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

[celluloid]

I don't disagree in the aggregate. Many of the films we've been talking about were in production for years and had their budgets approved back in 2018/2019. So its going to take awhile for budgets to get reigned in.

I suspect anything releasing in the next 6-9 months will still have high budgets and anything after that we'll start to see a decrease in the budgets.

Its also cyclical, we'll get into an era of lower budget blockbusters, and then it'll swing back the other way and we'll be talking about high budget losers again in 5-7 years.

I don't know if it will be that easy considered the actors and writers and(more specifically related to bigger cost) actors got what they wanted out of the strikes.

Disney is truly the only studio with issues at this frequency. The main thing is making content people want to see.

Some of the biggest hits this year had lower budgets than the ones that were expected to.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I don't know if it will be that easy considered the actors and writers and(more specifically related to bigger cost) actors got what they wanted out of the strikes.

Disney is truly the only studio with issues at this frequency. The main thing is making content people want to see.

Some of the biggest hits this year had lower budgets than the ones that were expected to.

I have to agree with your point. Even today it is possible to create a box office hit with a lower budget if it is, as you say content folks want to see.

 

[Disney Irish]

I don't know if it will be that easy considered the actors and writers and(more specifically related to bigger cost) actors got what they wanted out of the strikes.

Disney is truly the only studio with issues at this frequency. The main thing is making content people want to see.

Some of the biggest hits this year had lower budgets than the ones that were expected to.

The strikes will certainly be a factor, but budgets will be reigned in.

Also no one is disputing that Disney is worse off this year. The overall point is that its not just Disney, even if they are the extreme offender here. But we also know that Disney is capable of doing lower budget movies as well. So even if the strike cause labor costs to go up, they can still do a lower budget movie.

And yes some of the films this year were lower budget. But if you look 6 of the top 10 had budgets of over $200M, 1 was almost $350M (and that wasn't a Disney movie). So its really the whole industry needs to move to lower budget.

So we wait and see where it goes from here.

 

[celluloid]

The overall point is that its not just Disney, even if they are the extreme offender here. But we also know that Disney is capable of doing lower budget movies as well.

It gets pretty hard to name the last five Disney movies that were successful for the studio under 100 million dollar budget on the top of my head.

That tentpole mentality has been their jam for years now. Great when its great, but now they are out of practice.

 

[Disney Irish]

It gets pretty hard to name the last five Disney movies that were successful for the studio under 100 million dollar budget on the top of my head.

That tentpole mentality has been their jam for years now. Great when its great, but now they are out of practice.

I would agree that Studios strategy for at least the past 5 years has been tentpole first and anything else second. I know you don't like when I say it, but it really was an industry wide shift in that direction. Disney just went extreme on it due to the nature of the franchises that were promoting.

We're going to have to see if they can recalibrate back to smaller budgets with movies that can connect to an audience.

 

[celluloid]

We're going to have to see if they can recalibrate back to smaller budgets with movies that can connect to an audience.

With most of their movies performing how they do, they won't have much of a choice.

Humble pie entering the ebb and flow can be a good thing.

 

[TP2000]

Like the rest of America, I'll be busy enjoying family and way too much food the next few days, but here's where the box office data landed going into Thanksgiving week on Monday the 20th. The Marvels still in 4th place after only one week, and Next Goal Wins down in 8th place on only its 4th day in theaters. Double Oof for Burbank!

Happy Thanksgiving, gang! Unlike Disney at the box office this year, we all have much to be thankful for! Enjoy it!

 

[Phroobar]

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This is probably the most disastrous year in Disney film history…

Maybe of ANY studio?

Wow.

Crap after crap after crap

 

[TalkingHead]

The tracking on Wish had it at $35m-44m for 3-day opening and $49m-66m for 5-day.

Deadline article is estimating $24m-27m for 3-day and $40m-45m for 5-day.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The tracking on Wish had it at $35m-44m for 3-day opening and $49m-66m for 5-day.

Deadline article is estimating $24m-27m for 3-day and $40m-45m for 5-day.

