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

[BrianLo]

They only have Searchlight through acquisition, and it's not a key component of their business model for movies.

Disney long ago shut down/sold off their equivalents (Touchstone, Hollywood Pictures, Miramax) because they did not fit their business strategy. Searchlight could easily meet the same fate.

The focus with Fox has been franchise fare and IP, same as their own.

I also don’t think we’re in the same environment any longer that lead to those studios closures. There’s a core focus on general entertainment to feed the Hulu/Star wing of their streaming platform. Unless that changes, they are pretty light on general entertainment labels.

It’s not part of their major theatrical strategy, sure. But splitting the costs between streaming works well for the lower budget awards plays.

 

[LSLS]

International is starting to pull in more for Stitch (guess its not lagging after all as some claimed) with Mexico currently leading in the box office. Now sitting at $421M WW after just 6 days, that so far has it on pace to hit a Billion in my opinion.

View attachment 861455

That's good news for Disney. I made my case already that I had no idea how the international box office would go, but that it was important for them (and the ideas of these remakes) that it picks up more than it was opening weekend. Looks like that is starting to occur.

 

[Nevermore525]

Those international numbers are also without Latin America and South America being fully up to date where Stitch may also be performing well.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So what is "back to normal" in your post suppose to mean if not a joke?

Two more bombs maybe inbound…we’ll have to watch

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The evil, media conspiracy machine is at it again…

‘Thunderbolts' Will Not Escape Being The Second Lowest-Earning MCU Film

Thunderbolts is great. It’s also hovering near the absolute bottom of the MCU box office, even as it passes a milestone of $300 million globally, now at $355.

www.forbes.com

LILO AND STITCH Has Already Outgrossed THUNDERBOLTS* At The Worldwide Box Office

After less than a week on general release, Disney's Lilo and Stitch has already passed $400 million worldwide, something Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts* didn't manage to do after almost a month in theaters.

comicbookmovie.com

https://screenrant.com/thunderbolts-box-office-success-mcu-movies-comparison/

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

International is starting to pull in more for Stitch (guess its not lagging after all as some claimed) with Mexico currently leading in the box office. Now sitting at $421M WW after just 6 days, that so far has it on pace to hit a Billion in my opinion.

View attachment 861455

Wait…what???

Who was claiming “lag”?

 

[Tha Realest]

Thunderbolts is losing IMAX screens back to Sinners in two weeks, and then for good to Mission: Impossible. That’s going to eat into its legs. They also have to shift marketing resources over to Stitch.

‘Thunderbolts' Will Not Escape Being The Second Lowest-Earning MCU Film

Thunderbolts is great. It’s also hovering near the absolute bottom of the MCU box office, even as it passes a milestone of $300 million globally, now at $355.

www.forbes.com

 

[Disney Irish]

Wait…what???

Who was claiming “lag”?

Your buddy TP has been saying this week that overseas is underperforming (lagging), which as I posted its actually not.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Your buddy TP has been saying this week that overseas is underperforming (lagging), which as I posted its actually not.

Lag compared to the domestic total? Or underperforming in their markets?

The first isn’t trouble…the second could be

And “some” is a term for multiple…or suggesting a block trying to form consensus
As in “there are some scarecrows out in the field…not just a single strawman”

 

[BrianLo]

Lag compared to the domestic total? Or underperforming in their markets?

The first isn’t trouble…the second could be

And “some” is a term for multiple…or suggesting a block trying to form consensus
As in “there are some scarecrows out in the field…not just a single strawman”

You are correct. It’s neither worrying and partially a misunderstanding with another part getting stuck in negative criticism loop. This one is pretty hard to diminish though.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You are correct. It’s neither worrying and partially a misunderstanding with another part getting stuck in negative criticism loop. This one is pretty hard to diminish though.

That’s why the “buts” can really take a break on this

Really hard to knock this one down off its money perch

Also remember this sells product like wildfire anyway. That was standard going in

I think it’s gonna outperform its already substantial estimates this weekend as well

My guess is like $70 mil domestic

 

[Disney Irish]

Lag compared to the domestic total? Or underperforming in their markets?

The first isn’t trouble…the second could be

And “some” is a term for multiple…or suggesting a block trying to form consensus
As in “there are some scarecrows out in the field…not just a single strawman”

Its the former rather than the latter, and agree its not troubling at all. As @BrianLo mentioned I believe its a misunderstanding of trying to compare x with y and expecting the same outcome immediately. Which as we have seen over the last few years just doesn't always equate. In the end Stitch just like many movies will have a larger percentage of its WW total being from international, the only question is how much. In the end I don't think it really matters, as both domestic and international are strong with this one, which is a good thing in my opinion.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Does any place post the daily numbers earlier than box office Mojo?

