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

[TP2000]

NOT WOKE: character stares directly at camera and explains America is a crushingly oppressive patriarchy

I take it you haven't seen Barbie yet?

Sasha would be "woke" only if you got up and left the theater the moment her introductory scene in the Junior High cafeteria ended.

But Sasha has a character arc. It turns out she was just mouthing mindless talking points about America being a crushingly oppressive patriarchy (read that part again and then remember it is 2023 and not 1903), and through the second and third acts of the movie she comes to realize her mother is fabulous and that Barbie is fun and that the world is a better place for having women like them in it.

Sasha also ditches the black wardrobe along with her black heart thoughts and starts smiling, wears pink, and becomes a nice person.

 

[LittleBuford]

I used to but have no need for it now and I’m missing absolutely nothing except nonsense! You should try it. People going on 24/7 about movies they haven’t seen

I really should follow your lead but am too much of a glutton for punishment to do the sensible thing sometimes!

 

[LittleBuford]

I take it you haven't seen Barbie yet?

I’ve seen it, and I agree with @Casper Gutman entirely.

 

[TP2000]

Since our darling beloved Mother will freak out and start her little delete a thon and banning festival again...

So let’s take stock:

so feminist not woke, but an innocent gay crush is….so you just don’t want to see yourself on screen as you claim to be gay

Brace yourself for something about PG vs. PG-13.

I used to but have no need for it now and I’m missing absolutely nothing except nonsense! You should try it. People going on 24/7 about movies they haven’t seen

Since it seems to anger you that almost everyone in America loves the Barbie movie, why don't you guys weigh in on your thoughts about this data instead?...

Walt Disney Animation: No 2023 Release Yet (Wish arrives November 22nd) = 0
Walt Disney Pictures: Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion = $308 Million Loss (Haunted Mansion will reduce that loss by $25 Million or so)
Pixar: Elemental = $113 Million Loss
Marvel: Ant Man, Guardians 3 = $11 Million Loss
Lucas: Indy 5 = $233 Million Loss
Searchlight: Chevalier, Theater Camp = $56 Million Loss
20th Century: The Boogeyman = $8 Million Loss

2023 Disney Total As of August 2nd = $729 Million Loss

 

[LittleBuford]

Since it seems to anger you that almost everyone in America loves the Barbie movie

What on earth makes you say that? Several of us (myself included) have posted positive reviews of it. I think you’re missing the point, or perhaps simply choosing not to see it.

 

[LittleBuford]

By the end, the message is:

Ladies, nobody likes to be around an angry, preachy, unkept bore.

Throw on a cute sundress, put on makeup, do your hair and go out and get some sunshine and have some fun. Your worldview, relationships, and personality will be greatly improved.

Now THAT is a takeaway message everybody can get behind!

Yeah, you must have watched a different edit.

 

[TP2000]

What on earth makes you say that? Several of us (myself included) have posted positive reviews of it. I think you’re missing the point, or perhaps simply choosing not to see it.

Relax, it was a Ben Shapiro joke.

I said almost everyone in America likes Barbie, because Mr. Shapiro hated it. An opinion I disagree with and don't think he even paid attention to the movie when his staff forced him to watch it.

But seriously, do you have any thoughts on this?...

Walt Disney Animation: No 2023 Release Yet (Wish arrives November 22nd) = 0
Walt Disney Pictures: Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion = $308 Million Loss (Haunted Mansion will reduce that loss by $25 Million or so)
Pixar: Elemental = $113 Million Loss
Marvel: Ant Man, Guardians 3 = $11 Million Loss
Lucas: Indy 5 = $233 Million Loss
Searchlight: Chevalier, Theater Camp = $56 Million Loss
20th Century: The Boogeyman = $8 Million Loss

2023 Disney Total As of August 2nd = $729 Million Loss

 

[TP2000]

The movie absolutely mocks Sasha’s initial worldview, which is why the film is not only not “woke”, but brave enough to satire their overly serious and incessantly dour mindset.