That’s the most interesting thing about it

It’s the equivalent of a “boycott”…based on how accurate the tracking usually is

 

[TalkingHead]

That’s the most interesting thing about it

It’s the equivalent of a “boycott”…based on how accurate the tracking usually is

Sounds like the box office total for the weekend is going to be lackluster overall. Wondering what kind of panic will set in this Dec when no Avatar opens and the flops keep piling up for all the majors.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Sounds like the box office total for the weekend is going to be lackluster overall. Wondering what kind of panic will set in this Dec when no Avatar opens and the flops keep piling up for all the majors.

Parks are really the ONLY thing Disney has going for it now…

And that’s not being run “wisely” either

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Because people want the silver surfer people have known for decades when someone tells them they are making a silver surfer character

This is so lame.

Yes, it’s commercialized, but it’s still a creativity based medium of art. Let new artists express themselves as they see fit. Consume it or don’t, but there’s no reason to hate, resent, fear, or destroy it. Some people will very much appreciate it now, and likely many more will in the future if they aren’t so hung up on the past. I can’t see why people find this stuff so threatening instead of just saying what I say: “Hm…maybe this one isn’t my speed.”

Of all the movies I’ve ever seen, fewer than 10% were seen in theaters. Not many are seen with urgency, including when they hit TV. I don’t buy DVDs except old TV shows I’d like to always have access to. There are movies I don’t see until years or decades after they are released, and some I’m catching up on from before I was born.

Not one of those things reflects on the quality of a film - not when I do it, not when others do it, not when many people do it.

Plenty of Oscar winners and/or number one blockbusters I’ve never seen, nor do I care to. But I don’t get mad at them or their studios when they don’t interest me.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Happy Thanksgiving from the black kid, the white kid, the girl who is at the very least a tomboy, and the beagle who is best friends with a bird and makes popcorn. All together. No CGI.

 

[Ghost93]

While no comfort to Disney fans, I am glad to see that The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has fairly good legs. It was a great movie and deserves to do well! Can't say I'm sad about it potentially beating The Marvels or Wish at the box office, as it was better than both of those movies.

Hopefully as more people discover the film they also realize Rachel Zegler is a solid actress!

 

[DKampy]

While no comfort to Disney fans, I am glad to see that The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes has fairly good legs. It was a great movie and deserves to do well! Can't say I'm sad about it potentially beating The Marvels or Wish at the box office, as it was better than both of those movies.

Hopefully as more people discover the film they also realize Rachel Zegler is a solid actress!

Yes.., it appears Hunger Games has some decent word of mouth… looks like it could be a possible hit… wonder what the haters will say then about Zegler

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Iman Vellani Says ‘The Marvels’ Flopping at the Box Office Is for Bob Iger to ‘Focus On,’ Not Her: ‘What’s the Point? That Has Nothing to Do With Me’

Iman Vellani says "The Marvels" flopping at the box office is a concern for Bob Iger, not for her.

variety.com

Quoting Iman: “If people are excited about something, let them be excited about it. And if you have constructive criticism, voice it — but never be the wet blanket on someone else’s excitement.”

Word.

 

[Tha Realest]

Iman Vellani Says ‘The Marvels’ Flopping at the Box Office Is for Bob Iger to ‘Focus On,’ Not Her: ‘What’s the Point? That Has Nothing to Do With Me’

Iman Vellani says "The Marvels" flopping at the box office is a concern for Bob Iger, not for her.

variety.com

Bob Iger is clearly concerned about the quality of the output as reflected, somewhat, in the box office - he says so repeatedly. So do not be surprised when one of his reactions is to stop diminishing the brand with little-watched TV series, and ending the practice of having TV stars headline big budget box office releases.

 

[flynnibus]

I can’t see why people find this stuff so threatening instead of just saying what I say: “Hm…maybe this one isn’t my speed.”

Actually that’s exactly what people are saying… and people keep throwing out inferences and innuendo that there must be some reason more… challenging that people can’t just be uninterested.