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

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I thought for sure Thunderbolts would pass CA4 box office. It still might, but will still end up being less of a hit than I thought. Oh well

Why?

I thought it probably would…but with zero confidence…

The people love stars…not side characters and leftovers

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It'll probably end up virtually identical to Cap 4, which puts both firmly in the wash category -- making nothing at the box office, which will likely be converted into slim profits once PVOD and streaming gains are added into the bottom line.

The goal of MCU is to make money, set up sequels and crossovers and sell branded product and tie ins.

Not eek out a break even

I see it’s a Monday again

 

[brideck]

The goal of MCU is to make money, set up sequels and crossovers and sell branded product and tie ins.

Not eek out a break even

I see it’s a Monday again

So the problem here is that you're reading my calm statement of fact as an endorsement of the result.

It's not. I just don't feel the need to take a crap all over the thread because of it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So the problem here is that you're reading my calm statement of fact as an endorsement of the result.

It's not. I just don't feel the need to take a crap all over the thread because of it.

It’s more of a reminder to others not to move the wheels on the goalposts to make nice for daddy Bob

…and it will likely happen anyway

(If anyone is tired of hearing this…there’s an easy way to fix it)

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

Why?

I thought it probably would…but with zero confidence…

The people love stars…not side characters and leftovers

Because it's good. Not much negative about the film either critically or with audiences, which is somewhat rare these days with Disney films. That usually translates to a pretty big box office.
I didn't expect it to do Avenger types numbers but I thought at least $250 domestic was in reach

 

[LittleBuford]

It’s more of a reminder to others not to move the wheels on the goalposts to make nice for daddy Bob

…and it will likely happen anyway

(If anyone is tired of hearing this…there’s an easy way to fix it)

No-one here cares about "daddy Bob". You're pretty much the only person who keeps bringing him up.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

No-one here cares about "daddy Bob". You're pretty much the only person who keeps bringing him up.

Making excuses for bad Disney product is the same thing

This thread is A minefield with those buried everywhere

And the day is young

 

[Agent H]

Making excuses for bad Disney product is the same thing

This thread is A minefield with those buried everywhere

And the day is young

With All due respect the thing you don’t seem to understand is that the product is not 100 percent bad in the eyes of everyone. And I know you’re going to respond to this with some (probably flimsy) metric that tries to prove that the majority of people aren’t happy. But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about people who you constantly say are “making excuses” we are not. We defend the product we like and criticize the product we don’t.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

With All due respect the thing you don’t seem to understand is that the product is not 100 percent bad in the eyes of everyone. And I know you’re going to respond to this with some (probably flimsy) metric that tries to prove that the majority of people aren’t happy. But that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about people who you constantly say are “making excuses” we are not. We defend the product we like and criticize the product we don’t.

Disney is a mass market product

Everything is designed to cast a wide net.

Doesn’t matter if “some” people like it. It never did. That’s their lot.

They didn’t make 30 mcu movies for “some people”

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney is a mass market product

Everything is designed to cast a wide net.

Doesn’t matter if “some” people like it. It never did. That’s their lot.

They didn’t make 30 mcu movies for “some people”

I think Disney makes movies they want to make and hope for the best.

Sometimes they make money, sometimes they lose money.

No worries, they have the theme park revenue to pay for it

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think Disney makes movies they want to make and hope for the best.

Sometimes they make money, sometimes they lose money.

No worries, they have the theme park revenue to pay for it

Woah…

You couldn’t be further off…it’s modern Hollywood. Only sure things are wanted by the studios. They’ll dabble in small stuff…but it ain’t MCU

 

[Disstevefan1]

Woah…

You couldn’t be further off…it’s modern Hollywood. Only sure things are wanted by the studios. They’ll dabble in small stuff…but it ain’t MCU

Well it looks like that from an outsider looking in....

 

[Disney Irish]

Woah…

You couldn’t be further off…it’s modern Hollywood. Only sure things are wanted by the studios. They’ll dabble in small stuff…but it ain’t MCU

And you couldn't be further off in what modern Hollywood actually is today, in a post-pandemic streaming world. As noted previously in a direct quote from the earnings, Disney is aware and accepts the box office IS NOT the profit center for a movie anymore. They accept and expect that a movie in general isn't going to make its money back during theatrical. That its new profit center is post-theatrical. And so they set the movie up for that purpose.

The "modern Hollywood" that you're talking about is from the 90s or early 00s, not the 2020s, which isn't modern anymore. The world is changing, Hollywood is pivoting. One wonders why you can't accept that fact.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I thought for sure Thunderbolts would pass CA4 box office. It still might, but will still end up being less of a hit than I thought. Oh well

I thought it would have held better than it has given the positive word of mouth and lack of major direct competition

It has me rethinking how big Fantastic 4 will be. Coming out 2 weeks after Superman is unfortunate timing.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I thought it would have held better than it has given the positive word of mouth and lack of major direct competition

It has me rethinking how big Fantastic 4 will be. Coming out 2 weeks after Superman is unfortunate timing.

Critical praise providing a bump would involve people reading…

The characters weren’t a draw and it was up against basically nothing

This might be a bigger fail in May than Captain falcon was in February.

There’s really been near zero competition…hence theaters still putting up Snow White in front of empty seats

 

[brideck]

I thought it would have held better than it has given the positive word of mouth and lack of major direct competition

I'd have to do some comparing to make sure, but my feel is that it's held relatively well (percentage-wise) for a (non-event) MCU movie, but it had such a relatively small opening (smaller even than Cap 4's opening, which was boosted by a holiday weekend) that it would have had to have Sinners-type holds to make it up towards the $250m referenced earlier today. That's not really the norm for movies these days.

It has me rethinking how big Fantastic 4 will be. Coming out 2 weeks after Superman is unfortunate timing.

Yeah, that'll all depend on a) Superman's early holds and b) how high exactly FF opens.

 

[Tha Realest]

Disney is a mass market product

Everything is designed to cast a wide net.

Doesn’t matter if “some” people like it. It never did. That’s their lot.

They didn’t make 30 mcu movies for “some people”

But don’t you remember? Captain America was the film that was going to be a return to form. But then when that flatlined, the spin was that Thunderbolts* was the first film from Fiege after he righted the ship. Now it looks like this one will come and go without really improving the health of the franchise.

The next spin will be, “Fantastic Four is really the next big film in the MCU and will help reset everything.” If and when that disappoints, watch where the goalposts get moved again that Avengers: Doomsday is where they finally get it right.

-Signed, someone that watched DC try this over and over again for the last few years.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney is aware and accepts the box office IS NOT the profit center for a movie anymore.

The eternal argument can now end.

Disney is aware and accepts when they lose big at the box office.

 

[Disney Irish]

Coming out 2 weeks after Superman is unfortunate timing.

Yeah, that'll all depend on a) Superman's early holds and b) how high exactly FF opens.

I'm actually beginning to wonder if Superman will fall to the same fates as other recent DC movies and the Superhero genre in general.

 

[Disney Irish]

The eternal argument can now end.

Disney is aware and accepts when they lose big at the box office.

"Lose big" is relative in this case, as I don't think most of their movies actually do have huge losses. But yes this should be the end of the argument but its clear that some can't accept that the box office isn't the primary driver for a movie anymore.