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

[brideck]

Maybe it's just better for the movie producers. Movies are advertised on Apple with the tagline "Bring the theater home". The sooner a movie comes to streaming the more people may be willing to pay in order to see a new movie sooner. Thunderbolts as an example is priced $10 higher than any other new release right now on digital.

Yeah, later in the conversation I came to the same potential conclusion. Maybe the producers are realigning around not needing as much from the box office end of things and are going to be satisfied with what they can get from the DTC market. I know there's a faction here that thinks that there's not enough real money in that, but I don't know about that...

If that is the case, then the theaters are well and truly hosed. There's just not enough demand from consumers to fill seats on the regular, just for event movies. The same thing kind of happened with live music (not sure where things currently stand as I don't pay super close attention) -- the mega tours sell out, but at the same time a bunch of other acts were canceling shows, etc. due to lack of ticket sales.

 

[TalkingHead]

I imagine this is true to a degree for sure, but plenty of movies still hit big.

The ones that hit have IP and/or spectacle. There’s no hits outside of that. Was watching Ocean’s Eleven the other day, a sizable hit when it came out. That movie would make far less today and would probably go direct to streaming. Maybe Wolfs (Apple) would be the equivalent.

Audiences, tech, social patterns, everything’s changed and the theater chains can only do so much to respond to that.

 

[FrontierSpirit]

Does it really matter what a movie makes at the box office? It’s not our money being spent. With Disney, It’s not like Walt Disney is alive making these movies or George Lucas is still making personal Star Wars films for us to care about.
Hard to care about a brand. The name Universal doesn’t mean anything to me.
The Nolan’s and Scorsese‘s are few and far between, there was a time the average movie goer had a top 5 directors list. That’s gone.

The money and the talent going forward will be on television, Films will matter for spectacle and legacy.
I don’t know, who really cares about the movie theater anymore? It’s just another of the many options people can choose to experience. Better stories, better characters are on your 85 inch Dolby surround sound theater experience at your house.

 

[Tha Realest]

Does it really matter what a movie makes at the box office? It’s not our money being spent. With Disney, It’s not like Walt Disney is alive making these movies or George Lucas is still making personal Star Wars films for us to care about.
Hard to care about a brand. The name Universal doesn’t mean anything to me.
The Nolan’s and Scorsese‘s are few and far between, there was a time the average movie goer had a top 5 directors list. That’s gone.

The money and the talent going forward will be on television, Films will matter for spectacle and legacy.
I don’t know, who really cares about the movie theater anymore? It’s just another of the many options people can choose to experience. Better stories, better characters are on your 85 inch Dolby surround sound theater experience at your house.

If you enjoy a particular movie or a particular type of movie, you should root for its box office success. I personally would have loved to have multiple sequels to Master and Commander and Devil in a Blue Dress, but they didn’t do well and that’s a one and done.

The people signing off on movies and their budgets need to be reassured they’ll recoup their investment.

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

We knew Stich was going to be a massive hit and we knew Elio was going to bomb. Thunderbolts underperformed in my estimations. And so did the latest Mission Impossible.
As far as what's coming up next, I think Jurassic will do poorly, compared to previous ones at least. I think F4 does better than Thunderbolts but not by much. I think Superman does the best of those 3, at least domestically

 

[Ghost93]

We knew Stich was going to be a massive hit and we knew Elio was going to bomb. Thunderbolts underperformed in my estimations. And so did the latest Mission Impossible.
As far as what's coming up next, I think Jurassic will do poorly, compared to previous ones at least. I think F4 does better than Thunderbolts but not by much. I think Superman does the best of those 3, at least domestically

I think the new Jurassic will do around $700-$800 million. They should have taken more time with the movie to allow people to miss the franchise and to make sure they had a great script. The whole production of Jurassic World Rebirth seems rushed.

 

[DKampy]

I think the new Jurassic will do around $700-$800 million. They should have taken more time with the movie to allow people to miss the franchise and to make sure they had a great script. The whole production of Jurassic World Rebirth seems rushed.

Jurassic was most definitely rushed…. Universal only began development a year and a half ago… while filming began just last June.., that is not much time for a special FX laden film such as this

 

[Baloo124]

Ok guys, I am officially DONE with Jurassic World. Finished. Washing my hands of this. Have been let down too many times with disappointments big & small beginning with Lost World. The studio keeps extending the teet of mediocre sequeliogy again and again, with no signs of stopping until audiences stop returning for yet another suckle. I am out.

Will always love the 1993 original, and it will forever remain among the films mentioned if discussing my all-time favorites in cinema history. Was mind-blowing then, remains timeless now. Spared no expense.

 

[Dranth]

I think Superman does the best of those 3, at least domestically

It would surprise me if it does, but admittedly, that might be my personal bias as I find the character boring.

Has there even been a solo Superman movie, even adjusted for inflation, that has cleared the $500 million mark? Maybe the 1978 one?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Ok guys, I am officially DONE with Jurassic World. Finished. Washing my hands of this.

I’ve heard this from quite a few people, and its also how I feel myself, I love the books and also love the original movie but this series has gotten worse with each subsequent movie… unless the reviews are absolutely stellar I’m not even going to bother.

Another example of Hollywood killing the golden goose.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It would surprise me if it does, but admittedly, that might be my personal bias as I find the character boring.

Has there even been a solo Superman movie, even adjusted for inflation, that has cleared the $500 million mark? Maybe the 1978 one?

