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

[Disney Irish]

To get what point across? That Disney has no one to blame but themselves for sub par movies/content in terms of SW?

If so I agree.

Just for clarification sake, I don't think anyone is saying that Disney is blameless in the current state of the Star Wars franchise right now. Sub par content as you said is to blame for much of that state.

That however doesn't mean that there isn't "noise" that also helping in keeping that state the way it is, ie no matter how "good" something is there will take time to breakthrough the "noise". Its going to take a bunch of "good" content over a long period of time to counteract that "noise", it was never going to be just a single movie.

 

[TP2000]

I think by the time they actually pick who to play Bond and make the movie, people won't care as much...and will complain that the person they picked was the wrong choice

This is probably another franchise that's past its prime

There's a rumor that the next James Bond will be cast as a woman, for shock value. If so, the franchise will implode on itself and never be able to be resuscitated.

Like if they cast Leo DiCaprio to portray Auntie Mame. Or got Sydney Sweeney to portray Ken in the next Barbie spinoff.

I enjoyed the early James Bond movies of the 60's and 70's, until Moonraker. I haven't seen the newer ones. But if James Bond is suddenly a woman, the whole thing collapses in on itself.

 

[Disney Irish]

There's a rumor that the next James Bond will be cast as a woman, for shock value. If so, the franchise will implode on itself and never be able to be resuscitated.

Like if they cast Leo DiCaprio to portray Auntie Mame. Or got Sydney Sweeney to portray Ken in the next Barbie spinoff.

I enjoyed the early James Bond movies of the 60's and 70's, until Moonraker. I haven't seen the newer ones. But if James Bond is suddenly a woman, the whole thing collapses in on itself.

That was never a real rumor, it was debunked as an April fools joke.

 

[Tha Realest]

The latest rumor is Callum Turner is a heavy favorite. I’ve never seen his work but the guy that just wife’d up Dua Lipa certainly checks the “men want to be him, women want to be with him” box.

 

[parksandtravel]

 

[Willmark]

Just for clarification sake, I don't think anyone is saying that Disney is blameless in the current state of the Star Wars franchise right now. Sub par content as you said is to blame for much of that state.

That however doesn't mean that there isn't "noise" that also helping in keeping that state the way it is, ie no matter how "good" something is there will take time to breakthrough the "noise". Its going to take a bunch of "good" content over a long period of time to counteract that "noise", it was never going to be just a single movie.

I don’t think I’ve ever said there is no noise, as that’s not my contention. I mean possibly but I’ve largely held the same stance since TLJ.

My point is the amount of weight that is given to “noise.” That likely isn’t as big as people give it credit for.

Because if it is? Then again Disney with all their billions can’t counteract that message?

That again brings us back to Disney’s content or possibility Disney’s messaging; maybe both.

 

[Disney Irish]

I don’t think I’ve ever said there is no noise, as that’s not my contention. I mean possibly but I’ve largely held the same stance since TLJ.

My point is the amount of weight that is given to “noise.” That likely isn’t as big as people give it credit for.

Because if it is? Then again Disney with all their billions can’t counteract that message?

That again brings us back to Disney’s content or possibility Disney’s messaging; maybe both.

People have to stop discounting the "noise" based on size. Any "noise" no matter how small can be amplified once it hits social media. The world lives in 30 second chunks now, it doesn't take much to fill up an entire social media platform with thousands of them that are playing continuously, especially when AI is involved like it is these days. And there is only so much Disney can do to counteract that with a social media campaign of their own, and they can't use AI in the same way, because imagine the backlash that would bring.

As I mentioned it's going to take a bunch of "good" content over a long period before the cycle changes. It was never going to change with just a single movie. Mando is a good start in my opinion. Its not groundbreaking, but even the consensus here is that its a good entertaining time overall. We'll see how Starfighter is next year, that should be a better barometer of where things are as that will be the first "new" SW in a long time. And if that is good, and they can follow that up with another, that will change the conversation.

 

[Ghost93]

I enjoyed Masters of the Universe, although I know NOTHING about the 80s cartoon it's based on. Skeletor was the best part, he was hilarious.

I do think the movie would have done way better if it came out like a decade ago. A lot of the humor reminds me very much of Thor Ragnarok, and I just feel that style of movie and cashing in on 80s nostalgia was more popular in the 2010s compared to today.

I think it's going to flop at the box office, but will likely have stronger word of mouth than Mandalorian and Grogu. I think it will open to way less than Mando, but probably leg out more, and likely earn about the same amount of money.

Still, if I had to recommend movies for people to see in theaters right now I'd still recommend Obsession and Backrooms over MOTU. Those two films are simply more original and a bigger part of the zeitgeist right now.

 

[TalkingHead]

File this under “they’ve lost the film kids”:

 

[coffeefan]

File this under “they’ve lost the film kids”:

View attachment 924147

It's not just specific to SW. He's against working on franchises in general, and doesn't want to deal with complicated lore.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

It’s a fun romp, very cool vfx and puppetry and stuff, felt very old Star Wars, to me.

