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

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DKampy

Well-Known Member
Wendy Pleakley said:
I wonder what Apple expected from that movie.

They seem to be focused on their streaming service.

Were they expecting the movie to turn a profit theatrically, or was it just for awards purposes? Is any theatrical revenue merely a bonus on top of what they get from subscriber income?

This could be part of that shift people are mentioning, where theatrical box office isn't the be all and end all.
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flynnibus said:
Unless Buddy and Tony are going to single handedly replace millions of customers... their current strategy isn't working either. So putting the current team on repeat isn't likely to work either.
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47 Million in an opening weekend is more than 2 people… maybe not something Marvel is use to… but most movies would love to have an opening weekend like that
 
Tony the Tigger

Tony the Tigger

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
So again... where has the rest of Disney's paying customers disappeared to? The quatum realm?

You discredit your own arguments... blaming the customers walking are being manipulated... yet they can't possibly cover the number of missing sales. So which is it?
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This isn’t hard. You don’t need a “majority” (as if that classification matters) to affect the numbers. It’s not like zero people went to see the movie, nor did I say there was only one reason numbers are down. There are several. Unfortunately, some are very ugly.
 
Ghost93

Ghost93

Well-Known Member
I think there are numerous reasons the Marvels flopped

1. Several weak films and TV shows like Thor: Love and Thunder, Ant-man and the Wasp Quantumania and Secret Invasion have severely hurt the Marvel brand and made it so audiences no longer feel they are guaranteed a good time at the movies.

2. Mixed/Bad reviews deterred those who were on the fence about seeing it. ( Personally I thought it was a very weak film, but it is "watchable" and entertaining enough for one viewing. I liked the three leads.)

3. Felt like too much homework for casual fans. In addition to being a sequel to Captain Marvel, Marvel's is also a spinoff of two TV shows — Ms. Marvel and WandaVision. While I think the movie would work if you haven't seen either Ms. Marvel or WandaVision, the perception was that those shows were required viewing and many casuals didn't want to watch 12 episodes of content.

4. Superhero fatigue in general. The Flash, Shazam 2, Blue Beetle and Black Adam have all recently flopped.

5. The cast couldn't promote the movie due to the actor's strike

6. The marketing had little appeal to hypermasculine men who like to see themselves in superheroes. It's hard to describe, but the movie felt much more overtly like a "chick flick" than other movies with female-led superheros, like Wonder Woman or Black WIdow. Maybe it was because there wasn't a strong male lead in the movie. Wonder Woman had Chris Pine's Steve Trevor. Captain Marvel had Nick Fury as a co-lead (in The Marvels he's reduced to a comic relief sidekick). Or maybe was because the movie de-emphasized action and thrills in favor of goofy location-switching shenanigans, planets where people communicate through song or silly sequences with the flerkens set to the tune of "Memories" from Cats.

For some reason, many guys have a harder time connecting with movies featuring an almost all-female cast, even though women have been tagging along to traditionally male-oriented movies for decades. Maybe it's because they are so used to having media catered directly to them that they aren't used to having to put themselves in someone else's shoes. Regardless, The Marvels feels like a movie that will be enjoyed by middle-school girls at sleepovers. I've compared the tone to Freaky Friday in the past and I think that's accurate for describing the overall vibe of the film. It's not a bad thing, but it would explain why The Marvels wouldn't appeal to the kind of guy whose favorite superhero movies are The Dark Knight and Logan.

Also, while I don't think it was a huge contributor to the box office failure, we also can't deny that misogyny and racism are a factor. Any Marvel project featuring a woman or a person of color gets scrutinized much more heavily than those featuring straight white men. There is a toxic corner of the fandom ready to pounce on any woman/POC led project that isn't perfect and use "wokeness" as an explanation for why the movie didn't work. It really sucks, but it's the world we live in.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Tony the Tigger said:
This isn’t hard. You don’t need a “majority” (as if that classification matters) to affect the numbers
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No but you do need to affect a proportional number relative to the size of the hole created. A loud minority doesn’t move the audience that don’t listen to those detractors anyway. So to keep saying its people being influenced just doesn’t add up. The hole is just too big
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Tony the Tigger said:
Where does this “replace” language come from? Why would existing customers be presumed to skip this film?
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Peesume? We already have numbers. No presuming needed. The films are not performing and obviously not able to pull the same return audience the franchise has been.

The language that keeps getting rehashed here is ‘new audience’. Well… its not paying the bills… so if that’s their strategy they need to find some new customers to show up
 
BuddyThomas

BuddyThomas

Well-Known Member
On another note, I saw the new Hunger Games movie tonight. Wanted to see Thanksgiving, the new Eli Roth horror film, but it was sold out - I'll see that this weekend. Aside from the punishing running time of Hunger Games (two hours and forty-five minutes long), it's very, very good, and Rachel Zegler does an amazing job. Sher is instantly likable from her very first scene and a great heroine. Also, she sings a LOT in the movie. She's a true star, and whether anyone on here likes it or not, she's going to be a fantastic Snow White, whenever they decide to release it.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Tony the Tigger said:
Why not? Be honest.
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Why? I already posted in the thread why I wasn’t going. If you can’t believe people when they tell you clean straight forward reasons, then i think you don’t have an genuine interest in hearing people and just want to keep beating your drum.

Why are others not going? I can’t speak for people I don’t know. But i can call into question your theories when they just don’t add up to the known impact.
 
Vegas Disney Fan

Vegas Disney Fan

Well-Known Member
EPCOT-O.G. said:
It has an Event Movie budget with TV stars from little watched series as lead actors. I’ve pointed this out repeatedly.
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I saw an interesting stat today that Marvel Phase 1 was 746 minutes of content spread over 5 years, phase 2 was 757 minutes of content spread over 3 years, phase 3 was 1500 minutes of content spread over 3 years, and phase 4 (including D+) was 3500 minutes of content over 2 years.

Marvel released more content in 2021/2022 than in the previous 12 years combined.

They theorized this has resulted in Marvel NOT feeling like event movies anymore, if you miss the latest movie or show it’s not a big deal because Marvel will likely release something new to watch next week.
 
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LSLS

LSLS

Well-Known Member
Vegas Disney Fan said:
I saw an interesting stat today that Marvel Phase 1 was 746 minutes of content spread over 5 years, phase 2 was 757 minutes of content spread over 3 years, phase 3 was 1500 minutes of content spread over 3 years, and phase 4 (including D+) was 3500 minutes of content over 2 years.

Marvel released more content in 2021/2022 than in the previous 12 years combined.

They theorized this has resulted in Marvel NOT feeling like event movies anymore, if you miss the latest movie or show it’s not a big deal because Marvel will likely release something new to watch next week.
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I think this is a big part of it. A lot here are focusing on political stuff, but I think the idea it's been oversaturated with no clear direction has really taken ahold. I think you then add in how expensive theaters are, and that Disney has trained its customers to expect it to stream in a free months anyways, and you have this recipe. People want the politics inserted, but considering it's an issue in all markets, I think the training of hits to D+ is maybe the largest culprit for Disney at the box office at this point (with the saturation a specific Marvel issue at this point)
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
flynnibus said:
No but you do need to affect a proportional number relative to the size of the hole created. A loud minority doesn’t move the audience that don’t listen to those detractors anyway. So to keep saying its people being influenced just doesn’t add up. The hole is just too big
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Yes…this is the actual problem
 

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