By the end, the message is:

Ladies, nobody likes to be around an angry, preachy, unkept bore.

Throw on a cute sundress, put on makeup, do your hair, and go out and get some sunshine and have some fun. Your worldview, relationships, and personality will be greatly improved.

Now THAT is a takeaway message everybody can get behind!

My college educated little sister who is just winding down a very successful career in corporate America of the 1980's to 2020's loved the movie again when she took her two 30-ish college educated daughters in-law to see it a second time last night.

We chatted briefly about it over coffee this morning, and they all say it's one of their all-time favorite movies. All three of them are center-right politically and use the word "woke" as a jokey epithet. They thought Barbie had a beautiful message, but was also darn funny about it all.

 

[TP2000]

What’s even more fun is watching those who live in a hyper-restrictive political/social camp trying to “own” the movie.

Believe it or not, it can hold many ideas at once (gasp!).

That's it exactly. It's a movie that pokes fun at the extremes of both sides, and ends up bringing them together by the end of the film.
I loved that!

The film both celebrates pro-female empowerment AND mercilessly mocks “woke” culture, embodied in the film by Sasha.

Sasha was a very important character and part of that journey the movie takes us on. Brilliantly done, really.

It also playfully skewers men’s macho, still caveman like social skills (the Robert Evans line is genius) while allowing two dozen, let’s just say “fashionable”, six pack abs dancers do big production numbers.

The various Kens were hysterical.

I kept watching some of them do their production numbers and thought "Uh huh, I know what you're doing".

Can you imagine their confusion coming out of Blazing Saddles in 1974?

I would love to go to an Ivy League college and make the entire Sophomore class watch Blazing Saddles. The heads that would explode in confusion, and then the mass protest that would follow??? Deliciously hilarious, and I wish I could do that.

Great... now as I tidy up the house for the weekend I will be humming "The French Mistake" all afternoon...

 

[Disney Irish]

I mentioned Ben Shapiro here a week or so ago. I heard his anti-Barbie monologue on the radio and think he's totally wrong. He doesn't get it at all, way off base on that one.

I agree with Ben Shapiro about 80% of the time when it comes to policy issues, but on this social issue he is way off base. And he obviously doesn't have a very good sense of humor or good taste in movies.

You asked the question what makes Barbie woke since you seem to think its mainly some left wing talking point. And I'm telling you where you really need to be directing that question, ie its not the posters here. He is your contemporary and whether you agree with him or not on this issue he is one of the mouth pieces for the same ideologies that you claim to follow.

So that is whom you need to ask on why they feel this movie is woke, and honestly set them straight if you don't feel the same way.

 

[Disney Irish]

I’ve seen it, and I agree with @Casper Gutman entirely.

I have as well, even posted about it here, and I also agree.

 

[TP2000]

Box office data is out for Thursday, August 4th with the previews for Meg 2 and first full day of Ninja Turtles.

This looks like it's where the weekend will end up, with Haunted Mansion coming in a rather distant 4th place.

A reminder, that Disney spent $157 Million on the production budget, and perhaps another $75 Million on the marketing for Haunted Mansion. Which would mean it needs at least $450 Million globally to break even.

The Numbers - Daily Box Office Chart for Sunday December 22, 2024

Daily Domestic Box Office Chart for Sunday December 22, 2024

www.the-numbers.com

 

[TP2000]

You asked the question what makes Barbie woke since you seem to think its mainly some left wing talking point. And I'm telling you where you really need to be directing that question, ie its not the posters here. He is your contemporary and whether you agree with him or not on this issue he is one of the mouth pieces for the same ideologies that you claim to follow.

So that is whom you need to ask on why they feel this movie is woke, and honestly set them straight if you don't feel the same way.

I'm not going to ask Ben Shapiro what movies I should like. He's a radio guy weighing in on politics, that's all he is.

Also, you realize Ben Shapiro is your contemporary too, right?

