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

[brideck]

Snow White notably added 1,020 theaters for this weekend. But judging by the fact that increased theater count only produced a per theater box office haul of $52 per theater, the results weren't great. 1,330 theaters nationwide netted Burbank an extra $70,000 (there isn't a zero missing from that, Kurt double checked) for yesterday.

I'll continue my effort to be remembered by you forever. When you enter the 2nd-run period of a release (aka cheaper tickets -- $7 vs $12 near me), you're probably not going to magically increase your per theater haul. Disney's just looking to squeeze as much blood out of the stone as possible, and they're getting more than they would have under the previous trajectory. This will still be gone (more or less) in another week or two.

 

[Disney Irish]

I'll continue my effort to be remembered by you forever. When you enter the 2nd-run period of a release (aka cheaper tickets -- $7 vs $12 near me), you're probably not going to magically increase your per theater haul. Disney's just looking to squeeze as much blood out of the stone as possible, and they're getting more than they would have under the previous trajectory. This will still be gone (more or less) in another week or two.

Especially since it goes digital on the 13th.

 

[Tha Realest]

Sinners is the most impressive hit of the year. Coogler stands alongside Nolan as the most impressive of this vanguard of newer filmmakers.

If only Disney had a project produced by its creator in the can, ready to drop in a little more than a month. Would be great to promote such a project, especially if it ties in to the future of the MCU.

I mean, surely they wouldn’t be giving such a project the Echo treatment.

 

[TP2000]

Hi gang, I hope all our Moms here still have a Mimosa that's being topped off in early afternoon today. And if you are here online instead of topping off your Mom's Mimosa, shame on you! Here's the first pass at weekend box office.

Thunderbolts fell by 55% in its second weekend, not disastrous but also not great. Shall we call it "middling"?

The Amateur continued its late season slide with a $1.1 Million domestic haul, and it's going to lose at least $25 Million for Disney (AKA the money it would cost to mount, open and operate for two years a major new musical show in DCA's abandoned 2,000 seat Hyperion Theater. But who in Burbank cares about park capacity and guest experience?).

Also this weekend, Rachel Zegler tried to squeeze blood from a stone with 1,330 theaters for Snow White. Did it work?

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for October 31, 2025

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of October 31, 2025

thenumbers.com

 

[Phroobar]

Too bad they can't release Lilo & Stitch a week early.

 

[TP2000]

$700 million is not an unrealistic expectation for an MCU movie, even a 1st character intro (which Thunderbolts technically isn't, as some characters were introduced prior).

Here's how those six pre-Covid Marvel first offerings you mentioned compare adjusted for inflation.

Their average production budget was $193 Million, and their average global box office total was $1.119 Billion (with a B).

The most analogous movie to Thunderbolts in that list is Ant-Man. It's more modest production budget and its domestic opening weekend lines up nicely with Thunderbolts. Here's how that comparison looks, and on its current trajectory there is no way Thunderbolts will get to the Ant-Man global box office of $700 Million. This is a good reminder that the overseas market for Marvel has declined a great deal more than their domestic market.

Again, few here have said that Thunderbolts is a flop, or won't turn a profit, but $500 million globally is not blockbuster status for an MCU movie in 2025, nor likely Disney's expectation for success. Even accounting for outliers like The Marvels and changing movie habits, we know how much No Way Home, GotG 3, Deadpool 3, Black Panther 2 and Doctor Strange 2 did.

$500 Million globally for Thunderbolts isn't even a guarantee that it will break even. Depending on how its box office skews domestic vs. overseas, it could still lose a lot of money even if Thunderbolts claws its way to $500 Million globally.

Here's how those post-Covid sequels you listed did. Just the opening weekend numbers alone offer a stark reality check for how Thunderbolts did last weekend...

The Numbers - Where Data and the Movie Business Meet

The Numbers provides detailed movie financial analysis, including box office, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, and release schedules.

www.the-numbers.com

 

[Eric Graham]

Hi gang, I hope all our Moms here still have a Mimosa that's being topped off in early afternoon today. And if you are here online instead of topping off your Mom's Mimosa, shame on you! Here's the first pass at weekend box office.

Thunderbolts fell by 55% in its second weekend, not disastrous but also not great. Shall we call it "middling"?

The Amateur continued its late season slide with a $1.1 Million domestic haul, and it's going to lose at least $25 Million for Disney (AKA the money it would cost to mount, open and operate for two years a major new musical show in DCA's abandoned 2,000 seat Hyperion Theater. But who in Burbank cares about park capacity and guest experience?).

Also this weekend, Rachel Zegler tried to squeeze blood from a stone with 1,330 theaters for Snow White. Did it work?

