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

[Miru]

Exactly, it's death by a thousand paper cuts. There's not a whole lot going on in the mcu that really warrants people caring at this point. They've spent almost the entirety of phase 4 and now 5, tripping over their own feet. It's littered with mediocre to below average films, that have no real through line. All with more needed watch hours than EVERYTHING that came before it, as a huge barrier to entry. It really shouldn't be a huge surprise that the marvels is where it is.

Not to mention downright awful on occasion, like She-Hulk and Secret Invasion.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The formula special.
It is typically.like one of three. Another common one being Disney Plus release soon must mean people will just wait.
There are proven same day or quick release to streaming that box office is not impacted very much.
You notice the fanatical nature when the reason is never "Many of their films have just not been what audiences enjoyed."
It always has to be anything and everything else.

Because when you can’t untangle being a Disney fan from the core of your soul…

…”failure” by Disney is not an option

 

[Chi84]

The formula special.
It is typically.like one of three. Another common one being Disney Plus release soon must mean people will just wait.
There are proven same day or quick release to streaming that box office is not impacted very much.
You notice the fanatical nature when the reason is never "Many of their films have just not been what audiences enjoyed."
It always has to be anything and everything else.

It’s actually kind of sad that people are that fanatical. It’s just entertainment.

 

[_caleb]

Surely if it were most, you could name a four or five of them?

I mean, you could just read the threads.

In the Disney Box Office thread, posters point to several reasons Disney films aren't performing well at the box office without offering examples or thoughtful/informed critique:

• One regular admits he's never seen a Marvel film, but posts commentary about them nearly every day.
• Diversity, Disney's agenda
• They are pandering to a tiny vocal community that has no interest in their product
• Disney's moral failures (?)

In The Marvels thread, there has been discussion about the actors not being hot enough to appeal to teen boys.

Ms. Marvel wasn't good because it "seemed cringy" (said by someone who did not watch it).

In general, Marvel is failing because of gender swapping and nobody wants to see a girl power superhero movie.

Lightyear wasn't good because of a lesbian kiss.

Strange World wasn't good because of a gay subplot.

The Little Mermaid missed because the water effects and also other reasons.

Wish is failing because, well, we're not sure, but it's just not good (and something about the erasure of white people.

The new Snow White film is definitely going to be bad, I'm told, because Racheal Zeigler has a big mouth.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

2019 had 9 $1B+ movies, 2021 had 1, 2022 had 3, and 2023 has had 2 (so far but not looking like it'll change that).

If you can't see the industry is shifting, well then you aren't paying close enough attention. Ticket sales have been on a downward trend (especially domestically) for decades as ticket prices continue to go up. More theaters being built in China isn't going to help that.

The fact that there were multiple animation films this year doesn't change the fact that the overall box office continues to be depressed, and its not looking to change. I don't know what 2024 will bring in terms of the box office totals, but if its anything like 2023 it'll still continue to be ~20-25% below prepandemic levels, again not looking to change overall.

Even with all that granted…Disney and it’s studios is leading the charge in “sucking too much”

And since they sell way more product off their movie slate…it really whallops them.

That’s the landscape

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

[*]They are pandering to a tiny vocal community that has no interest in their product

…this is the part they’ll be forced to change

Dollars and sense

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

Wanted to go see Next Goal Wins over the kids Holiday break but it wasn't playing at any of my local theaters

 

[TP2000]

I mean, you could just read the threads.

In the Disney Box Office thread, posters point to several reasons Disney films aren't performing well at the box office without offering examples or thoughtful/informed critique:

After Disney's disastrous 2023 at the box office from a dozen different movies, what is your thoughtful/informed critique of why this box office data just happened on Thanksgiving weekend to Disney's last three films until Memorial Day, 2024?

 

[TP2000]

It's interesting to see what the continually downgraded forecasts were just one week ago for Wish.

It's staggered overseas release schedule was expected to pull in $25 Million through Sunday, but Wish only got $17 Million.

The global total for Wish by now was supposed to be $75 Million, but it's only at $49 Million globally this morning.

"All in, $25M is expected from abroad, where Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated, for a global opening weekend of $60M and a running worldwide total by EOD Sunday of $75M." - Deadline, November 20th, 2023

‘Wish’ To Rise Disney Animation’s Star Over Thanksgiving With $75M Global Opening; ‘Napoleon’ Charges For $46M WW – Box Office Preview

'Wish' To Lead Thanksgiving Box Office With $75M WW, 'Napoleon' Opening

deadline.com

 

[Miru]

Back to the money printer thing; while someone was busy fixing the Star Wars machine, the intern had gotten to Pixar, and took the sledgehammer to that too. The Pixar machine was surprisingly made of tougher stuff, and had reserve money to dispense. By then, however, Disney had forgotten that someone had fixed Star Wars, assumed it was still broken, and threw it out, meaning they wouldn’t receive a dime of that. The intern has gotten all the way to the core feature animation department, and assumed she could take her sledgehammer to that as well…

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

After Disney's disastrous 2023 at the box office from a dozen different movies, what is your thoughtful/informed critique of why this box office data just happened on Thanksgiving weekend to Disney's last three films until Memorial Day, 2024?

