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

[Phroobar]

No need to bring his age into it. I’m “only” in my 40s and hopelessly out of touch with what young people today are into.

Well they're obviously not into Tron.

 

[LittleBuford]

Well they're obviously not into Tron.

Neither am I! I love the '80s and found the (original) film tedious in the extreme.

 

[TP2000]

Did you get any Princess Tiana's in her green ballgown? If no, then I wouldn't expect any with her adventurer costumer either.

Nope. Which made me realize that it's been a very long time since I've seen a Black person in my little town, and so I went to Google. According to the 2020 census, my county has a Black population that is 0.6%. Which means that 0.3% are Black women, and so less than 0.05% are Black girls under age 10 who might dress up as Tiana for Halloween and find their way to my front door on Halloween.

In short, it's almost statistically impossible for Tiana, in flouncy ball gown or sporty jodhpurs, to show up on my front steps. But maybe someone in Birmingham or Baltimore, where demographics are different, might have had a different experience last Friday? It was worth asking. What else are we gonna talk about this month? Tron: Ares bombing badly at the box office?

I never understood it much myself either, but it gives a 70 year old guy some joy into thinking he's tapped into the pulse of what's "hip" in current pop culture.

I absolutely adore that you take it this seriously. Never change!

Also TP and I go way back on this topic,

We do?

he originally brought this up back many years ago over in the DLR forums, we used to go back and forth on it over there too.

Avatar came out in 2010. You joined the forums in 2016. The earliest mention I have of you finding fault with my very scientific and peer-reviewed TP2000 Halloween Costume Pop Culture Barometer was in December, 2022. Just less than 3 years ago, when you said this...

I’m pretty sure your Halloween costume metric is not as revealing as you think it is.

Is that what counts as "many years" to your generation? December of '22?

 

[TP2000]

No need to bring his age into it. I’m “only” in my 40s and hopelessly out of touch with what young people today are into.

That's very kind of you, but I embrace it. I can be rather hip and stylish for my age with some things, but with the under 18 set and their latest crazes I'm hopelessly out of touch.

I still can't thank @BrianLo enough for pre-warning me about the Korean girl groups I was about to be inundated with on Halloween! If I hadn't Googled it all a few days beforehand, I can only imagine the confusion and embarrassment I would have caused myself when I got the 3rd or 4th gaggle of girls in a small city in the Southwest dressed up as Pop stars from Seoul out hunting demons.

 

[erasure fan1]

I still find it funny that you all are looking for Avatar character consumes, ie half naked blue aliens, during Halloween where average temperatures across the US is in the 40s or 50s (lower in some places) at night. Sorry but its not a costume that lends itself well to being worn during a cold Halloween night.

Of course we shouldn't expect Avatar costumes, it's a running gag at this point. But your reason in this response is not anywhere close to the reason. Cold really has nothing to do with it. As an example, Maui wears bottoms made of leaves and nothing else. That didn't stop kids and adults from being him. There were plenty of him the couple Halloweens after the first film came out. People see avatar for the visuals and spectacle of it. Outside of that, it just doesn't have all that much pop culture footprint in the merch/costume/cosplay world.

 

[BlindChow]

I still find it funny that you all are looking for Avatar character consumes, ie half naked blue aliens, during Halloween where average temperatures across the US is in the 40s or 50s (lower in some places) at night. Sorry but its not a costume that lends itself well to being worn during a cold Halloween night.

Are you seriously under the impression the only way to do an Avatar costume would be for the kid to paint their bare skin blue?

I mean, come on, now, obviously the entire "skin" would be part of the costume and protect the kid's entire body from those terrible, terrible temperatures.

Heck, let's do a quick google! Yep, from Spirit Halloween themselves:

Clearly the whole discussion about Avatar popularity vis-à-vis costumes is silly, but the fact you actually doubled down on the "bare skin" argument is so funny to me.

 

[Disney Irish]

Nope. Which made me realize that it's been a very long time since I've seen a Black person in my little town, and so I went to Google. According to the 2020 census, my county has a Black population that is 0.6%. Which means that 0.3% are Black women, and so less than 0.05% are Black girls under age 10 who might dress up as Tiana for Halloween and find their way to my front door on Halloween.

In short, it's almost statistically impossible for Tiana, in flouncy ball gown or sporty jodhpurs, to show up on my front steps. But maybe someone in Birmingham or Baltimore, where demographics are different, might have had a different experience last Friday? It was worth asking. What else are we gonna talk about this month? Tron: Ares bombing badly at the box office?

