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

Disney Irish

Disney Irish

Premium Member
TP2000 said:
I don't have a YouTube video channel to rant on, nor do I want one. That's why I'm here. šŸ¤£

Is this not an accurate summary of the film? Did @Ghost93 unwittingly misrepresent the plot here?
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Its an allegory on the realities of xenophobia that is happening in a lot of the world right now. It could even be seen having its parallels and being influenced by Vietnam movies like Apocalypse Now.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Ghost93 said:
He was quoting something I said. I don't think the movie is "woke" but I do think the movie being pro-A.I. on the surface will rub some people the wrong way.
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For the record, I didn't read anything that seemed "woke" in what you wrote about the movie. I don't know where that part came from on Mr. Penguin's part, to be honest.

I appreciated your review and your insight. And I would agree with you; if The Creator is portraying A.I. as the sympathetic "good guy", and portraying the humans trying to eradicate A.I. as the bigoted "bad guys", then yes, this is definitely not the time to release that movie. It seems to be going directly opposite of the cultural zeitgeist right now.

As you said, this movie is probably 5 years too late.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
As for cultural zeitgeist, I think it is telling that as a casual observer who only saw a commercial for this movie on an airplane last week, I just assumed that the A.I. component in the film was the "bad guy" and that the humans fighting A.I. were the "good guys". With the movie twist being that the A.I. bad guy was in the form of a seemingly innocent young child.

If the plot is actually an inverse of that, there's a problem with that plot in 2023. And it may be why they framed the movie commercials they way they did, knowing that A.I. is not a sympathetic character to most 2023 audiences.

This film will now be really interesting to see how it develops at the box office after its already disappointing debut weekend. What will word of mouth be like about a movie making A.I. a sympathetic figure?
 
KeithVH

KeithVH

Well-Known Member
I, for one, do NOT welcome our new robot overlords . . .

I already see the bleedover into using anthropomorphic terms and equating robots with humans, even here. As Wiki states, the "girl" is the weapon. Surprise - it's not a girl, it's a freakin' mechanical device (unless they're claiming it's a cyborg). And only as good as it's programming/ML algorithms. So much of this has already been hashed over by people far more competent than me and the handwriting is on the wall - it will either be us or them at some point. If some moviemaker wants to gloss that over with a typical Disney ending, what good is it?
 
LittleBuford

LittleBuford

Well-Known Member
KeithVH said:
I, for one, do NOT welcome our new robot overlords . . .

I already see the bleedover into using anthropomorphic terms and equating robots with humans, even here. As Wiki states, the "girl" is the weapon. Surprise - it's not a girl, it's a freakin' mechanical device (unless they're claiming it's a cyborg). And only as good as its programming/ML algorithms. So much of this has already been hashed over by people far more competent than me and the handwriting is on the wall - it will either be us or them at some point. If some moviemaker wants to gloss that over with a typical Disney ending, what good is it?
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While I donā€™t share your concern that ā€œit will either be us or them at some pointā€, I donā€™t think anyone is on the robotsā€™ side!
 
KeithVH

KeithVH

Well-Known Member
I will admit I still have hopes for Creator but we already did two movies this week so need to wait for the next check. One I did see was Haunting and I really liked it. I thought it was super entertaining. Pffffft on the critics.

As for AI-type movies, I still hold out hope for a Bolo movie but ain't holding my breath.
 
D

DisneyHead123

Well-Known Member
My preschooler lasted through an hour of the Paw Patrol movie before his candy and popcorn were finished and he got too squirmy to stay. He loves Paw Patrol but not the idea of sitting in one place for 90 minutes while viewing it. I knew this but I am no doubt the target audience who wanted a special movie ā€œoutingā€ with the kiddo vs. endless viewing in the living room with our Noggin subscription (Although at 7.99 a month we could have paid for half a year of Noggin for what 3 theater tickets cost. Add concessions and... wow movies are expensive these days.)

