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

[Chi84]

Trying to “reinvent” the fanbase has caused financial damage to it on a huge scale now twice…

Think the third time is a charm?

Because what made it work originally was it wasn’t for 5 year olds…even with Ewoks…in many ways it was the secondary market. Which it why it made enough money to fill scrooges money bin. And it’s those same movies that sell still to this day…not the Daisy Ridley crap (look, ask around)

I’m adding what I said in another thread to more fully explain what I mean.

I agree with much of that except I think it’s more about aging out than Disney killing the nostalgia.

I noted previously that only a few generations could “grow up alongside” or “along with” Disney. The millennials are probably the last of those generations.

Keeping nostalgia alive may increase attendance for the last of the baby boomers and Gen X people but it won’t help Disney going forward.

The children of the millennials may like Disney characters and enjoy the parks, but I doubt there would be any nostalgic connection of the sort experienced by the generations that saw Disney’s creation and initial growth.

 

[Prince-1]

I once was foolish enough to underestimate his memory and perceptions.
The very next time I stepped outdoors, this was what I saw...
View attachment 855750

Do NOT make the same mistake I did.
Take his memory and perceptions with great seriousness or become another statistic.

Thanks for the warning. Moving forward I will definitely take his perceptions a lot more serious.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I once was foolish enough to underestimate his memory and perceptions.
The very next time I stepped outdoors, this was what I saw...
View attachment 855750

Do NOT make the same mistake I did.
Take his memory and perceptions with great seriousness or become another statistic.

…lol…something actually clever and engaging on this ridiculous circular thread. Very well done

I’m adding what I said in another thread to more fully explain what I mean.

That’s a valid point. And I agree the generational domination of Disney is waning. But I’d say X is the last “full in” gen…they just don’t admit it.

That leads us right back at Star Wars

But Disney is (fingers crossed) finally putting back to what may work. And it’s aimed squarely at 55 year olds based on what is going on in the andor series…the yodafett stuff…and the details about what’s coming from filoni and favreau

And that’s the only way it will work

It could be the lack of fingertip/on demand media at all times that kept the “spell” on people…and it’s broken now?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Thanks for the warning. Moving forward I will definitely take his perceptions a lot more serious.

Or try to engage and make an opinion…

Instead of combing being indignant or the “lol lol lol” routine in defense of all management decisions?

Get crazy

 

[DKampy]

I think you underestimate just how much people under 30 love the prequel movies (and have always loved them). To those folks, that's their Star Wars. We saw it all the time with our high school kids when we used to coach quiz bowl a few years back.

What remains to be seen is if the kids under 10 right now will ultimately adopt what Disney's putting out as theirs.

It will be interesting to see what happens…. My younger Brother’s 2 kids… daughter(12) and Son(10) favorite Star Wars trilogy is the Disney sequels… favorite characters are Rey and Kylo…they recently watched the rest and that is still the case…. They hated the prequels… could barely sit through them…. While at the same time I have cousins in their 30’s who say the prequels are peak Star Wars

 

[Chi84]

…lol…something actually clever and engaging on this ridiculous circular thread. Very well done

That’s a valid point. And I agree the generational domination of Disney is waning. But I’d say X is the last “full in” gen…they just don’t admit it.

That leads us right back at Star Wars

But Disney is (fingers crossed) finally putting back to what may work. And it’s aimed squarely at 55 year olds based on what is going on in the andor series…the yodafett stuff…and the details about what’s coming from filoni and favreau

And that’s the only way it will work

It could be the lack of fingertip/on demand media at all times that kept the “spell” on people…and it’s broken now?

My opinion is that Disney has "aged out" of the "spell." The only thing that's going to keep it alive and vibrant going forward is to make their movie content and parks appealing to new generations. Or they can milk the older ones until there's nothing left. They seem to be trying a little of both right now.

When I saw the original Snow White for the first time last year my reaction was that there was no way to make a live-action film of that content for current audiences. Some people thought a frame-by-frame remake would have been better; others thought it should have been completely redone with little reference to the original. Still others went after the star or the weird-looking dwarfs. I don't think any of this mattered.

Disney content is not anywhere near as front and center to the kids of the millennials. Maybe I'm too pessimistic but I just don't see "trying to create nostalgia" as a way forward for the company. If that's the only thing going for it, it will die out with the older generations.

 

[Agent H]

My opinion is that Disney has "aged out" of the "spell." The only thing that's going to keep it alive and vibrant going forward is to make their movie content and parks appealing to new generations. Or they can milk the older ones until there's nothing left. They seem to be trying a little of both right now.