Man of Steel made $670 million worldwide in 2013

Superman Returns made $391 million in 2006. That would for sure be over $500 million today.

Tracking for the new one has it opening between $130-$170 million domestically.

 

[Disney Irish]

It would surprise me if it does, but admittedly, that might be my personal bias as I find the character boring.

Has there even been a solo Superman movie, even adjusted for inflation, that has cleared the $500 million mark? Maybe the 1978 one?

Man of Steel unadjusted in 2013 got $670M WW, adjusted that is $929M.

 

[Dranth]

Man of Steel made $670 million worldwide in 2013

Superman Returns made $391 million in 2006. That would for sure be over $500 million today.

Tracking for the new one has it opening between $130-$170 million domestically.

Man of Steel unadjusted in 2013 got $670M WW, adjusted that is $929M.

Interesting. I didn't see either of those or remember hearing much positive buzz about them but if that holds, there could be some legit appetite for it.

Thinking about it honestly, I can also see it picking up some DC fans in general who really want this refresh to be the start of something good.

Personally, I still find it hard to believe it will do much better than any other movie this summer, but maybe I am being too pessimistic.

 

[Disney Irish]

Interesting. I didn't see either of those or remember hearing much positive buzz about them but if that holds, there could be some legit appetite for it.

Thinking about it honestly, I can also see it picking up some DC fans in general who really want this refresh to be the start of something good.

Personally, I still find it hard to believe it will do much better than any other movie this summer, but maybe I am being too pessimistic.

Honestly just given the tone of the trailers I don't see it doing well, but that is just me. I've said it before, that when the trailer of Superman yelling at Lois in an interview was released, that turned me and likely a bunch of people off to the movie. As Superman doesn't yell at Lois, at least not my Superman.

So we'll see, I'll probably see it as I see just about all mainstream movies in theaters, but maybe not opening weekend.

 

[coffeefan]

Jurassic Park needs a complete reboot. Will be interesting to see if the audience still supports it.
Anyway, Disney should take another shot at dinosaurs. Get the PotA and Alien teams on it.

 

[DKampy]

I don’t think the box office is in as dire a situation for theaters as some have suggested…. Has theaters decreased the numbers of butts in seats…absolutely…. They closed my towns theater because it was a ghost town once theaters were reopened after the pandemic…. It was always slow even before..,, however the next town over does not feel any different then before COVID…. I am guessing they are receiving some of the past moviegoers from the abandoned theater…. For example I saw The Life of Chuck the second week in it’s wide release and it was still well over 1/2 full… granted it was in the smallest theater… but for a film that failed to gain traction at all it is more then I thought would be there

The days of every town having a multiplex of at least 12 screens are over… I think chains will cut back on the number of theaters…. Which will take the leftover movie fans from those other areas….Studios still need theaters even when the focus is more on VOD and streaming… the Data shows films do better if theaters receive them first

Theaters need to add more premium screens however…. With these back to back summer blockbusters…. Movies lose out on potential cash…. How much more could F1 gross if the vast majority of the premium screens were not being replaced with Jurassic World

 

[Disney Irish]

Jurassic Park needs a complete reboot. Will be interesting to see if the audience still supports it.
Anyway, Disney should take another shot at dinosaurs. Get the PotA and Alien teams on it.

I think they need a break again from Dinos.

But it got $30.5M yesterday in opening, so we'll see how the rest of the holiday weekend does. I'm guessing it'll get over $90M for the 3-day and close to $125M for the 5-day. But after that the holds will be the determining factor, I think it'll drop hard as the audience scores aren't good. It got a B its for Cinemascore, only Jurassic Park 3 got lower with a B-, so audiences don't seem to like it so far.

 

[Disney Irish]

I don’t think the box office is in as dire a situation for theaters as some have suggested…. Has theaters decreased the numbers of butts in seats…absolutely…. They closed my towns theater because it was a ghost town once theaters were reopened after the pandemic…. It was always slow even before..,, however the next town over does not feel any different then before COVID…. I am guessing they are receiving some of the past moviegoers from the abandoned theater…. For example I saw The Life of Chuck the second week in it’s wide release and it was still well over 1/2 full… granted it was in the smallest theater… but for a film that failed to gain traction at all it is more then I thought would be there

The days of every town having a multiplex of at least 12 screens are over… I think chains will cut back on the number of theaters…. Which will take the leftover movie fans from those other areas….Studios still need theaters even when the focus is more on VOD and streaming… the Data shows films do better if theaters receive them first

Theaters need to add more premium screens however…. With these back to back summer blockbusters…. Movies lose out on potential cash…. How much more could F1 gross if the vast majority of the premium screens were not being replaced with Jurassic World

I've said it before, I still think that theaters will become more of a boutique experience, where a majority of theaters will end up changing all or a majority of their screens to premium and offer more amenities like dining and drink service. And that it'll becoming like the Golden Age of when going out to the theater was a once or twice a year event experience.

We're half way there already, might as well fully embrace it.

 

[Tha Realest]

It would surprise me if it does, but admittedly, that might be my personal bias as I find the character boring.

Has there even been a solo Superman movie, even adjusted for inflation, that has cleared the $500 million mark? Maybe the 1978 one?

Man of Steel made $670 million WW a few years ago.

 

[Ghost93]

Man of Steel made $670 million WW a few years ago.

Man of Steel is now 12 YEARS OLD.