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

[MoonRakerSCM]

Tried to get off work early today... hope there are still seats available-

 

[brideck]

Christopher Nolan. I'm a fanboy. Unapologetically.

Yep yep. Nolan is definitely one of those directors for us, too. The Coen Brothers used to be for us, but they have not been nearly as good on their own as they were together. And then there's a whole set of indie/borderline mainstream directors that we usually like, e.g. Lanthimos, Aster, Eggers, Kelly Reichardt, etc. They're not always great, but usually interesting.

 

[brideck]

Outside of maybe Mythic Quest, none of those would probably be very interesting to a 17 yr old which is the posters age. Hence why they mentioned Peanuts as being the only good thing on the service.

That would really depend on the 17 yo and what you've been exposed to. Some of us grew up watching things like OG Twin Peaks when we were only 11/12.

I watched that finale taped off TV more times than I can count, which clearly accounts for my extremely mainstream tastes today. </s>

 

[Tony the Tigger]

All right, I did some crunching based on Snow White's open, and if it gets holds like Maleficent: Mistress of Evil it'll end up around $130m domestic. If it instead gets holds like Dumbo, which performed really poorly, it'll end up around $105m domestic.

If it ends up higher than $75m after next weekend, then it'll have gotten a decent word-of-mouth bump and everything will need to be recalibrated. We'll see how much those school-age girls are talking to each other about it this week.

If it holds like Mufasa (about to hit $720 million) it can do the same.

Not holding my breath. The public discourse is awful - mostly from people who haven’t seen it.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

That would really depend on the 17 yo and what you've been exposed to. Some of us grew up watching things like OG Twin Peaks when we were only 11/12.

I watched that finale taped off TV more times than I can count, which clearly accounts for my extremely mainstream tastes today. </s>

I saw Jaws in the theater at age 4. Didn’t want to take a bath after.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Yep yep. Nolan is definitely one of those directors for us, too. The Coen Brothers used to be for us, but they have not been nearly as good on their own as they were together. And then there's a whole set of indie/borderline mainstream directors that we usually like, e.g. Lanthimos, Aster, Eggers, Kelly Reichardt, etc. They're not always great, but usually interesting.

I miss the Coen Brothers so much. That whole generation of auteurs, with their playfulness and humor and self-aware toying with cinematic conventions was tremendous fun.

Dark Knight may be my favorite comic movie of all time, but I honestly don’t fully understand the infatuation with Nolan. There’s a chilly, distant, impersonal feel to his films reminiscent of Kubrick, another auteur I’ve always found alienating. Honestly, a lot of his appeal seems to be that he makes viewers feel smart without asking very much of them. A lot of the current generation of big name directors - Villanueva springs to mind - have that same self-serious coldness. It’s a long way from the impish cineaste approach, the wink and nod, of the Coens or Raimi or even earlier filmmakers like Lynch. Where’s the fun?

PS: Just thinking of more from that disappearing generation - Tarantino, Burton, Wes Anderson… Kids who got the keys to the candy store.

Paul Thomas Anderson is fascinating because his initial sprawling epics were very much of the postmodern giddy era (the Sundance era?) but he quickly shifted into one of the leading representatives of modern Kubrickian coldness with his more recent character studies. When modern PTA tried to make an old-school PTA film, Inherent Vice, it was the worst film of his career.

I suppose Lanthimos, Bong Joon Ho, and Del Toro still have some of the old spirit - although the latter two are arguably slightly later members of the earlier generation.

 

[Agent H]

Absolutely wrong. Here are the some of the best shows on Apple:

1) Ted Lasso
2) Silo
3) Severance
4) Shrinking
5) Slow Horses
6) The Morning Show
7) Mythic Quest
8) The Studio*

*This show comes out this week but has amazing reviews. It has a huge cast led by Seth Rogan.

I’ve never heard of any of those except Ted lasso.

 

[brideck]

If it holds like Mufasa (about to hit $720 million) it can do the same.

For sure. I took a look at Mufasa and Zegler's recent Hunger Games installment, too, when I was looking at possible comps. Both of those had bigger 2nd weeks than their opening, but both of those 2nd weeks were also holidays, which is obviously not the case for Miss Snow.

I saw Jaws in the theater at age 4. Didn’t want to take a bath after.

Oh, man. I can't even imagine. I think I saw Jaws (not in the theater) when I was... 8 or so? Quint's demise was absolute nightmare fuel for awhile.

 

[Agent H]

I think there’s some rosy retrospection going on here. There have been plenty of not-so-great Disney films in past decades, and a few outright bad ones (I’m looking at you, Chicken Little). Box-office performance isn’t necessarily a measure of quality. The Lion King remake made more than a billion despite being awful, and Wish was not nearly as bad as the figures suggest. I agree with you and others that Disney’s reputation may have taken a knock, but the idea that you could always be assured of a great product when a film had the Disney name on it isn’t true.