View attachment 756310

I think today it’s “five angry, unmagical guys in moms basement”…

…but it’s hard to keep track

 

[BuddyThomas]

I’ve repeatedly described Lightyear as a boring film that I have no desire to rewatch. @BuddyThomas posted a very negative review of The Haunted Mansion. And only the other day, @MrPromey shared his rather negative take on Wish.

No-one has called any of us names.

I’ve been called plenty of names on this board.

 

[celluloid]

I mean, you could just read the threads.

In the Disney Box Office thread, posters point to several reasons Disney films aren't performing well at the box office without offering examples or thoughtful/informed critique:

• One regular admits he's never seen a Marvel film, but posts commentary about them nearly every day.
• Diversity, Disney's agenda
• They are pandering to a tiny vocal community that has no interest in their product
• Disney's moral failures (?)

I asked for four or five and you just rewrote the same things kind of like a teenager trying to hit a page count on an essay.

 

[Disney Irish]

Even with all that granted…Disney and it’s studios is leading the charge in “sucking too much”

And since they sell way more product off their movie slate…it really whallops them.

That’s the landscape

Yes we all know that Disney is "sucking way more than any other studio". Its the rallying cry that some of you like to keep shouting on repeat. We've all stated that is the case, nothing new said about that, its accepted and has been for many months now.

What some of us have been trying to talk about though is the macro reasons why, as I like to keep saying nothing happens in a vacuum. We can sit here and blame Disney management only so far, even then that conversation isn't going to go very far and is going to get real boring real quick. So even if we say that more than 60-70% of it is their fault they still have to contend with a changing box office landscape.

So yes Disney sucks way more than any other studio. That still doesn't change the fact that the box office is depressed for the entire industry, ie its affecting everyone, and doesn't look to be changing for the better. Because if it was just only Disney, why isn't there more $1B+ movies from other studios this year?

 

[Tha Realest]

That still doesn't change the fact that the box office is depressed for the entire industry, ie its affecting everyone, and doesn't look to be changing for the better.

That’s a false premise.

 

[celluloid]

Yes we all know that Disney is "sucking way more than any other studio". Its the rallying cry that some of you like to keep shouting on repeat. We've all stated that is the case, nothing new said about that, its accepted and has been for many months now.

What some of us have been trying to talk about though is the macro reasons why, as I like to keep saying nothing happens in a vacuum. We can sit here and blame Disney management only so far, even then that conversation isn't going to go very far and is going to get real boring real quick. So even if we say that more than 60-70% of it is their fault they still have to contend with a changing box office landscape.

So yes Disney sucks way more than any other studio. That still doesn't change the fact that the box office is depressed for the entire industry, ie its affecting everyone, and doesn't look to be changing for the better. Because if it was just only Disney, why isn't there more $1B+ movies from other studios this year?

If one company is hurting more than the others, and others are succeeding very well or better than ever...

Than it is in fact happening consistently to a vacuum, to one company.


You can't also say it is not changing for the better when it has grown in rebound every year since 2020. Slow and steady, and other studios have adapted. They will for sure have to continue to adapt as an industry. If Theaters were at 4 billion you would have a valid concern that nothing is being done.

But its taking time to come back. It is not dying if it is growing.

You want further hard evident truth, if Disney's films would have done what they would have intended, than the Box office would have been back to 11 billion or more.

Quit spitting out box office is dying forever nonsense.

 

[Disney Irish]

That’s a false premise.

View attachment 756325

You're taking that highlighted section out of context of the rest of the piece you quoted. which btw I'd love to know where this came from so I can read it fully. So yes the top 10 movies have sold more tickets compared to 2019 but the overall box office is down, especially when looking at domestic compared to the rest of the world.

So what does that article say about domestic vs global? Or for that matter what does it say about the entire box office, not just the top 10, on a dollar per dollar basis compared to pre-pandemic years? I think you'll find that domestic is down across the board, and that on a dollar per dollar basis less money was spent overall compared to pre-pandemic levels.

 

[AdventureHasAName]

We can sit here and blame Disney management only so far, even then that conversation isn't going to go very far and is going to get real boring real quick.

Yes, but that doesn't mean it isn't still the correct answer. It may make for boring conversation, but that is only because identifying the problem was quick and easy.

 

[Disney Irish]

Yes, but that doesn't mean it isn't still the correct answer. It may make for boring conversation, but that is only because identifying the problem was quick and easy.

Its only a partial answer though, that is the point.

 

[celluloid]

Its only a partial answer though, that is the point.

There is no other answer Various studios need to be better more frequently and Disney needs to do way better to get people back plus the time that box office sales are returning to about what they were previously. Ebb and flow always naturally there and industries will have to adapt. The big difference is Disney's oversaturated meal tickets and lack of good effort are running out as their brand is damaged. You could argue WB is starting to find this out as well in terms of DC. But even they produced winners and know how to Diversify. It truly is just one company struggling like this.