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

[Phroobar]

Since Covid there is no guarantee any film of any studio will become a blockbuster

Yet there has been plenty of examples where it is true. Just not for Disney. (outside of Inside Out 2 and Zootopia 2)

 

[Phroobar]

People have essentially stopped going to original animation after 2019. They now flock to safer prospects like sequels or well established IPs.

ETA: Could adjust that to say most audiences have abandoned original films entirely. Elemental at $496M highest grossing original film of the 2020s.

Yet Ne Zha grossed over $700 million for an original animated IP. There is Boonie Bears that grossed over a billion. Granted these are Chinese productions. We can add The Super Mario Brothers movie to the list.

 

[Disney Irish]

Yet there has been plenty of examples where it is true. Just not for Disney. (outside of Inside Out 2 and Zootopia 2)

Those examples are actually few and far between however, so "plenty" is relative. I know people like to play gotcha on these sorts of things and make it like its only Disney, but we've discussed in this thread over and over how the overall market has been down since 2019 and that no studio has actually been "killing it", all have struggled in one form or another over the last 6 years.

 

[Nevermore525]

Yet Ne Zha grossed over $700 million for an original animated IP. There is Boonie Bears that grossed over a billion. Granted these are Chinese productions. We can add The Super Mario Brothers movie to the list.

As you noted two made almost all of their money in China. Ne Zha also released in 2019 so not 2020s.

Boonie Bears a set of feature films created off an existing TV show in China so not original.

Super Mario Bros movie is not an original film. That’s an established beloved franchise that’s been around since 1985

 

[DKampy]

Yet there has been plenty of examples where it is true. Just not for Disney. (outside of Inside Out 2 and Zootopia 2)

Never said it can’t happen…and now we are are cherry picking exceptions…And there are other examples for Disney…. Avatar and Deadpool just a couple of examples

 

[Andrew C]

Lesson learned...tough to make movies that are as good as Troop Beverly Hills.

 

[coffeefan]

 

[coffeefan]

Will Doomsday move up?

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Lesson learned...tough to make movies that are as good as Troop Beverly Hills.

This is unironically true.

 

[BrianLo]

The strongest new IP this decade are easily Encanto and K pop demon hunters. Ironically neither of which are box office stars.

From the secondary list it’s mostly out Pixar. I really can’t think of something from 2020 onward from another studio I’d even define as moderately popular and truly original.

 

[Pizza Moon]

Got my tickets for Hopper, let’s see how this goes.

 

[TP2000]

Good news, as more functionality is returning to The Numbers. Here's the latest on Hoppers, as it heads into its 4th weekend; sitting at about $250 Million worldwide and about $75 Million away from breaking even. Will it break even by Easter?

It's notable that Hoppers has weak overall box office overseas, compared to previous Pixar releases.

And here's box office preview for this weekend, a new feature on The Numbers which is terribly handy for us...

The Numbers - Where Data and the Movie Business Meet

The Numbers provides detailed movie financial analysis, including box office, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, and release schedules.

www.the-numbers.com

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

After seeing the new Potter trailer I really hope the remake era comes to an end soon, at least with movies that were extremely popular to begin with, I think the Back to the Future team had it right when they said there will never be a 4th film because they don’t want to tarnish the legacy.

With some films it just feels impossible to improve on them, Back to the future, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park… if a movie has good source material but doesn’t connect with the audience I think a remake makes sense, when a film is beloved and iconic it feels like any remake is doomed to disappoint, even sequels and prequels of major hits typically struggle because they never seem to match the highs of the original.

Hollywood is in trouble right now, they need more original ideas but they also need to figure out how to get people interested in those original ideas. Oppenheimer, Barbi, Mario, Minecraft, etc shows there’s an audience for “new” films, even if they’re based on old IP, but it’s sad looking at the top 20 films per year for the last decade because the vast majority are sequels, prequels, remakes, or some other variation of an old film. Not only are they running out of new ideas, they’re running out of remakes to remake.

 

[DKampy]

There has been a lot of talk about how no one cares about avatar and it has not permeated popular culture despite being successful…. Well I know someone who absolutely adores Avatar… my 13 year old niece

I just finished a Disney cruise aboard The Destiny with my parents brothers and their families…. And Avatar is her favorite franchise… she has seen the latest sequel in theaters 3 times, she owns all the movies digitally, her room is decked out in Avatar decor, and even dressed as Neytiri for a Halloween party… she cares about the story and characters not just the visual effects

I do get the feeling she is drawn to the kids of the film…. As the first film is her least favorite…. Although she still likes it…. She says her girlfriends like it too…. Although not as much as she does…. It caught me by surprise…. This is the first person I have met where Avatar is their favorite franchise

 

[Nevermore525]

 

[Animaniac93-98]

As a comparison, here's the box office totals for Wild Robot and Elemental. Two other recent original animated movies:

Wild Robot: $143.9 million (domestic) / $190.5 million (foreign) / $334.5 million total

Elemental: $154.4 million (domestic) / $342 million (foreign) / $496.4 million total

Hoppers continues to outpace Elemental domestically day-to-date so it should gross more in the US, but where Elemental really surprised with was how well it did overseas. Hoppers likely won't make as much in comparable markets.

 

[Nevermore525]

As a comparison, here's the box office totals for Wild Robot and Elemental. Two other recent original animated movies:

Wild Robot: $143.9 million (domestic) / $190.5 million (foreign) / $334.5 million total

Elemental: $154.4 million (domestic) / $342 million (foreign) / $496.4 million total

Hoppers continues to outpace Elemental domestically day-to-date so it should gross more in the US, but where Elemental really surprised with was how well it did overseas. Hoppers likely won't make as much in comparable markets.

Just a note the The Wild Robot is an adapted story from the book, not an original screenplay

 

[BrianLo]

Week One: 88M, implying 264M total
Week Two: 164.7M (+76.7M), implying 320.8M
Week Three: 242.6M (+77.9M), implying 398.4M
Week Four: 297.6M (+55M), implying 407.6M

The end point seems to be solidifying.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Just a note the The Wild Robot is an adapted story from the book, not an original screenplay

I guess I should have said non-sequel animated film to cover adaptations too, or just ones that are not sequels or remakes

 

[Nevermore525]

I guess I should have said non-sequel animated film to cover adaptations too, or just ones that are not sequels or remakes

That’s fair.

GOAT would also be included as a recent original animated release. Just crossed $180M this weekend.

Could also add Migration into that timeframe, since that’s the second highest grossing original animated behind Elemental for the 2020s