I feel the same way. I thought it was a fun movie with good pacing and some exciting action scenes.

I think, as so often is the case, a lot has to do with setting expectations.

That includes teaser trailers, trailers, interviews, commercials, etc.

IMO, they could have done a better job setting expectations that this was not really a continuation of the TV series.

That would benefit two ways: those of us who were big fans of the TV series would not be waiting for the next big reveal. Those who were not fans of the TV series would understand that this is a self-contained film. They did not have to watch the TV series 1st in order to get it, etc.

I’m also going to put forward the oft-deleted opinion that there is cultural backlash against Pedro Pascal. Nothing has hit for him since the first season of The Last Of Us, and he is much maligned in social media. ETA: also theoretical over-exposure.

 

[sedati]

As I mentioned it's going to take a bunch of "good" content over a long period before the cycle changes. It was never going to change with just a single movie. Mando is a good start in my opinion. Its not groundbreaking, but even the consensus here is that its a good entertaining time overall. We'll see how Starfighter is next year, that should be a better barometer of where things are as that will be the first "new" SW in a long time. And if that is good, and they can follow that up with another, that will change the conversation.

Again...
Good like Maul?
Andor?
Skeleton Crew?
Visions?
Bad Batch?

All of that (and a whole lot more IMHO) was backing up "Mandalorian and Grogu" recently and did nothing to change the algorithm- I mean, conversation.

 

[Disney Irish]

Again...
Good like Maul?
Andor?
Skeleton Crew?
Visions?
Bad Batch?

All of that (and a whole lot more IMHO) was backing up "Mandalorian and Grogu" recently and did nothing to change the algorithm- I mean, conversation.

The issue is that many don't see the D+ content as "good enough" for SW, its beneath SW to them for it to be on the "small screen", they want the spectacle of the "event" on the big screen. We see some of that sentiment even here. Not to mention that every time there was something that didn't land right like Acolyte, it just cements it even further into "Disney SW bad". Not saying they are right, just that it doesn't matter how much good content Disney creates for D+, it'll never be enough because it wasn't a movie for the big screen. And so until there is a string of "good" big screen content it won't be enough to counteract the "noise" because of the "stink" that many feels Disney brought to the franchise with the ST.

 

[coffeefan]

Again...
Good like Maul?
Andor?
Skeleton Crew?
Visions?
Bad Batch?

All of that (and a whole lot more IMHO) was backing up "Mandalorian and Grogu" recently and did nothing to change the algorithm- I mean, conversation.

Only the biggest fans watched all those shows tbh. The Mandalorian is also unique in that it was the most popular show on Disney+, so it's safe to say a lot of people only watched that one Star Wars show. So it was such a critical error when Disney flubbed the latest season.

 

[Tha Realest]

Again...
Good like Maul?
Andor?
Skeleton Crew?
Visions?
Bad Batch?

All of that (and a whole lot more IMHO) was backing up "Mandalorian and Grogu" recently and did nothing to change the algorithm- I mean, conversation.

It’s still very rare to see projects that started as a television show have reached escape velocity to become successful films. Transformers, Mission:Impossible, Sex and the City. Seriously. Its like theres a psychological hurdle for many audiences to follow something that originated on their TV screens to the multiplex. And while it’s rare for a conventional TV show to make that leap, it’s not clear that we’ve ever seen a “streaming” series make that leap.

I do wonder if Disney’s D+ emphasis not only conditioned some of their audience to “wait for streaming” for their films, but if they’ve also diminished franchises like Marvel and SW to be seen as more of a streaming rather than a theatrical franchise (given the volume of D+ content put out for both relative to theatrical releases over the last 6 years)

 

[TalkingHead]

It's not just specific to SW. He's against working on franchises in general, and doesn't want to deal with complicated lore.

I mean he’s in the sequel-making business, so that’s a franchise.

His generation is all about self-promotion and working for a 50-year IP franchise run by micromanagers isn’t their thing, generally speaking.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Universal should have done a 30th anniversary re-release of Twister in 4DX based on how well the sequel did in that format

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The Tomatometer has fallen to 67% (now that over 160 reviews have been counted), but having now seen the movie I get why most liked MotU.

I'm skeptical any positive word of mouth will save its box office, unfortunately. It's a crowded month of major releases and in 2 weeks it has to compete with another franchise about toys.

 

[Disstevefan1]

File this under “they’ve lost the film kids”:

View attachment 924147

If you are looking for a You Tuber to make a Star Wars movie pick any one of the super passionate Star Wars you tubers like Star Wars theory.

Any of these who have a true love and passion for Star Wars I know would do a better job and the public just knowing a Star Wars you tuber would be making the film would generate excitement much better than any ad spend!!

 

[coffeefan]

Took the teens in our family to see the final episode of Digital Circus. I didn't know what it was, but apparently it's a very popular indie YouTube show that later also started streaming on Netflix.
Anyway, I was surprised at how many mature themes it tackled. It’s pretty interesting how popular the show is with Gen Z and Gen Alpha, especially when you contrast it with Disney playing it so safe lately to avoid any controversy.