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

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Was mermaid terrible? Not sure, haven't watched it yet. But it obviously wasn't what most wanted from Disney. There hasn't been much output that has warranted a lot of praise from Disney in the the last year. So if something good is released, there's a solid chance people might take a pass on it. At this point, they need to gain back the audience's confidence. That might mean we see a few more box office underperformers before people come back. I'm not saying everything was terrible, but there was a lot of, meh, take it or leave it. It's like @Sirwalterraleigh said, there's some unnecessary hate, but that's not enough to effect the box office the way that it went.

Good movies have more draw and staying power…and power though the “hate critics”

It’s as simple as that.

Some get a bump simply because of their Street cred…avatar 2 and the first of the awful Disney Star Wars qualify for that…
…but you have to have that cred and stinkers kill it

 

[Disstevefan1]

I read this a lot here but I don’t think it’s true.

I think ROI very much matters to Disney, the movie side of the company typically makes hundreds of millions, occasionally billions, every year. 2023 is the exception, not the norm.

Disney has had some bad movie streaks in the past also but they didn’t just continue along the same path because money didn’t matter, they changed course and found the next renaissance era.

Continual losses are what lead to executives getting fired, that reason alone will make them care about ROI.

Typically a movie company does care about ROI and the movie budgets are a constant battle, but from the outside looking in, it appears Disney doesn’t care lately, it appears Disney has no control of the budgets of their movies and simply spend too much to make their movies.

We have seen historically it’s not needed to overspend on a movie for it to be a great movie.

 

[TP2000]

Happy Standard Time, gang! Did you remember to set the clock back on your microwave (about the only thing left that doesn't do that automatically now)???

Box office data is in for this weekend, and there are no surprises. While The Creator is now down in 13th place, it just crossed the $40 Million threshold domestically. Although all told, The Creator has lost $70 Million for Disney so far.

Now we just wait for next Friday and The Marvels to make a huge debut at the box office.

 

[Chi84]

Typically a movie company does care about ROI and the movie budgets are a constant battle, but from the outside looking in, it appears Disney doesn’t care lately, it appears Disney has no control of the budgets of their movies and simply spend too much to make their movies.

We have seen historically it’s not needed to overspend on a movie for it to be a great movie.

That’s true but Disney deals in fantasy type movies. I think you do have to overspend on those to make them great.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Typically a movie company does care about ROI and the movie budgets are a constant battle, but from the outside looking in, it appears Disney doesn’t care lately, it appears Disney has no control of the budgets of their movies and simply spend too much to make their movies.

We have seen historically it’s not needed to overspend on a movie for it to be a great movie.

I think Disney mistakenly thought they were invincible, they had a string of billion dollar movies so they mistakenly thought they could just throw anything on the screen and make a fortune.

The Endgame movies made Marvel look like a sure thing and I think the belief was all Marvel movies would now make a billion, they ignored that those movies did so well because they were the culmination of a decade long build up and just thought it was the new norm.

The same is true of the remakes, a couple made a billion so they thought that was the new norm, they thought they could spend hundreds of millions making a movie because whatever they threw on the screen would make a billion, so confident they even made controversial decisions they knew would hurt the box office (but seriously underestimated imho).

Star Wars likely also contributed to this belief because the last few movies were largely unpopular yet they still made bank.

I think Disney genuinely expected all the duds they put out this year to make hundreds of million, if not billions, in profit. They didn’t altruistically put out movies they knew would lose money, they put out what they thought would be blockbusters, they just massively misread their audience.

 

[Jedijax719]

The Marvels will tank. People hated Secret Invasion so Nick Fury will have no impact. Nobody cares about Kamala Kahn and people have forgotten who Monica Rambeau is. And Captain Marvel was only held up by the Infinity saga. There's no build up or anticipation for this movie.

Wish should do well as a holiday movie that might spark some Frozen or Encanto type feeling.

Then we're in for a movie desert. The strike has put everything on ice so everything that had been made will be delayed and everything that studios hoped to make will have to wait a long time for production to start.

