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

[celluloid]

Just 5 more years of flops til we get into the next “good movie” decade from Disney.

They really need to figure out how to end this cycle, 10 years of hits followed by 10 years of duds is a horrible business plan… yet it’s been that way with Disney for as long as I can remember.

Especially for a company that just stated all of their attractions for theme parks will be utilizing their hit movies. They will actually need to keep making them.
And next Summer's Snow White remake costing much more than it should have, which was already inflated as well as Inside Out 2, a sequel a decade later for their summer releases are not exactly going to win them much.
Deadpool 3 was not even mentioned on the earning's call so that will be Christmas time or 2025 at this point.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Just 5 more years of flops til we get into the next “good movie” decade from Disney.

They really need to figure out how to end this cycle, 10 years of hits followed by 10 years of duds is a horrible business plan… yet it’s been that way with Disney for as long as I can remember.

This does remind me in ALOT of ways to the 1999-2003 kinda suck era

…it’s just so ramped up now. Stakes are hirer

Then it was really bad animated moves and family comedies…
Now it’s major expensive movies with big brand names across multiple
Large haphazardly run studios.

Is that “better”? Honest question.

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

FWIW, I bet Indy does do as good or better than any Disney film this year when it comes to digital and disc sales

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

FWIW, I bet Indy does do as good or better than any Disney film this year when it comes to digital and disc sales

I doubt it

And disc sales aren’t much of a “thing” anymore…down 20% each year and growing

 

[Phroobar]

If Inside Out 2 is set ten years after the first one that would make Ryley 22. That means she finished college and is working her first career job. Where does that lead us? What is Ryley's dating life like?

 

[celluloid]

FWIW, I bet Indy does do as good or better than any Disney film this year when it comes to digital and disc sales

We will see. I doubt it does as well as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. The rest is a safe bet as all movies failed about equally to terrible.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yikes

Indy made about as much as Raiders and not that close to as much as Last Crusade

 

[MisterPenguin]

Disneys movie division is a train wreck right now,

Live-action Disney Studios has always been a trainwreck for decades. Most films lose money in the theatrical window, with a few big successes that make their overall average: Zero. As in no net gain or loss.

Luckily, the post-theatrical window kept the studio afloat.

But then again, most big studios doing live-action have the same success (or lack thereof) rate.

That the overwhelming majority of Pixar, LucasFilm, Marvel, and Disney animation made theatrical Box Office success film after film in the past 2 decades (with a few exceptions) is the outlier.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Live-action Disney Studios has always been a trainwreck for decades. Most films lose money in the theatrical window, with a few big successes that make their overall average: Zero. As in no net gain or loss.

Luckily, the post-theatrical window kept the studio afloat.

But then again, most big studios doing live-action have the same success (or lack thereof) rate.

That the overwhelming majority of Pixar, LucasFilm, Marvel, and Disney animation made theatrical Box Office success film after film in the past 2 decades (with a few exceptions) is the outlier.

Flops lose money

Not $200 mil + tentpoles/sequels

Nice try…makes sure you “lift with your legs” when you carry bob’s goalposts

 

[Phroobar]

We will see. I doubt it does as well as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. The rest is a safe bet as all movies failed about equally to terrible.

I have all of the Indiana Jones movies but I don't intend to buy Dial of Destiny in any format. I don't consider it a true Indiana Jones movie.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I think you are correct, and that's a big part of what's at play here. And with Disney, its doubly painful because they used to have a few brands that automatically got a paying audience whenever they released anything; like Marvel or Pixar or Walt Disney Animation. It was like shooting fish in a barrel for Disney for years.

But now, you have to really wow the audience to earn their money and business.

We've been talking about this a bit over in the Strike thread. There's now endless amounts of top notch 4K free content on YouTube and free streaming services that are aimed at highly niche audience segments. To get me to turn in to a scripted TV show, it needs to be REALLY good, or else I'm just going to watch my YouTube documentaries about Winston Churchill or Japanese Onsens or old Julia Child episodes.

The last TV series that I purposely sought out was Schitt's Creek. And that wasn't even a network, it was something called "Pop" that was using the content created by the CBC. But I fell in love with it the moment I saw the first episode (a symptom of the lifelong Catherine O'Hara syndrome I suffer from), and never missed a week.

If you want my business now, you really have to WOW me. I no longer settle for mediocre TV or movies.

