Glass, The BFG... oops. Also Finding Dory and Jungle Book, neither of which was awful, but neither of which was particularly great.

 

[Casper Gutman]

And the original is already incredibly cinematic anyway. They brought in Roger Deakins as a lighting consultant for goodness' sake.

I actually don't like the original HtTyD that much - it's fine, but it feels empty. And I love pretty much anything Craig Ferguson does!

But I recognize I'm in the minority there.

 

[Trauma]

So I guess my question to the both of you, and anyone else who wants to chime in, would be is there anyone who has replaced Disney in the "blind trust" category where you'll run out to see them regardless? Or is it that Disney is now just on a level playing field with everyone else in your eyes, where it'll just depend on a movie-by-movie basis? Or is it that you don't really go to the theater much at all anymore because the majority of what you had been going to were these automatic Disney releases?

And so I'm not just playing the inquisitor here... I don't think Disney stuff has ever been an automatic ticket buy for me (certainly Marvel never has been), but I'm also an exception in that I don't actually like watching stuff on streaming if I can help it. There are some directors (and to a lesser extent actors) that I trust enough to pretty much make sure I'll go see all of their releases because even if a particularly movie of theirs isn't as great, it'll at least be interesting to me.

No one has replaced Disney for me.

Disney was always automatic.

I’m sure we missed some films but we really tried to see everything.

We don’t go to the theaters at all anymore and I do miss it.

We also canceled our Disney plus because we had not used it in a year, so why keep paying for it.

We are watching Severance currently, I think it’s Apple TV ?

I do want to see Stitch but that will come down to the wife.

 

[Willmark]

And I think Thunderbolts is going to surprise people.

If it pulls the same vibe as SS from DC it’s going to have a tough time regardless IMO. If it can tap into Guardians 1 it might surprise.

The problem is there enough to draw on its own merits? That may be a possitibe as there is little negative buzz may for those who were underwhelmed by Black Widow?

Looking at who they are going with Sebastian Stan is going to need to be flawless in this for it to succeed. David Harbour would be the next possibility. The question with him is: does his acclaim with fans stop and start with Jim Hopper in Stranger Things?

In the end, don’t know. This doesn’t seem to have the negative buzz/baggage of Cap BNW, more of an unknown quantity.

Certainly will be interesting to watch it unfold.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

So I guess my question to the both of you, and anyone else who wants to chime in, would be is there anyone who has replaced Disney in the "blind trust" category where you'll run out to see them regardless? Or is it that Disney is now just on a level playing field with everyone else in your eyes, where it'll just depend on a movie-by-movie basis? Or is it that you don't really go to the theater much at all anymore because the majority of what you had been going to were these automatic Disney releases?

I don’t have blind trust in any studio anymore, Disney was formerly the lone exception. This also isn’t the first time they’ve lost that trust, Disney had a pretty bad run in the 80s, followed by the renaissance era in the 90s, then a pretty bad run in 00s, followed by fairly amazing 10s, followed by pretty bad 20s… I expect the 2030s to be another golden age for Disney.

 

[brideck]

We are watching Severance currently, I think it’s Apple TV ?

Thanks for your candor. That's about what I expected, and judging by overall box office trends you are not alone.

And heck yes, Severance. We have the last two episodes to go -- watching them with friends this coming Friday.

 

[Casper Gutman]

The "golden age" of Mars Needs Moms, John Carter, The Lone Ranger, and Oz the Great and Powerful.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Thanks for your candor. That's about what I expected, and judging by overall box office trends you are not alone.

And heck yes, Severance. We have the last two episodes to go -- watching them with friends this coming Friday.

I think Apple is the best streaming service at the moment by a fair margin.

It's losing a billion dollars a year.

 

[DKampy]

So after reading the commentary here and elsewhere in the web, it appears this approaching Wish or Strange World levels of movie bomb?

Next up is Thunderbolts, can it buck the trend? For my own part I’m only interested in FF this year.

So 1 movie is a trend??? Thunderbolts is the Disney movie I am most interested in

 

[Agent H]

I think Apple is the best streaming service at the moment by a fair margin.

It's losing a billion dollars a year.

I don’t understand why someone would want Apple TV. The only interesting thing on there is the peanuts stuff.

