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

TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
Actually no, being on a busy street directly across from a school we don’t get trick-or-treaters anymore. The kids stick to the side streets or go the “safe” trunk-or-treat offerings at the schools. I stopped buying candy years ago as it was just a waste. So I usually turn off the light and go to a movie.
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Oh, how sad. :(

When I lived in OC the Halloween crowds were huge every year in my neck of the woods. When I evacuated moved out of California and into a smallish gated community I thought I'd only get a handful of trick-or-treaters. But the opposite was true. I don't get nearly as many as when I lived in OC, but I still get a few dozen each year. And they're polite as all heck!

Then at 9:30 I turn off the house lighting, make myself a very dry martini, and say "Well done, TP2000, well done!" 🎃
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
TP2000 said:
It still makes me chuckle every time I type about it though, so it's a joke to me.

Clearly it's not scientific, and never could be. Yet still sort of funny (and fun) to think about, isn't it? 😁
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So then you’ll know it’s a joke too when we keep calling it out as not being a thing and never really was.
 
Wendy Pleakley

Wendy Pleakley

Well-Known Member
erasure fan1 said:
Hard disagree on that one.

Really? I think you're selling things a bit short.

Call it what you will. That's what most would call pop culture impact, or at least a big part of it. Merch in stores, costumes, people with tshirts, books, game tie-ins... I'm not dismissing the movie. But you would think that the highest grossing film ever would have more of an impact on all those things.

The world of Avatar is fantastic to look at. And yes, a lot of people do ride flight of passage just because it's a fun ride. Do you think that people are only riding Tiana's bayou adventure because of princess and the frog? No, it's a fun water ride no matter the ip behind it.

Sure it had cultural impact. It was the highest grossing movie of all time. You do realize that saying it had little pop culture impact and no cultural impact are different things right? My question for use is this. Why is it such a bad thing to say it didn't leave much of a pop culture foot print?

The movie was a spectacle with revolutionary 3d, set in a cool looking world. There's nothing wrong with that. Shakespeare it isn't. In my limited plain of existence, I just don't see many, if any, who loved the films. And that's not because they just want to be all counter culture.
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It may not have had a huge impact beyond being a successful movie, but hearing that often feels like people are grasping at straws to downplay its' success.

You do it again by claiming "no one loved" the films.

A movie doesn't do Avatar business without positive word of mouth and repeat viewers. There's this implication that we've been hoodwinked into seeing it or something.

Plenty of people love the films for what they are, even if they don't need to read a spinoff novel. Kind of like almost all movies.

Is the lack of merchandise cited because it's a sci-fi move or something? If a movie is in the same genre as Star Wars is that more of an expectation or something?

Avatar had enough of an impact that people came out in droves for the sequel. Allegedly despite not even liking the original.
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
Disney Irish said:
In all fairness very few things on this or any other plane of existence are on the level of the Bard. So I wouldn't use that as some comparison.
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When you really look around, and if you're being honest. It's pretty clear that Avatar is what it is, and I'm not sure why that's so controversial. Why can't Avatar be a series that people watch because it's nice eye candy, and something people want to see for the spectacle? When the great majority of people you interact with all have the basic philosophy on a film. Then you look around and see that same sentiment all over the place, there's a good chance it's probably more right than not. It's not 100%, I've never said otherwise.
Disney Irish said:
In addition I think Wendy is right, very few movies (especially these days) see any huge cultural impact beyond initial release. Most are instantly forgettable after a few weeks to a few months, certainly within a few years.
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It's Avatar, the highest grossing movie ever. All you are really arguing is I'm correct. It sounds like you two really love Avatar and that's great. It really is ok. Avatar made bank at the theater and didn't do a whole lot in the pop culture space. Is it really that insulting to the film to say?
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
The Fantastic Four is being reported as having a production budget of $200 Million, and it's debut weekend projections are in the $125 to $145 Million range domestically.

If that holds, and if The Fantastic Four does simply as well overseas as it does domestically, then it would seem it might break even at the box office by Labor Day. Seems kind of strange for a big budget Marvel movie to be headed towards actually breaking even, doesn't it? :oops:

Do we dare think it might even turn a profit?

Box Office Tracking & Forecasts: THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Still On Course for ~$125M+ Ahead of Tuesday Review Embargo – Box Office Theory

boxofficetheory.com boxofficetheory.com
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Also, The Fantastic Four and its little robot guy will be doing meet and greets in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. And because it's Disneyland and the LA entertainment economy has tanked and there are a lot of out of work actors around, the face characters actually look really good. (I still remember the "Aladdin" that WDW once had in their Adventureland who looked and sounded like a stocky Italian guy from the Jersey shore 🤣 🤣 🤣 )

Burbank ignored Snow White and Elio in the parks this past spring and early summer, but now they're going all in on The Fantastic Four.

I'd love to know how they knew that Elio and Snow White were going to bomb, but are feeling better about The Fantastic Four?

Fantastic-Four-meet-greet-characters-at-Disneyland.png
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
erasure fan1 said:
When you really look around, and if you're being honest. It's pretty clear that Avatar is what it is, and I'm not sure why that's so controversial. Why can't Avatar be a series that people watch because it's nice eye candy, and something people want to see for the spectacle? When the great majority of people you interact with all have the basic philosophy on a film. Then you look around and see that same sentiment all over the place, there's a good chance it's probably more right than not. It's not 100%, I've never said otherwise.