Thanks, a simple yes or no would have sufficed, didn't need the demographic breakdown. Also it wasn't worth asking about Tiana anyways because this is all meaningless, as you don't really care about the answer because its not serious to you right.

I absolutely adore that you take it this seriously. Never change!

That was a joke, I honestly don't take much of what you say seriously and haven't for years now.

We do?



Avatar came out in 2010. You joined the forums in 2016. The earliest mention I have of you finding fault with my very scientific and peer-reviewed TP2000 Halloween Costume Pop Culture Barometer was in December, 2022. Just less than 3 years ago, when you said this...



Is that what counts as "many years" to your generation? December of '22?

You do realize that we talked about it originally in the DL forums years ago, most of which (if not all) had since been deleted for being off-topic in many threads (as I suspect much of this will be too). If I recall correctly it started around 2017 when we started talking about it, then it died down for a few years. We talked about it again when Avatar was starting to be rumored for DLR before it was official because that is when you trotted out again the "why would they build Avatar here when not one kid wears a blue alien costume at Halloween", and its been going every year ever since as your running joke.

Are you seriously under the impression the only way to do an Avatar costume would be for the kid to paint their bare skin blue?

I mean, come on, now, obviously the entire "skin" would be part of the costume and protect the kid's entire body from those terrible, terrible temperatures.

Heck, let's do a quick google! Yep, from Spirit Halloween themselves:

View attachment 891193

Clearly the whole discussion about Avatar popularity vis-à-vis costumes is silly, but the fact you actually doubled down on the "bare skin" argument is so funny to me.

Oh my god, I over exaggerated to make a point, clearly some people here don't get sarcasm. YES there is obviously full body costumes, never claimed there wasn't. No kids aren't wearing them or going half naked either, as stated in other posts and by other posters, it IS NOT the IP very many kids of the last 15 years would choose for many reasons.

 

[erasure fan1]

This Halloween-costume metric makes little sense to me.

Look, it really is nothing more than a barometer as to what is in the pop culture consciousness. In the end, as has been said, it doesn't mean all that much. But tell me you couldn't figure out that kpop demon hunters was extremely popular this year just by seeing the costumes.

If box-office success really could be measured in this way, we should have seen a lot of children dressed as Moana, Stitch, or the characters from Inside Out.

Funny thing, Moana was prevalent when the first film came out. Lots of dads walking around as maui with their Moana daughters. And stitch was the most common Disney character this year as I mentioned earlier. And there were multiple Joys and a couple others last Halloween. So that does track. Again, it's not some elaborate scientific thing. It's just something that's kinda interesting to look at.

 

[LittleBuford]

Look, it really is nothing more than a barometer as to what is in the pop culture consciousness. In the end, as has been said, it doesn't mean all that much. But tell me you couldn't figure out that kpop demon hunters was extremely popular this year just by seeing the costumes.

Funny thing, Moana was prevalent when the first film came out. Lots of dads walking around as maui with their Moana daughters. And stitch was the most common Disney character this year as I mentioned earlier. And there were multiple Joys and a couple others last Halloween. So that does track. Again, it's not some elaborate scientific thing. It's just something that's kinda interesting to look at.

You took my post a lot more seriously than I intended it to be. None of this matters all that much, which is sort of the point I was making.

 

[Disney Irish]

Of course we shouldn't expect Avatar costumes, it's a running gag at this point. But your reason in this response is not anywhere close to the reason. Cold really has nothing to do with it. As an example, Maui wears bottoms made of leaves and nothing else. That didn't stop kids and adults from being him. There were plenty of him the couple Halloweens after the first film came out. People see avatar for the visuals and spectacle of it. Outside of that, it just doesn't have all that much pop culture footprint in the merch/costume/cosplay world.

I've seen quite a few adult dressed as a Na'vi over the years especially in the early years, think 2010-2012.

But yes I'm aware its a running joke on this site at this point. Just so its clear to people I don't take any of this seriously, never have. This is all just discussion engagement, if we didn't engage in this or any of things we discuss this site would be very dead.

 

[DKampy]

Not only did I not see any Avatar trick or treaters…. I l did not notice any Dune or Sinners costumes either…. I guess no one likes those movies

 

[Phroobar]

Not only did I not see any Avatar trick or treaters…. I l did not notice any Dune or Sinners costumes either…. I guess no one likes those movies

I'd worry about the kid that wanted to dress up like Michael B Jordan in Sinners.

 

[Phroobar]

Neither am I! I love the '80s and found the (original) film tedious in the extreme.

