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

[Stripes]

Netflix has an endless firehose of new content that Disney can’t replicate. They’ll never be as big as Netflix in streaming.

If Disney wanted to flood their services with an endless amount of crap, they could do so quite easily.

They have a better strategy than Netflix. It needs time to show up in the financials, but it’s already showing up in customer satisfaction.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Reviews still appear to be mostly positive, so still on track for a good weekend.

Well I’m on record….i think this will be their second biggest earner of the year…even if we care not for such capitalistic concerns

 

[Disney Irish]

If Disney wanted to flood their services with an endless amount of crap, they could do so quite easily.

They have a better strategy than Netflix. It needs time to show up in the financials, but it’s already showing up in customer satisfaction.

Yep, as you noted in a previous post they have the highest sub retention. You don't get that by just having Bluey be a babysitter. Its clear consumers see value in it in the long term, not just a month-by-month situation

 

[Disney Irish]

Well I’m on record….i think this will be their second biggest earner of the year…even if we care not for such capitalistic concerns

I assume that means you're indicating that Avatar 3 will be the top earner.

And your joke aside, no one said they don't care about the capitalistic side of things especially in terms of the box office, in fact I said the opposite. So lets not go around on that again.

 

[Stripes]

Adolescence is the best show released this year and will sweep the Emmys. It’s a Netflix show.

It also did huge numbers from a viewership standpoint.

I have watched about 5x the amount of content on Disney+ and Hulu than I have watched on Netflix over the past 2 years. Netflix has so much crap and their recommendation engine is overrated.

The Disney+/Hulu bundle is a vastly better value than Netflix. I really think Disney should merge Disney+ and Hulu and make the bundle the only option.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I assume that means you're indicating that Avatar 3 will be the top earner.

Yeah…the one I’m on the fence on is zootopia…didn’t know how to gauge where that will fall?

And your joke aside, no one said they don't care about the capitalistic side of things especially in terms of the box office, in fact I said the opposite. So lets not go around on that again.

Take a counter off…occasionally

 

[erasure fan1]

They don't need to be number one or even be as big as Netflix in order to be competitive. They can be a solid number two or three and still reap the same benefits.

Is that the Snapple strategy?

 

[Disney Irish]

Yeah…the one I’m on the fence on is zootopia…didn’t know how to gauge where that will fall?

I think Zootopia 2 will do well, a $1B+ well I don't know, but it'll do well.

Take a counter off…occasionally

Maybe stop with the jabs and I will. Not everything has to be heavy in that Jersey sarcasm, sometimes just leave things alone, no reason to stir it back up.

 

[Disney Irish]

Is that the Snapple strategy?

Hey don't knock it, it worked they continue to be up there right behind Coke and Pepsi in terms of market share.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think Zootopia 2 will do well, a $1B+ well I don't know, but it'll do well.

Tough call…If I had to bet on it…I’d think it will do a billion…
But I don’t really know why?

Maybe stop with the jabs and I will. Not everything has to be heavy in that Jersey sarcasm, sometimes just leave things alone, no reason to stir it back up.

I can be argumentative as all hell…but not to such lengths

And I’m not from “Jersey”…by the way

 

[easyrowrdw]

Netflix is definitely quantity over quality. If one doesn't like something there's always 50 other things in their queue.

It's still cheap enough that watching one or two shows/movies a week is decent value. Compared to renting a digital movie at least.

Disney+ may do well with a focus on quality. Andor has been well received and a bit of a water cooler show. Those are becoming few and far between on Netflix. The last was Squid Game maybe?

Anecdotally, almost every recommendation I get from people is for something on Netflix, Max, or Apple. I can’t remember the last time I was recommended something on Disney+.

For us, the value of Disney+ is in the back catalogue and cartoons. We almost cancelled after the last price increase but decided it was still the best kid-friendly option we had.

 

[Disney Irish]

Tough call…If I had to bet on it…I’d think it will do a billion…
But I don’t really know why?

Maybe because the first one did $1.025B? And this second one is releasing in China too where it should be big.

And I’m not from “Jersey”…by the way

My apologies, I thought I remembered you once saying you were from NJ, hopefully I at least got the region right.

Edit - you have posted that you are from NJ in multiple posts on this site. So I stand by what I said, with the "Jersey" comment. Maybe you take "Jersey" to mean Jersey City rather that the whole state, but I meant the state not a specific town/city within it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Maybe because the first one did $1.025B? And this second one is releasing in China too where it should be big.

Well those expectations are no longer valid, right?

My apologies, I thought I remembered you once saying you were from NJ, hopefully I at least got the region right.

Edit - you have posted that you are from NJ in multiple posts on this site. So I stand by what I said, with the "Jersey" comment. Maybe you take "Jersey" to mean Jersey City rather that the whole state, but I meant the state not a specific town/city within it.

I live in New Jersey…but I’m a rust belter…which is way not the same

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

https://www.wsj.com/business/media/disney-lilo-stitch-box-office-85df78bd

 

[Disney Irish]

Well those expectations are no longer valid, right?

Expectations? Yeah I would say that its off in this new box office paradigm. But I don't think its too much to think it has potential in the Middle Kingdom given that the IP is huge there.

I live in New Jersey…but I’m a rust belter…which is way not the same

Well the Jersey 'tude comes thru sometimes.

 

[Serpico Jones]

If Disney wanted to flood their services with an endless amount of crap, they could do so quite easily.

They have a better strategy than Netflix. It needs time to show up in the financials, but it’s already showing up in customer satisfaction.

Disney cannot “flood their service with an endless amount of crap”. They don’t have the economic firepower to compete with Netflix in streaming. It costs a fortune to achieve the kind of scale that Netflix has.

 

[Disney Irish]

Disney cannot “flood their service with an endless amount of crap”. They don’t have the economic firepower to compete with Netflix in streaming. It costs a fortune to achieve the kind of scale that Netflix has.

Why do you believe that only Netflix can spend on content but Disney can’t? That honestly doesn’t make sense. Both can and do spend Billions on content, in fact I believe Disney is actually spending more than Netflix is 2025, $23B for Disney compared to Netflix at $18B.

So this idea that Disney can’t spend as much on content as Netflix is false.

 

[Stripes]

Disney cannot “flood their service with an endless amount of crap”. They don’t have the economic firepower to compete with Netflix in streaming. It costs a fortune to achieve the kind of scale that Netflix has.

What? As @Disney Irish pointed out, Disney’s content spending is $5 billion higher than Netflix. In 2024, Disney distributed the most watched content in the U.S., far outpacing Netflix’s total viewership.

The Gauge

Navigate the TV landscape with precision. Examine audience viewing behaviors across key TV delivery platforms in a monthly macroanalysis.

www.nielsen.com

 

[erasure fan1]

Anecdotally, almost every recommendation I get from people is for something on Netflix, Max, or Apple. I can’t remember the last time I was recommended something on Disney+.

For us, the value of Disney+ is in the back catalogue and cartoons. We almost cancelled after the last price increase but decided it was still the best kid-friendly option we had.

I'm right there with you, except we did cancel D+. We have most of the content we want on Blu-ray or DVD so we don't need to keep it. So now we're just churning until a few things come that we want to see.

 

[Serpico Jones]

Why do you believe that only Netflix can spend on content but Disney can’t? That honestly doesn’t make sense. Both can and do spend Billions on content, in fact I believe Disney is actually spending more than Netflix is 2025, $23B for Disney compared to Netflix at $18B.

So this idea that Disney can’t spend as much on content as Netflix is false.

How much of that content went straight to Disney+?