It's Avatar, the highest grossing movie ever. All you are really arguing is I'm correct. It sounds like you two really love Avatar and that's great. It really is ok. Avatar made bank at the theater and didn't do a whole lot in the pop culture space. Is it really that insulting to the film to say?
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The point was that it went beyond just being the highest grossing movie of all time. It clearly had a larger impact as how could it not, much of which was discounted by many here, especially prior to the second one releasing and in discussions about the second land opening in DCA.

As for me, other than being something I saw and will watch the sequels, I don't have much love for the franchise as a whole. So I have no "dog in this fight" as it were. I'm just a neutral observer to this calling the reality of the landscape, and calling out those that like to downplay it.
 
erasure fan1

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
Wendy Pleakley said:
You do it again by claiming "no one loved" the films.
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Not true. What I said is, no one I know. And when you really look around, I don't see a lot of, I love the film. That doesn't mean no one loves it. Even you and Irish won't say it, the ones defending it. It has parts I hear people say they love. Like the visuals, special effects, things like that.
Wendy Pleakley said:
A movie doesn't do Avatar business without positive word of mouth and repeat viewers.
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Absolutely. But that's not the argument now is it. In my opinion, the word of mouth on its visuals and revolutionary 3d single handedly made that movie. It's probably to blame for the all in 3d craze that happened.
Wendy Pleakley said:
Is the lack of merchandise cited because it's a sci-fi move or something? If a movie is in the same genre as Star Wars is that more of an expectation or something?
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It's not just merch in my opinion. I go to comic-cons, toy shows, all sorts of nerd stuff. And its not really on the radar. Couple that with merch, Halloween, video games, people walking around... On the whole, people just don't seem to care. Obviously they care enough to go see it, but not enough to nerd out about it. And there's nothing wrong with that. Last year I saw a guy wearing a Pandora, world of avatar shirt. That's the first Avatar thing I've seen in the wild.

I'd argue that Disneys Pandora land has done more for Avatar pop culture than anything yet. Heck I was the guy defending the choice for the land.
Wendy Pleakley said:
Avatar had enough of an impact that people came out in droves for the sequel. Allegedly despite not even liking the original.
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Did you see the trailers? The water sequences made little mermaid live action look like my 7yr old made it. I wanted to see it just for that. And then that kid ran around for like 3hrs yelling bro! Lol. Again, my point isn't, everyone hates it!!!! It's about the pop culture legacy (that's different than it's legacy as a film). I just don't see anything of note. That doesn't mean there's none, or the movies trash and everyone hates it.
 
Tha Realest

Tha Realest

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Also, The Fantastic Four and its little robot guy will be doing meet and greets in Tomorrowland at Disneyland. And because it's Disneyland and the LA entertainment economy has tanked and there are a lot of out of work actors around, the face characters actually look really good. (I still remember the "Aladdin" that WDW once had in their Adventureland who looked and sounded like a stocky Italian guy from the Jersey shore 🤣 🤣 🤣 )

Burbank ignored Snow White and Elio in the parks this past spring and early summer, but now they're going all in on The Fantastic Four.

I'd love to know how they knew that Elio and Snow White were going to bomb, but are feeling better about The Fantastic Four?

Fantastic-Four-meet-greet-characters-at-Disneyland.png
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Two trades - Deadline and THR - are projecting $100M-$110M. Whether this is based on realistic projections, or downplayed expectations so it looks like it overperforms when it opens, is anyone’s guess.
 
Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Tha Realest said:
Two trades - Deadline and THR - are projecting $100M-$110M. Whether this is based on realistic projections, or downplayed expectations so it looks like it overperforms when it opens, is anyone’s guess.
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Boxofficepro has it $100M-$125M as of last week -

www.boxofficepro.com

Long Range Forecast: THE FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS Looks to $100M-Plus Opening

Subscribe to our FREE email newsletters to be notified of our latest updates in pre-release tracking, box office analysis, and industry news. Long Range Forecast — July 25, 2025 The Fantastic Four: First Steps | Disney Domestic Opening Weekend Range: $100M – $125M The Marvel Cinematic Universe...
www.boxofficepro.com www.boxofficepro.com

So I think there is a wide range, but all seem to have it opening higher then $100M which is good as that would be one of the higher openings recently.
 
BrianLo

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
erasure fan1 said:
Avatar is really a thing on its own though. There's no denying it's probably the biggest franchise that has left almost no pop culture impact. So while the "costume theory" doesn't really hold up with Avatar. I think it is one spoke in the what's popular wheel. Obviously it's nothing scientific, but I do see some correlation in my opinion.
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As you say, pop culture as opposed to cultural impact. Its audience is extremely atypical from internet (pop culture) norms. More like a Yellowstone audience domestically. It just doesn’t translate well out of the baby boomer circles. But like Yellowstone I think it has more impact than it is given credit for.

The land really, really outperformed.
 
Animaniac93-98

Animaniac93-98

Well-Known Member
BrianLo said:
As you say, pop culture as opposed to cultural impact. Its audience is extremely atypical from internet (pop culture) norms. More like a Yellowstone audience domestically. It just doesn’t translate well out of the baby boomer circles. But like Yellowstone I think it has more impact than it is given credit for.

The land really, really outperformed.
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I saw a chart of the top 20 streaming shows in 2025 thus far (when it comes to viewership) and the list is an eye opener for what the average North American audience actually watches.

1753144636229.png
 

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