 

[TP2000]

I think Disney genuinely expected all the duds they put out this year to make hundreds of million, if not billions, in profit. They didn’t altruistically put out movies they knew would lose money, they put out what they thought would be blockbusters, they just massively misread their audience.

That's it exactly! Thank you for our succinct description of what many of us here feel.

Every studio has a dud or a big flop now and then. But thus far Disney has had nine (9!) lavishly budgeted movies in a row fail to make any profit at the box office. Disney's current loss for 2023 box office now stands at roughly $800 Million.

Next up this week.... The Marvels with a $225 Million budget (after its $50 Million subsidy from the British taxpayers)!!!

The Marvels Ticket Sales Are Lower Than Two Of DC's Biggest Box Office Bombs

The movie is also projected lower than Ant-Man 3.

screenrant.com

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The Marvels will tank. People hated Secret Invasion so Nick Fury will have no impact. Nobody cares about Kamala Kahn and people have forgotten who Monica Rambeau is. And Captain Marvel was only held up by the Infinity saga. There's no build up or anticipation for this movie.

Wish should do well as a holiday movie that might spark some Frozen or Encanto type feeling.

Then we're in for a movie desert. The strike has put everything on ice so everything that had been made will be delayed and everything that studios hoped to make will have to wait a long time for production to start.

…yeah…bad to worse.

 

[ABQ]

I think Disney mistakenly thought they were invincible,........ they just massively misread their audience.

Not saying the rest of your post is meaningless, but in my opinions, the start and the finish cover the root issue. However, I'll add that they no only misread their audience, but that the took a giant poop upon a very large portion of their audience and continue to be dealing with irritable bowel syndrome.

 

[TP2000]

Adjusted for inflation, it will be the lowest domestic Marvel opening in history and will equally bomb internationally.

We will apparently just wait another couple of weeks to be collectively “surprised” like on the past several bombs and just to have to leave the obvious “why” as an unsolved mystery that cannot be discussed on this board.

I will know exactly who to blame if The Marvels does not break even at the box office: the vast Marvel fan base made up of teenage girls and young women who apparently did not want to support inclusive stories of female empowerment.

That demographic of young American females has already shown they will excitedly show up to theaters in huge numbers, in themed outfits no less, to see Barbie ($162 Million opening weekend) and Taylor Swift ($98 Million opening weekend).

If The Marvels flops at the box office, it will be the young women of America's fault, and no one else's. It needs a $100 Million opening weekend, to start things off with a bang.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Not saying the rest of your post is meaningless, but in my opinions, the start and the finish cover the root issue. However, I'll add that they no only misread their audience, but that the took a giant poop upon a very large portion of their audience and continue to be dealing with irritable bowel syndrome.

This is part of the whole “construct” of where TWDC is is…

And I know not everyone wants to dive into the deep rough…keep things “topical”…

But the big picture is the thing now.

And yes…they really haven’t hidden that they’re banking on “irresistible”

If the plan is “bulletproof”…then that’s not the greatest plan.

We are seeing the backlash across the board. We are seeing it mostly in movies…but also in parks…

This isn’t a “normal cycle” pattern. Disney does not dip in “good money times”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I will know exactly who to blame if The Marvels does not break even at the box office: the vast Marvel fan base made up of teenage girls and young women who apparently did not want to support inclusive stories of female empowerment.

That demographic of young American females has already shown they will excitedly show up to theaters in huge numbers, in themed outfits even, to see Barbie ($162 Million opening weekend) and Taylor Swift ($98 Million opening weekend).

If The Marvels flops at the box office, it will be the young women of America's fault, and no one else's. It needs a $100 Million opening weekend, to start things off with a bang.

…you wild boy

 

[Chi84]

I think Disney genuinely expected all the duds they put out this year to make hundreds of million, if not billions, in profit. They didn’t altruistically put out movies they knew would lose money, they put out what they thought would be blockbusters, they just massively misread their audience.

They much be a bunch of idiots to be so far off in their expectations. Do you think they are trying with all their might to pander to their audience but they just don't know who they should be pandering to?

 

[drod1985]

I think Disney mistakenly thought they were invincible, they had a string of billion dollar movies so they mistakenly thought they could just throw anything on the screen and make a fortune.