When I saw the original Snow White for the first time last year my reaction was that there was no way to make a live-action film of that content for current audiences. Some people thought a frame-by-frame remake would have been better; others thought it should have been completely redone with little reference to the original. Still others went after the star or the weird-looking dwarfs. I don't think any of this mattered.

Disney content is not anywhere near as front and center to the kids of the millennials. Maybe I'm too pessimistic but I just don't see "trying to create nostalgia" as a way forward for the company. If that's the only thing going for it, it will die out with the older generations.

The millennials nostalgia already exists and is very strong. Take the resurgence of power line for example. That didn’t happen because Disney made it happen. It happened because people made it happen. So I don’t know what you mean by trying to create nostalgia.

 

[Chi84]

The millennials nostalgia already exists and is very strong. Take the resurgence of power line for example. That didn’t happen because Disney made it happen. It happened because people made it happen. So I don’t know what you mean by trying to create nostalgia.

Yes, that's why I was talking about the children of the millennials.

What you are describing is liking or enjoying IP, which is different from nostalgia.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It will be interesting to see what happens…. My younger Brother’s 2 kids… daughter(12) and Son(10) favorite Star Wars trilogy is the Disney sequels… favorite characters are Rey and Kylo…they recently watched the rest and that is still the case…. They hated the prequels… could barely sit through them…. While at the same time I have cousins in their 30’s who say the prequels are peak Star Wars

People say this all the time…and I don’t think anyone disputes it. Marketing is geared to saturating the youth and has been for 100 years…

…but…the broad pull seems to have diminishing returns

And by “seems”…I’ve mentioned before on Star Wars specific threads I have two very good buds who have worked for LEGO for decades (god…we’re getting old…) and there is no ambiguity for the Danes. It’s been diminishing returns the demand bears out in their sales and research the same every time

OT pushes the majority

Prequels way down from there

Disney almost non-existent except if they have a new show. The movies have been a huge disaster for them.

Or just go to Target and look. Not hard to see what sells and what makes money

Same with Disney franchises…which is why after thunderbolts bounces off the pavement (likely)…stitch is gonna give them a big win

 

[Disstevefan1]

One Disney movie, or even a string of Disney movies, not doing well isn't going to break the theaters. So lets get that out of the way right off the bat.

My post did not single out Disney so let’s get that out of the way right off the bat. I have said it a million times, Disney will make the movies they want to make.

Any movie from any studio that screens to empty or near empty theaters are not selling enough concessions to survive.

Bottom line, if you're worried about theaters then go to the movies.

You have me confused with other posts. I don’t give a cr@p about theaters. Theaters exist to support movie studios and Hollywood in my opinion. It’s the movie studios and Hollywood who should be worried in my opinion.

I do however worry about WDW and yes we still go to WDW as well as Universal, SeaWorld and other central Florida tourists locations.

I do my part and go almost every week. Now you don't have to do that, but try going once a month. Otherwise don't be surprised when theatrical goes away.

Good for you and I won’t be surprised. If movie theaters want to stay in business, movie studios must make movies that fill theaters. It’s the movie studios responsibility to make great movies, it’s NOT the movie going public’s responsibility in my opinion.

This isn’t about a movie studio making a movie that loses 200M on a movie. This is about a movie studio (any movie studio) releasing movies that screen to empty or near empty theaters.

I let’s say a movie studio made great movie with an astronomical budget but the movie was so popular it packed the theaters, no one would care what it cost all they know is it’s good for the studio, the theaters and Hollywood.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Kathleen Kennedy must have something on these guys. Pictures or videos??? Why else would they allow her to destroy one of the greatest franchises for 13 years? It's actually quite amazing how bad she's been. You probably couldn't sabotage Star Wars on purpose as much as she has. She has to go back to doing nothing like she did in the 80's and 90's and just putting her name on great movies.

The Book of Boba Fett, The Acolyte, Ashoka, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Skeleton Crew, Andor, The Mandalorian season 3, The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker, Solo, Rogue One and Countless Announced movies and shows, we never saw.


... Oh yeah I completely forgot about Indy and Willow. She's got her greasy fingerprints all over those ones as well. I'm surprised she hasn't brought back Harrison Ford in American Graffiti, so she can humiliate him in that too.

Kennedy SHOULD have been let go after solo bombed and the sequel series was destroyed

It was malfeasance

But…but…I think she’d always had marching orders from terrible upper management and their clueless mbas that know nothing about the material

So how much blame does she really have except picking bad directors and story people for impossible mandates?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The millennials nostalgia already exists and is very strong. Take the resurgence of power line for example. That didn’t happen because Disney made it happen. It happened because people made it happen. So I don’t know what you mean by trying to create nostalgia.