I disagree with him on his opinion of Barbie, and you disagree with him on Barbie, but he is both of our contemporaries.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I take it you haven't seen Barbie yet?

Sasha would be "woke" only if you got up and left the theater the moment her introductory scene in the Junior High cafeteria ended.

But Sasha has a character arc. It turns out she was just mouthing mindless talking points about America being a crushingly oppressive patriarchy (read that part again and then remember it is 2023 and not 1903), and through the second and third acts of the movie she comes to realize her mother is fabulous and that Barbie is fun and that the world is a better place for having women like them in it.

Sasha also ditches the black wardrobe along with her black heart thoughts and starts smiling, wears pink, and becomes a nice person.

And America Ferrera’s speech?

You’re trying SO HARD but your contortions are very silly. Almost the entire discussion around the film, right and left, industrial and mainstream, has taken into account the film’s progressive feminism. More anecdotes about your close circle of constantly confused companions isn’t going to change that.

Please, explain in detail why Mermaid and Lightyear and all the other Disney films you’ve been attacking for months are “woke.”

 

[Casper Gutman]

It’s why the film is resonating all around the world (and why Disney films are struggling so badly) as it can balance having positive messages, life lessons, etc. while still (God forbid) not taking themselves seriously and being able to have fun and laugh.

What’s even more fun is watching those who live in a hyper-restrictive political/social camp trying to “own” the movie.

Believe it or not, it can hold many ideas at once (gasp!).

The film both celebrates pro-female empowerment AND mercilessly mocks “woke” culture, embodied in the film by Sasha.

It also playfully skewers men’s macho, still caveman like social skills (the Robert Evans line is genius) while allowing two dozen, let’s just say “fashionable”, six pack abs dancers do big production numbers.

Can you imagine their confusion coming out of Blazing Saddles in 1974?

Yeah, it’s not like it had a minor LGBTQ character or anything.

 

[Disney Irish]

I'm not going to ask Ben Shapiro what movies I should like. He's a radio guy weighing in on politics, that's all he is.

Well then you'll not get the answers to your questions, as that is the exact battlefield where this "woke" culture war is being spewed from, and Shapiro is one of its generals.

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

HM will probably surpass Indy as biggest Disney bomb of the year

 

[TP2000]

And America Ferrera’s speech?

Loved it. Thought provoking. It made me think of my mom and all she did for me and my sister, and I got a bit teary eyed in my seat.

You’re trying SO HARD but your contortions are very silly.

I'm not trying hard at all to do anything. I'm telling you why I liked a silly summer Barbie movie.

You seem to be disappointed that I loved it, that most Americans loved it, and that it poked fun at the extremes on both sides of the issue. From dour and humorless wokester Sasha becoming a lovely and supportive young lady who even started to smile, to Ken turning the Dream House into his Mojo Dojo Casa House (which is a term I am committed to using more). It was all a wonderful journey that was surprisingly thought provoking amidst all the fun and laughs.

 

[Chi84]

I really should follow your lead but am too much of a glutton for punishment to do the sensible thing sometimes!

Well there are fewer and fewer of you every day. Good luck to you.

 

[TP2000]

HM will probably surpass Indy as biggest Disney bomb of the year

From a statistical perspective on costs vs. profit, yes it likely will.

But in a pure dollars perspective, Haunted Mansion won't be able to match the sheer dollar amount that Indy 5 will have lost, because Haunted Mansion had a budget only half that of Indy (but still wildly out of control and bloated for the movie it was).

Indy 5: $300 Production, $100 Marketing, Global Box Office $358, Box Office Take $177 = $233 Million Loss

Haunted Mansion: $157 Production, $75 Marketing, Global Box Office $42, Box Office Take $24 = $232 Million Loss

So Haunted Mansion has already done better less bad than Indy 5 financially. And Haunted Mansion will probably shave another $25 or $30 Million off its loss tally by the end of September.

But that just means Haunted Mansion will have "only" lost $200 Million or so for Disney, versus the $230-ish Million loss that Indy will have racked up by September.