 

[Disney Irish]

Does any place post the daily numbers earlier than box office Mojo?

Most sites post around the same time (full daily numbers between 12-2pm PST) as its when the studios and other outlets provide them the information. So both The Numbers and BoxOfficeMojo update within an hour or so of each other.

 

[Ghost93]

I predict Mufasa-esque legs for Stitch.

There is still a hate campaign for this one. It’s all over facebook. Can’t really say why without a minor spoiler about the ending, but suffice to say it involves a lot of pearl clutching and woke accusations.

They just look for it everywhere now. Especially Disney movies. Any character who is not a cretin is now “woke” because they don’t know what that word means.

There's actually a lot of progressive people who dislike the ending of the remake and criticizing it as anti-indigenous/pro-colonialism. I'm sure that wasn't at all Disney's intent, but people are reading it that way.

I'm not seeing the remake, but not because it's woke or anti-woke. I simply have no desire to see a remake to a movie that was made in the 21st century. It's waaaaay too soon. I also think the original animated film is perfect and there is no need for a new adaptation, other than to advanced Disney's continued assault on traditional animation.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I predict Mufasa-esque legs for Stitch.

There is still a hate campaign for this one. It’s all over facebook. Can’t really say why without a minor spoiler about the ending, but suffice to say it involves a lot of pearl clutching and woke accusations.

They just look for it everywhere now. Especially Disney movies. Any character who is not a cretin is now “woke” because they don’t know what that word means.

…interesting…

Didn’t see anything more implausible or “woke” about this than the 23 year old cartoon version

But I’m no cultural expert

I am beginning to think we are maybe early/overestimating the “influence” of social media influence on the box office just a touch.

Trailer clicks don’t seem to correlate 1:1 with smash hits…online smears don’t take down others.

I think those resonate with certain demos more and that matters…but not necessarily with the paying customers that drive the car.

We have to consider tech and society are evolving and new bellweathers are being formed…but they might not be as far along as assumed.

Hollywood already made this mistake with content. The change is happening…they just miscalculated the pacing.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I am beginning to think we are maybe early/overestimating the “influence” of social media influence on the box office just a touch.

There are a ton of critical posts about the ending on Reddit. In one a commenter suggested that said posts keep popping up because of "karma farming", which I guess is the equivalent of getting a ton of likes on social media (only more pointless, because who cares how much karma an unknown person has on Reddit?) Apparently once a topic proves to be hot and clickworthy, you'll see a bunch of posts about it pop up for the karma, which would skew perception as to public discourse.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There are a ton of critical posts about the ending on Reddit. In one a commenter suggested that said posts keep popping up because of "karma farming", which I guess is the equivalent of getting a ton of likes on social media (only more pointless, because who cares how much karma an unknown person has on Reddit?) Apparently once a topic proves to be hot and clickworthy, you'll see a bunch of posts about it pop up for the karma, which would skew perception as to public discourse.

Oh I don’t doubt that…

Algorithms are evil…which is why the companies are willing to kill and pay off governments to guard them…

Combine that with people using the T1000s to now “do the work”…you got trouble in the coffee pot

I just don’t see a complete dominance by SM…yet…

Which I’ll remind when one of this nimrod podcasters who shows up occasionally to talk about SM metrics (but isn’t old enough to rent a car) and speaks with certainty about them. Think thunderbolts crashed after such prognostications and fantastic four is gonna be another test

 

[Disney Irish]

What I find funny is that no one has mentioned that M:I8 has basically cratered and is looking to be one of the biggest flops of 2025 if not of all time compared to its budget. All of Disney's recent flops look like successes compared to it.

If it doesn't improve over the coming weeks Paramount/Skydance looks to lose between $300M-$500M depending on how much they paid for marketing.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What I find funny is that no one has mentioned that M:I8 has basically cratered and is looking to be one of the biggest flops of 2025 if not of all time compared to its budget. All of Disney's recent flops look like successes compared to it.

If it doesn't improve over the coming weeks Paramount/Skydance looks to lose between $300M-$500M depending on how much they paid for marketing.

I figured we would get to that…

The one last year was kinda tank too wasn’t it?


That’s classic franchise fatigue move

They should call the next one: mission impossible: fast and furious world Dominion