There was a meta joke in the movie that bordered on being a bit shameless, lol. A meteor knocks down the Paw Patrol headquarters, and a reporter notes that the pups will need a new headquarters and new vehicles. He then does an aside to parents where he acknowledges that these will be made into new toys and apologizes. It kinda highlights the current movie landscape as a driver for merch sales, at least for childrenā€™s movies (and I suspect increasingly for adult movies as well, moving forward.) According to Variety, Paw Patrol has made 14 billion in retail since 2014, and the movie will no doubt add to that. I notice that in the absence of toy stores, space on the shelves for IP merchandise is often limited. Staples like Hotwheels and Barbie get a permanent aisle but other brand names - Paw Patrol, Thomas, Ryanā€™s World, Blippi, etc. - seem to be stocked or vanish depending on how much momentum and new stuff they have at any given moment.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Box office numbers are in for this weekend. The Creator underperformed at the box office, and failed to reach its $20 Million goal that Disney had for it, and also failed to meet its industry estimate late last week that it would debut to $16 to $19 Million at the domestic box office. The Creator ended up with $14 Million at the domestic box office this weekend.

On its current box office trajectory, with its $80 Million budget, The Creator looks to lose at least $50 Million for Disney.

A Haunting In Venice is now down in 6th place. Currently, A Haunting In Venice is in the red by $48 Million. That will obviously decrease some in the next few weeks, before it leaves theaters. But it's already being pulled from hundreds of theaters in the USA and nearly flatlining at the box office. It looks like it will be at least a $25 Million loss for Disney.

Venice: Production Budget $60, Marketing $30, Current Global Box Office Take $42 = $48 Million Loss Currently

Weekend Update - Jane, You Ignorant Sl......jpg


screenrant.com

The Creator Seriously Underperforms At Domestic Box Office, Opens To Fraction Of Budget

The Creator is disappointing at the box office.
screenrant.com screenrant.com

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Box Office: ā€˜Paw Patrolā€™ Sequel Scares Off ā€˜Saw Xā€™ and ā€˜The Creatorā€™ With $23M Opening

The movie is a win for both Paramount and the family marketplace.
www.hollywoodreporter.com www.hollywoodreporter.com
 
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TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
Creatorā€™s visuals are great, but the third act completely falls apart. What had been hackneyed became grating and forgettable. And did the studio think general audiences want to see AI robots celebrating their victory over humanity?
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
TalkingHead said:
And did the studio think general audiences want to see AI robots celebrating their victory over humanity?
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That's a baffling decision, I agree. I wonder how long The Creator has been in development? Was it maybe delayed by Covid and should have come out in 2021?

Even just a few years ago the concept of A.I. being a sympathetic figure would have been more palatable.

But now, in late 2023? Yikes. Talk about missing the boat.

It's almost like the difference between visiting the German pavilion during the opening of the New York World's Fair in April, 1939... versus visiting the German pavilion during the World's Fair closing weeks in October, 1940.

Spring '39, sure let's go see what the creepy Germans brought to the Fair! By October '40, you couldn't pay me to go in there.

Things can change very fast culturally and socially. The Creator seems to have missed its window by at least two years.
 
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TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
The final exact tally for the weekend box office is now in. It forever fascinates me how they can predict by Sunday morning what the final tally through Sunday night will be for the box office, give or take only $100,000 or so.

How do they do that I wonder?! šŸ¤”

The Creator came in at $14,079,512. While A Haunting In Venice is now at $31,440,955 total domestically.

Final Tally.jpg
 
Ghost93

Ghost93

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
That's a baffling decision, I agree. I wonder how long The Creator has been in development? Was it maybe delayed by Covid and should have come out in 2021?
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Development began in 2019, but filming didn't begin until January of 2022. There were some concerns about A.I. at the time, but not the full-blown panic and strikes that we are seeing in late 2023.
 
BuddyThomas

BuddyThomas

Well-Known Member
Chi84 said:
It is. And when itā€™s the same poster doing it over and over again, the solution is to ignore rather than engage.

It seems more people are doing this now - which is probably why certain posters get so few ā€œreactionsā€ and end up talking to themselves or a few others like them.
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At this point, I think I have all or at least most of them on ignore, and itā€™s fantastic.
 

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