View attachment 858160

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for October 31, 2025

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of October 31, 2025

thenumbers.com

Actually, my niece saw the movie and she enjoyed it. I haven't watched it but enjoy some of the music on XM.

 

[TP2000]

Looking at this weekend's numbers, I'm taken aback at how well A Minecraft Movie has done globally. It appears on track to just touch $1 Billion globally by Memorial Day. And with its $150 Million production budget, that will do nicely for Mr. Warner.

Here's how that looks compared to Disney's most recent animated stuff, or live action remakes of animated stuff.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Looks like TB is revised down to $33m. I guess we’ll know for sure in a couple of days.

Maybe they should have shoehorned one OG Avenger into it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The most impressive movies this year so far…are Minecraft, sinners and Sonic 3 (or is it 4?)

There’s just no legitimate argument otherwise

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Looks like TB is revised down to $33m. I guess we’ll know for sure in a couple of days.

Maybe they should have shoehorned one OG Avenger into it.

Revised down? That’s pretty much in the middle of the Estimates, no?

It’s not gonna cover…turn; turn, turn

 

[Disney Irish]

The most impressive movies this year so far…are Minecraft, sinners and Sonic 3 (or is it 4?)

There’s just no legitimate argument otherwise

It was Sonic 3, and it didn't even release in 2025, that was 2024. And if you're counting that then you have to count Mufasa (which released at the same time) which torn the legs off Sonic overall.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It was Sonic 3, and it didn't even release in 2025, that was 2024. And if you're counting that then you have to count Mufasa (which released at the same time) which torn the legs off Sonic overall.

Right…drop that one

 

[Disney Irish]

Right…drop that one

Yes, it shows that all of Hollywood has pretty much slept on Q1 and Q2 of 2025.

 

[DKampy]

(AKA the money it would cost to mount, open and operate for two years a major new musical show in DCA's abandoned 2,000 seat Hyperion Theater. But who in Burbank cares about park capacity and guest experience?).

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for October 31, 2025

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of October 31, 2025

thenumbers.com

You keep correlating the box office with theme parks…. But the gross of a film( good or bad)will not affect the theme park division…. Both are different buckets…. But if you have not noticed Disney is investing more into their theme parks again… including DCA

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes, it shows that all of Hollywood has pretty much slept on Q1 and Q2 of 2025.

And yet…they all didn’t bomb

They are so devoid of content that they put a bomb on more screens that didn’t bring in the cost of a pizza per

Yikes

And didn’t you hear? People LOVE Disney…in Q2

They’re raking it…money is flowing

NOBODY Can resist it!!!

 

[Disney Irish]

You keep correlating the box office with theme parks…. But the gross of a film( good or bad)will not affect the theme park division…. Both are different buckets…. But if you have not noticed Disney is investing more into their theme parks again… including DCA

He doesn’t care, he had a narrative to keep up. It’s why he kept talking about lack of parades for months after Disney announced a new parade for WDW and a return of a popular parade for DL.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You keep correlating the box office with theme parks…. But the gross of a film( good or bad)will not affect the theme park division…. Both are different buckets…. But if you have not noticed Disney is investing more into their theme parks again… including DCA

Movies are expected to feed theme park traffic for one studio…but that’s only been since 1955

 

[Disney Irish]

And yet…they all didn’t bomb

They are so devoid of content that they put a bomb on more screens that didn’t bring in the cost of a pizza per

Yikes

And didn’t you hear? People LOVE Disney…in Q2

They’re raking it…money is flowing

NOBODY Can resist it!!!

Every year since the dawn of Hollywood you have movies that do well and those that bomb. This is the nature of the business. So far in 2025 only one major studio is actually in the positive as far as I can tell, and that is WB.

The question is if Disney is so weak at the box office as you and some others claim here, then why aren't other studios jumping in and counter programming the schedule against them every weekend? You figure they'd smell blood in the water right and pounce, yet that is not happening. Why?

Since that isn't happening it shows that -

1. Disney is still the king of the box office overall and other studios just follows so they steer clear for the most part, ie they respect Disney and what it can do at the box office.
2. Other studios are still trying to figure out this post-pandemic market just like everyone else, ie theatrical is dying a slow death and they are trying to figure out how to scrape every last dollar out of it before it crashes completely.

Also you need to let the quarterly go, you got it wrong, deal with it. I've read your comments and conspiracy theory of false earnings in the thread, even bringing my name in it, you just need to face facts that Wall St don't care about the same things fans do. And that by and large yes fans still will show up even in the face of perceived issues. The Mouse provides and the fans eat it up, again deal with it.

 

[DKampy]

Movies are expected to feed theme park traffic for one studio…but that’s only been since 1955

Yeah and when Disney had flop movie after flop movie in the 70’s and 80’s…. They opened Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Center