I honestly forgot chicken little existed until just now and by extension I also remembered this abomination.

 

[brideck]

I honestly forgot chicken little existed until just now

I have still never seen Chicken Little (one of maybe five animated classics I've missed). The completionist part of my brain is always saying, "Some day..." but we'll see if that ever happens.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I’ve never heard of any of those except Ted lasso.

Watch Slow Horses.

 

[brideck]

I miss the Coen Brothers so much. That whole generation of auteurs, with their playfulness and humor and self-aware toying with cinematic conventions was tremendous fun.

Dark Knight may be my favorite comic movie of all time, but I honestly don’t fully understand the infatuation with Nolan. There’s a chilly, distant, impersonal feel to his films reminiscent of Kubrick, another auteur I’ve always found alienating. Honestly, a lot of his appeal seems to be that he makes viewers feel smart without asking very much of them. A lot of the current generation of big name directors - Villanueva springs to mind - have that same self-serious coldness. It’s a long way from the impish cineaste approach, the wink and nod, of the Coens or Raimi or even earlier filmmakers like Lynch. Where’s the fun?

PS: Just thinking of more from that disappearing generation - Tarantino, Burton, Wes Anderson… Kids who got the keys to the candy store.

Paul Thomas Anderson is fascinating because his initial sprawling epics were very much of the postmodern giddy era (the Sundance era?) but he quickly shifted into one of the leading representatives of modern Kubrickian coldness with his recent character studies. When modern PTA tried to make an old-school PTA film, Inherent Vice, it was the worst film of his career.

I suppose Lanthimos, Bong Joon Ho, and Del Toro still have some of the old spirit - although the latter two are arguably slightly later members of the earlier generation.

I smell what you're stepping in. Kind of goes along with that discussion about the loss of whimsy over in the TBA thread earlier today. I'd have to think about if I've seen anything recently that seems to fill that void.

I'm not a big fan of Kubrick himself, but I do enjoy the more modern "distant" directors that you've named. It must be the same part of my brain that really digs things like Grant Morrison comics.

Ah, well. Off to finally see The Monkey.

 

[Agent H]

I have still never seen Chicken Little (one of maybe five animated classics I've missed). The completionist part of my brain is always saying, "Some day..." but we'll see if that ever happens..

You’re not missing much. The one way that movie positively influenced my life was getting me to realize I liked the song “I will survive” at 6 years old.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I smell what you're stepping in. Kind of goes along with that discussion about the loss of whimsy over in the TBA thread earlier today. I'd have to think about if I've seen anything recently that seems to fill that void.

I'm not a big fan of Kubrick himself, but I do enjoy the more modern "distant" directors that you've named. It must be the same part of my brain that really digs things like Grant Morrison comics.

I’ve always felt that Morrison was one of the most extreme practitioners of the “postmodern whimsy” approach I love. I think someone like Jonathan Hickman more closely embodies some of the Kubrickian coldness I’m talking about.

 

[DKampy]

I saw Jaws in the theater at age 4. Didn’t want to take a bath after.

As you mentioned on a previous post of mine we must be around the same age…. I saw Jaws at a drive in theater at age 4 or 5….and I literally had one of the most vivid nightmares of my life afterward… which I can still recall

 

[LittleBuford]

I have still never seen Chicken Little (one of maybe five animated classics I've missed). The completionist part of my brain is always saying, "Some day..." but we'll see if that ever happens.

Spare yourself. Your eyes and brain will thank you.

 

[Agent H]

You’re not missing much. The one way that movie positively influenced my life was getting me to realize I liked the song “I will survive” at 6 years old.

Oh yeah the original song from the beginning is pretty good too.

 

[doctornick]

While I agree it’s not a good movie I still found it entertaining, I think it’s worth a watch, maybe while doing the dishes or some other chore, probably not worth undivided attention though.

I've never really understood the vitriol that Chicken Little gets. I mean, it's not something that warrants repeat watches or anything but it has some funny moments and is entertaining enough. I'd at least use Home on the Range as an example of a horrible Disney animated film of that era over Chicken Little.

And does The Wild count as Disney animation? Talk about awful.

 

[Agent H]

I've never really understood the vitriol that Chicken Little gets. I mean, it's not something that warrants repeat watches or anything but it has some funny moments and is entertaining enough. I'd at least use Home on the Range as an example of a horrible Disney animated film of that era over Chicken Little.

And does The Wild count as Disney animation? Talk about awful.

I think home on the range is underrated.

 

[LittleBuford]

I've never really understood the vitriol that Chicken Little gets. I mean, it's not something that warrants repeat watches or anything but it has some funny moments and is entertaining enough. I'd at least use Home on the Range as an example of a horrible Disney animated film of that era over Chicken Little.

And does The Wild count as Disney animation? Talk about awful.

I went into it optimistic—I am a Disney loyalist and have never truly disliked any of their animated films. This is the one and only exception. (Home on the Range is far, far better in my opinion.)