The Endgame movies made Marvel look like a sure thing and I think the belief was all Marvel movies would now make a billion, they ignored that those movies did so well because they were the culmination of a decade long build up and just thought it was the new norm.

The same is true of the remakes, a couple made a billion so they thought that was the new norm, they thought they could spend hundreds of millions making a movie because whatever they threw on the screen would make a billion, so confident they even made controversial decisions they knew would hurt the box office (but seriously underestimated imho).

Star Wars likely also contributed to this belief because the last few movies were largely unpopular yet they still made bank.

I think Disney genuinely expected all the duds they put out this year to make hundreds of million, if not billions, in profit. They didn’t altruistically put out movies they knew would lose money, they put out what they thought would be blockbusters, they just massively misread their audience.

I agree with basically everything you've said.

At least with Star Wars they reacted quickly and put a halt on everything film related at the first sign of issue with the direction they were going down.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Was mermaid terrible? Not sure, haven't watched it yet. But it obviously wasn't what most wanted from Disney.

"Haven’t watched it" - tell me why I should finish reading that post - is anything new?

“Wasn’t what most wanted from Disney” is both inaccurate and irrelevant to my points.

If churning out bad movies because the premise gets people in the seats for the first weekend is a business model of value to society, I don’t know what to tell you.

 

[Jedijax719]

I will know exactly who to blame if The Marvels does not break even at the box office: the vast Marvel fan base made up of teenage girls and young women who apparently did not want to support inclusive stories of female empowerment.

That demographic of young American females has already shown they will excitedly show up to theaters in huge numbers, in themed outfits no less, to see Barbie ($162 Million opening weekend) and Taylor Swift ($98 Million opening weekend).

If The Marvels flops at the box office, it will be the young women of America's fault, and no one else's. It needs a $100 Million opening weekend, to start things off with a bang.

The fact that Marvels features a trio of women with a female villain isn't enough to draw in female viewers. It's just that nobody cares anymore. Barbie and Swift have a HUGE following and that's that.

Now, if someone would just get on the ball and make a live-action Zelda movie (which could draw in BOTH males and females) then we can talk.

 

[Tha Realest]

Haven’t watched it - tell me why I should finish reading that post - is anything new?

“Wasn’t what most wanted from Disney” is both inaccurate and irrelevant to my points.

If churning out bad movies because the premise gets people in the seats for the first weekend is a business model of value to society, I don’t know what to tell you.

Weren’t you the guy lambasting entire countries and ethnicities as racist for not supporting The Little Mermaid in theaters, only to admit you yourself waited until it was on D+ to watch it? Maybe take a seat on this.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They much be a bunch of idiots to be so far off in their expectations. Do you think they are trying with all their might to pander to their audience but they just don't know who they should be pandering to?

I think they are trying to push too hard on “recentering their audience”.

Which doesn’t mean they shouldn’t do it…

But changes - even semi obvious ones - take time.

You can’t DEI near almost your entire movie slate for a year.

It sucks that that’s the truth…but I’ll gladly take the “how dare you?” Responses

The more they have gone away from the archetypes…the more they are getting bad results.

So they can stay the course…but the money may look bad for a considerable time longer?

Or revert and look worse.

You simply cannot handle delicate things badly…and I think they misread how delicate this situation is.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Weren’t you the guy lambasting entire countries and ethnicities as racist for not supporting The Little Mermaid in theaters, only to admit you yourself waited until it was on D+ to watch it? Maybe take a seat on this.

Someone definitely did…

That may not have been him?
But it happened and we’re not gonna ignore “inconvenient history”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Happy Standard Time, gang! Did you remember to set the clock back on your microwave (about the only thing left that doesn't do that automatically now)???

Box office data is in for this weekend, and there are no surprises. While The Creator is now down in 13th place, it just crossed the $40 Million threshold domestically. Although all told, The Creator has lost $70 Million for Disney so far.

Now we just wait for next Friday and The Marvels to make a huge debut at the box office.

View attachment 752719

That’s a pretty impressive haul for a 29 year old movie