There has always been nostalgia to some level on damn near everything in the modern era…

What has made Disney successful to its level the last 45 years or so has been they get the largest haul on their franchises - when managed properly.

That’s also why they’re in a bit of a business/management crisis. They have to hit because of Hollywood and park operational costs and lack of easy revenue (CABLE) that they once had “margins” with.

Every box office bomb is doing damage on multiple levels. We keep trying to splain our way around that in this thread.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There's so much suckage from her. I didn't even mention Galaxy's Edge and The Starcruiser, which both suck.

People would much rather have Tatooine and a real Star Wars Hotel. But she said she wasn't going to do a land for 50 year olds. ... Even though the original Star Wars is timeless and relevant forever and has generations of devoted fans. Star Wars was doing better during the time period between the OT and Prequels, when nothing (or hardly anything) was coming out.

That had nothing to do with her

That is the idiot in the C suite having no idea what the hell he was doing

But to your point…50 year olds are the ones who buy Star Wars
Period
Disney makes the lions share of its money off Gen X…and they can’t seem to understand it at all.

It’s a group driven 100% by nostalgia

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge was once a recreation of Mos Eisley's hive of scum & villainy

Would you have preferred the Mos Eisley cantina over Oga's Cantina?

www.syfy.com

"After years of intense work and planning, however, a decision was handed down from Disney CEO Bob Iger and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy.

They had a conversation and a meeting and Kathleen Kennedy’s point of view was, 'There are way more Disney [produced] Star Wars stories ahead of us,'" Cockerell remembered. "'We really should think about do we wanna build a Tatooine and build what all the 50-somethings remember what Star Wars is, or do we want to build something else, which is going to appeal to all the upcoming generations who are gonna know the new stories?’"

My friend…she doesn’t control the purse strings
That stuff is written for her by the press office

But yes…when you publicly try to say your not concerned with OT fans…you’re dead

 

[Chi84]

There has always been nostalgia to some level on damn near everything in the modern era…

What has made Disney successful to its level the last 45 years or so has been they get the largest haul on their franchises - when managed properly.

That’s also why they’re in a bit of a business/management crisis. They have to hit because of Hollywood and park operational costs and lack of easy revenue (CABLE) that they once had “margins” with.

Every box office bomb is doing damage on multiple levels. We keep trying to splain our way around that in this thread.

I think posters are using different meanings for nostalgia. One dictionary definition is "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations." Another is "a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past" time.

The "past" part is important, as well as some type of constancy. Seeing movies based on characters that one's parents loved or going to parks once in a lifetime because they're unaffordable now - this is not a recipe for future nostalgia.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It's cool man, we don't have to agree on everything. Just most things.

They say in other articles it was going to go in the Echo Lake area. With a Mos Eisley Cantina being placed directly across from Star Tours. Maybe that is why they changed the gift shop's exterior to Tatooine.

“Insider” rumors very rarely have any validity

In fact…they often give WDI busy work with no intention of doing it to keep them busy

And wdw “managers” are just plebs…they know nothing…they should wear polyester too

 

[Phroobar]

Have you seen Trailer Park Boys?

First 4 seasons are pretty good.

I can't even do the Angry Video Game Nerd very well.

 

[Phroobar]

So ROTS got $25million for the weekend. Not bad for a re-release. I'm not sure how long it will be in theaters.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I see your point, but this info seems plausible. Since it came from the Former Walt Disney World resort Vice President Dan Cockerell. I don't see why he would want to lie.

Plus Kennedy seems like a glory hound, who wants to put herself on the Star Wars mt rushmore. She just doesn't realize she's a complete moron and all her ideas stink.

Kennedy is a Hollywood logistics person…and an excellent one at that

But she got lined up for failure here

Steve’s best friend hired her to be “his girl” and then sold to Disney…iger gave her kinda a mythical “power seat” to attempt to block against the first…

She was expected to serve two masters and has succeeded in serving none with a fan base you best not cross

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think posters are using different meanings for nostalgia. One dictionary definition is "a sentimental longing or wistful affection for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations." Another is "a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past" time.

The "past" part is important, as well as some type of constancy. Seeing movies based on characters that one's parents loved or going to parks once in a lifetime because they're unaffordable now - this is not a recipe for future nostalgia.

I think with Gen X that’s a very complicated issue with “nostalgia”

They want both the IP nostalgia…because they were the first grow up with mega entertainment franchises with product saturation…and 1975-1995 was the most stable society - at least in the west - of the entire century. So dull it was almost boring and people really want that “nostalgia”

Disney is at the intersection of those…as are its franchises