I agree, and think it’s a bit of a paradigm shift from the days of “the family movie”, where Disney excelled for years. Entertainment has become so hyper-personalized these last few years. No more movies with a few jokes for mom and dad and a few action sequences for the kids. I can see how appealing “somewhat but not completely” to the broadest possible audience makes intuitive sense, but it doesn’t seem to be enough to make people pull the trigger on actually buying a ticket these days (it reminds me of being at a clothing store and seeing things that are “just ok”, and feeling like they aren’t worth the hassle of waiting in line at the register. The standards for brick and mortar businesses have gone up recently, I think.)

 

[LittleBuford]

I have all of the Indiana Jones movies but I don't intend to buy Dial of Destiny in any format. I don't consider it a true Indiana Jones movie.

Why don’t you consider it a true Indiana Jones movie?

 

[Disney Analyst]

I am still convinced that Haunted Mansion is a Disney+ film they decided to give a theatrical window to, to start some cash flow, before they release in time for Halloween season. Disney had to know it would flop based on the release timing in theatres...

 

[DisneyDigest]

I have all of the Indiana Jones movies but I don't intend to buy Dial of Destiny in any format. I don't consider it a true Indiana Jones movie.

Lol, just the opening prologue of Indy 5 blows everything out of Crystal Skull from the water.

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

I am still convinced that Haunted Mansion is a Disney+ film they decided to give a theatrical window to, to start some cash flow, before they release in time for Halloween season. Disney had to know it would flop based on the release timing in theatres...

Yeah. It's hard for me to even consider this flop since it did just as poorly as expected. If anything, it met the very low expectations

 

[KeithVH]

If Inside Out 2 is set ten years after the first one that would make Ryley 22. That means she finished college and is working her first career job. Where does that lead us? What is Ryley's dating life like?

That means she finished college

OK, $200+K in student loans and a gender studies degree . . .

working her first career job

"You want fries with that?"

What is Ryley's dating life like?

I was going to comment on this but figured I would be banned no matter what I might write . . .

 

[Ghost93]

I think you are correct, and that's a big part of what's at play here. And with Disney, its doubly painful because they used to have a few brands that automatically got a paying audience whenever they released anything; like Marvel or Pixar or Walt Disney Animation. It was like shooting fish in a barrel for Disney for years.

I do think there is a bit of revisionist history when it comes to the past success of Walt Disney Animation Studios.

Pinocchio, Fantasia, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, The Black Cauldron, The Rescuers Down Under, Fantasia 2000, The Emperor's New Groove, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Home on the Range, The Princess and the Frog and Winnie the Pooh were all either financial disappointments or flops. Half of these movies have gone on to become classics and about half have been forgotten by time.

Onward, Raya and Encanto were victims of COVID and Disney Plus. I'd say only Strange World and Lightyear have been the only official animated bombs in recent years.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I have all of the Indiana Jones movies but I don't intend to buy Dial of Destiny in any format. I don't consider it a true Indiana Jones movie.

…ironic considering it was the only one made completely “in-house” by LFL without a director/distribution partner…

 

[TP2000]

I am still convinced that Haunted Mansion is a Disney+ film they decided to give a theatrical window to, to start some cash flow, before they release in time for Halloween season. Disney had to know it would flop based on the release timing in theatres...

It certainly feels like something they should have sent to Disney+. But they didn't budget it for Disney+ (at $157 Million and several big name stars). Also, a scan of Google News archives from 2020 to 2022 turns up plenty of articles from the big Hollywood media (Variety, etc.) that all mention as far back as 2020 this was headed for a traditional theatrical release, and not just dumped on Disney+ for "free". Disney+ was never mentioned in any of the old articles, in fact.

I think in hindsight, they should have downgraded this into a $40 Million budget Disney+ offering.

Or in better hindsight, just make it a much better received movie than it was so they wouldn't lose $160 Million on it.

Or in snarkier hindsight, maybe just not do it at all.

 

[Jedijax719]

I am still convinced that Haunted Mansion is a Disney+ film they decided to give a theatrical window to, to start some cash flow, before they release in time for Halloween season. Disney had to know it would flop based on the release timing in theatres...

This is kinda what I am guessing. Give it exposure so that when it does come to D+, people will have at least heard of it and want to watch it, rather than having never heard of it before Halloween release.