 

[brideck]

I think Apple is the best streaming service at the moment by a fair margin.

It's losing a billion dollars a year.

Strong agree. And I've still yet to see where the money comes from in this race to the bottom. Either we'll all have to get used to ads coming back everywhere, prices will have to go up, or creators just won't be particularly well-compensated in the future. Good productions don't just grow on trees, even though the typical consumer seems to think they should.

 

[TP2000]

the narrative "All Disney films used to be great but now none of them are," is a silly narrative largely fueled by a mix of nostalgia and concerns outside the quality of the film itself.

I don't know that anyone here is claiming that all Disney movies used to be artistically great. That was never the case, regardless of the era or management team.

For every Mary Poppins, Walt had a The Ugly Dachshund and The Happiest Millionaire.

For every Herbie The Love Bug, Card Walker had a The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes and The Boatniks.

For every Pete's Dragon, Ron Miller had a The Last Flight of Noah's Ark and a Herbie Goes Bananas.

For every The Little Mermaid, Michael Eisner had a The Rescuers Down Under and a Treasure Planet.

But what changed is the automatic assumption of parents that those movies were appropriate for their children. Now many parents are on guard for media products branded "Disney", and that's a huge cultural shift. And the brand suffers for it.

 

[Willmark]

So 1 movie is a trend??? Thunderbolts is the Disney movie I am most interested in

For super heroes movies as of late? Not good outside of Deadpool box office wise and, certainly not to what it was prior and movies as a whole haven’t been great either in terms of success. Perhaps its more extreme now? Big hits and big misses?

It’s fairly undeniable that super hero movies have had a rough go going back to the end of infinity saga/end game.

 

[DKampy]

Strong agree. And I've still yet to see where the money comes from in this race to the bottom. Either we'll all have to get used to ads coming back everywhere, prices will have to go up, or creators just won't be particularly well-compensated in the future. Good productions don't just grow on trees, even though the typical consumer seems to think they should.

Agree as well…. Speaking of automatic… Apple + is almost becoming automatic to me… at least a curiosity first episode watch…. I am looking forward to checking out The Studio this week

On the film side I noticed it is very rare for me to find an even just a good straight to streaming movie…. It’s like it is the new straight to DVD/Blu ray…. Fine by me…. As there is still no greater way to experience a movie then theatrical IMO

 

[DKampy]

For super heroes movies as of late? Not good outside of Deadpool box office wise and, certainly not to what it was prior and movies as a whole haven’t been great either in terms of success. Perhaps its more extreme now? Big hits and big misses?

It’s fairly undeniable that super hero movies have had a rough go going back to the end of infinity saga/end game.

Well you were mentioning Snow White Wish, and Strange World… and did not say anything about just superhero movies… But in that regard the only marvel 1 in my mind that was an outright flop is The Marvels… Quatumania was a disappointment… the rest did ok…DC however is another story

 

[Trauma]

I don’t understand why someone would want Apple TV. The only interesting thing on there is the peanuts stuff.

Well Severance is good. I don’t know if I pay for it maybe I get it for free ?

If I am paying for it, it can’t be much.

But that being said I don’t watch much of anything. If I had to guess I would say Netflix is out most watched.

 

[John park hopper]

Appears Snow White this weekend was a Snow Bust

 

[brideck]

Well Severance is good. I don’t know if I pay for it maybe I get it for free ?

If I am paying for it, it can’t be much.

Yeah, we don't have any Apple hardware in our house, so we're paying $10/month. Less than the average price of one ticket at the theater, which is ridiculously cheap in my book. Hence their losing $1b on it last year.

 

[Willmark]

Well you were mentioning Snow White Wish, and Strange World…

Yes I mentioned them in terms of potentially having SW landing the same level as the other two in terms of box office returns.

and did not say anything about just superhero movies… But in that regard the only marvel 1 in my mind that was an outright flop is The Marvels… Quatumania was a disappointment…

Eternals and Cap 4 didn’t do well either. ETA Thor love and Thunder? A quick read says that needed up pulling a profit.

the rest did ok…DC however is another story

DC is an odd duck. I think there was some good ideas in SS just badly executed. Same with Justice League. Then again I’ve never been a big fan of DC relative to Marvel.