You must have been a Nintendo kid that missed the whole teenager arcade scene for the early 80s.

 

[Serpico Jones]

 

[LittleBuford]

You must have been a Nintendo kid that missed the whole teenager arcade scene for the early 80s.

Sega. And I don't think that's the issue I had with the film. Loved the aesthetic and the premise, but the plot was just tedious to me.

 

[TP2000]

I thought we should recap where Burbank is for 2025, now that Tron: Ares has just about completed its drain on finances after bombing rather notably. And yet, before we get Predator: Badlands (I love Burbank's obsession with colons in titles, for movies and park attractions!) and the Christmas movie slate into the mix.

From the data we used during the Labor Day Fish Fry in this thread, the last three movies plus Tron: Ares have had their box office final results updated slightly.

As of today, Burbank's 10 movies thus far in 2025 are running a combined loss of $178 Million.

Captain America, Brave New World: $180 Production, $414 Box Office = $19 Million Loss
Rachel Zegler's Snow White: $269 Production, $206 Box Office = $233 Million Loss (Oof!)
The Amateur: $60 Production, $96 Box Office = $27 Million Loss
Thunderbolts: $180 Production, $382 Box Office = $34 Million Loss
Lilo & Stitch: $100 Production, $1,037 Box Office = $369 Million Profit (!!!)
Elio: $150 Production, $152 Box Office = $112 Million Loss
The Fantastic Four, First Steps: $200 Production, $521 Box Office = $11 Million Profit
Freakier Friday: $42 Production, $153 Box Office = $24 Million Profit
The Roses: Alleged $20 Production, $52 Box Office = $1 Million Profit
Tron: Ares: $180 Production, $134 Box Office = $158 Million Loss and Narrowing

The interesting good news behind that updated $178 Million loss so far this year, is that Predator: Badlands opens this weekend and was made with a "small" budget of only $100 Million! That means it could break even with just $250 Million in global box office!

What did Burbank do to get the budget so low, outsource that one again to Ridgeback Ranch over the hill???

 

[TP2000]

Not only did I not see any Avatar trick or treaters…. I l did not notice any Dune or Sinners costumes either…. I guess no one likes those movies

Disney is not currently building, nor have they announced, any major theme park expansions based on Dune or Sinners.

Which was how this became a topic of seasonal conversation over in a theme park thread; a 2014 announcement of a $500 Million theme park land in WDW based on Avatar.

It's not a topic of conversation about whether or not anyone likes a specific movie, it's how Disney chooses to use specific IP's to expand theme parks that were, and still are, in desperate need of ride capacity and expansion.

 

[Disney Irish]

Disney is not currently building, nor have they announced, any major theme park expansions based on Dune or Sinners.

Which was how this became a topic of seasonal conversation over in a theme park thread; a 2014 announcement of a $500 Million theme park land in WDW based on Avatar.

It's not a topic of conversation about whether or not anyone likes a specific movie, it's how Disney chooses to use specific IP's to expand theme parks that were, and still are, in desperate need of ride capacity and expansion.

Given that Dune and Sinners is owned by WB not Disney and WB doesn't have their own theme park business, that is a moot point.

 

[DKampy]

Disney is not currently building, nor have they announced, any major theme park expansions based on Dune or Sinners.

Which was how this became a topic of seasonal conversation over in a theme park thread; a 2014 announcement of a $500 Million theme park land in WDW based on Avatar.

It's not a topic of conversation about whether or not anyone likes a specific movie, it's how Disney chooses to use specific IP's to expand theme parks that were, and still are, in desperate need of ride capacity and expansion.

And that announced expansion was arguably the most successful build for Disney in at least the last 15 years…. So I doubt they regret it

Anyway…. My original thought was…. I find the whole debate on whether any Navi show up at your doorstep or not on Halloween Night silly.,,, I never saw the Franchise as a younger kid franchise….nor do I think James Cameron. Is designing it to be…, the films would not all be 3 + hours if he was

 

[Disney Irish]

And that announced expansion was arguably the most successful build for Disney in at least the last 15 years…. So I doubt they regret it

Anyway…. My original thought was…. I find the whole debate on whether any Navi show up at your doorstep or not on Halloween Night silly.,,, I never saw the Franchise as a younger kid franchise….nor do I think James Cameron. Is designing it to be…, the films would not all be 3 + hours if he was

Agreed, Cameron doesn't make kids movies, he makes general entertainment films mostly in the Sci-Fi genre.