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

[BuddyThomas]

I know Soul was liked by critics, but I'm confident in saying the general audience did not care much for it.

You’re confident in speaking for “the general audience”? Everyone I know liked it, so I don’t know what “audience” you are speaking for. Usually it is best to simply speak for one’s self.

 

[DKampy]

I know Soul was liked by critics, but I'm confident in saying the general audience did not care much for it.

Well I am someone who saw Soul and I thought it was great… it is in fact my favorite of the pandemic Pixar films

 

[Disstevefan1]

Then after doing nothing in the theaters, they went and put it on broadcast TV last night as well. Confusing.

I did not know this. Wow.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I know Soul was liked by critics, but I'm confident in saying the general audience did not care much for it.

I think the problem was that this was already seen on Disney+ by all the Disney fans and all the Pixar fans and its a relativity new movie, still fresh in memory. There was no one left to see it.

As for the decision to put it in theaters, I presume there was a room full of Disney executives who OKed this and they were confident in their decision, it just failed badly.
.
I do not think there are a room full of yes people who are making decisions that “look good”. I think they are looking at some sort of data, some sort of intelligence that leads to a decision. Perhaps the data is flawed or the intelligence is flawed?

The Disney executives are sincerely trying to make the right decisions but they continue to fail badly

 

[Tha Realest]

You’re confident in speaking for “the general audience”? Everyone I know liked it, so I don’t know what “audience” you are speaking for. Usually it is best to simply speak for one’s self.

I think if we all divvy up the few dozen or so paying customers that saw it this weekend we can knock out interviews with each of them by midweek and get some finality to this issue.

 

[DKampy]

In response to anyone who believes no one liked Soul… on Rotten Tomatoes it has a 95% critics score and an 88% audience score

 

[Hawkeye_2018]

I didn't mean to say nobody liked Soul. Just that it feels forgotten and had little cultural impact.

 

[ABQ]

Appears most people who saw Soul really liked it, just not very many people, in Pixar average attendance, saw Soul.

 

[brideck]

I think, in general, what are effectively re-releases are always going to be a hard sell. The constant stream of new, shiny releases both in the theater and on streaming more or less make sure that we (at least adults) live in the cult of the new. So if someone has seen a thing once, they've consumed it, and don't have a reason to see it again. (Cue TP2000 and how he just watched The Miracle Worker again last night and thoroughly enjoyed it ) This only tends to differ when it comes to massive cultural phenomena, well-timed seasonal releases, and kids stuff. I have a massive BD/DVD collection at home, but it's often hard to pull something out and watch it (unless I'm specifically showing a movie to someone who hasn't seen it before) because so much time is spent on new things instead. Likewise, I wouldn't mind seeing Soul in theaters or the Dolby re-release of Across the Spider-Verse, but there's just too much that I haven't seen yet. Which is too bad really, I think we get a lot more understanding out of a second exposure to most things.

The other two upcoming Pixar releases skew a little more kid-friendly, so maybe more people might show up for those. Maybe. But I don't know how much kids express a desire to go to the movies these days just for the experience of being at the movies.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think, in general, what are effectively re-releases are always going to be a hard sell. The constant stream of new, shiny releases both in the theater and on streaming more or less make sure that we (at least adults) live in the cult of the new. So if someone has seen a thing once, they've consumed it, and don't have a reason to see it again. (Cue TP2000 and how he just watched The Miracle Worker again last night and thoroughly enjoyed it ) This only tends to differ when it comes to massive cultural phenomena, well-timed seasonal releases, and kids stuff. I have a massive BD/DVD collection at home, but it's often hard to pull something out and watch it (unless I'm specifically showing a movie to someone who hasn't seen it before) because so much time is spent on new things instead. Likewise, I wouldn't mind seeing Soul in theaters or the Dolby re-release of Across the Spider-Verse, but there's just too much that I haven't seen yet. Which is too bad really, I think we get a lot more understanding out of a second exposure to most things.

The other two upcoming Pixar releases skew a little more kid-friendly, so maybe more people might show up for those. Maybe. But I don't know how much kids express a desire to go to the movies these days just for the experience of being at the movies.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

I think, in general, what are effectively re-releases are always going to be a hard sell. The constant stream of new, shiny releases both in the theater and on streaming more or less make sure that we (at least adults) live in the cult of the new. So if someone has seen a thing once, they've consumed it, and don't have a reason to see it again. (Cue TP2000 and how he just watched The Miracle Worker again last night and thoroughly enjoyed it ) This only tends to differ when it comes to massive cultural phenomena, well-timed seasonal releases, and kids stuff. I have a massive BD/DVD collection at home, but it's often hard to pull something out and watch it (unless I'm specifically showing a movie to someone who hasn't seen it before) because so much time is spent on new things instead. Likewise, I wouldn't mind seeing Soul in theaters or the Dolby re-release of Across the Spider-Verse, but there's just too much that I haven't seen yet. Which is too bad really, I think we get a lot more understanding out of a second exposure to most things.

The other two upcoming Pixar releases skew a little more kid-friendly, so maybe more people might show up for those. Maybe. But I don't know how much kids express a desire to go to the movies these days just for the experience of being at the movies.

Not just the backlog of new stuff, but the home video scene has simply improved to the point where going to the theater is better, but not necessary.

Back in the olden days a re-release had appeal because the only way to watch a movie otherwise was via a VHS copy.

Today, we can watch movies in high quality and proper widescreen formats at home. A 42" TV was once considered a luxury. Today, that would be seen as a small TV for most. 60" or more is financially accessible to most.

There are very few movies that would be worth the hassle and expense of seeing a theatrical re-release, for me.

 

[PiratesMansion]

Not just the backlog of new stuff, but the home video scene has simply improved to the point where going to the theater is better, but not necessary.

Back in the olden days a re-release had appeal because the only way to watch a movie otherwise was via a VHS copy.

Today, we can watch movies in high quality and proper widescreen formats at home. A 42" TV was once considered a luxury. Today, that would be seen as a small TV for most. 60" or more is financially accessible to most.

There are very few movies that would be worth the hassle and expense of seeing a theatrical re-release, for me.

That, and many people have gotten a little too comfortable with whipping out their phones in the theater.

 

[Phroobar]

In response to anyone who believes no one liked Soul… on Rotten Tomatoes it has a 95% critics score and an 88% audience score

I didn't like it. It needed more blues music and less cloud people antics.

 

[crispy]

I know Soul was liked by critics, but I'm confident in saying the general audience did not care much for it.

Soul just wasn't that much of kid movie. It was obviously well-liked by those who saw it, but Pixar is usually targeted for family audiences (adults and kids) so it missed the mark on it's intended audience.

 

[TP2000]

I think, in general, what are effectively re-releases are always going to be a hard sell. The constant stream of new, shiny releases both in the theater and on streaming more or less make sure that we (at least adults) live in the cult of the new. So if someone has seen a thing once, they've consumed it, and don't have a reason to see it again.

So then what do you think was Burbank and Emeryville's strategy for this re-release concept of Soul in 1,350 theaters? Surely this wasn't what they expected, and I'd bet extra butter on my popcorn that the theater chains weren't expecting this when they signed up to give Soul 1,350 theaters for the past two weeks.

What did they expect from 1,350 theaters? It can't be spending yesterday in 25th place with less than 50 bucks per theater.

Domestic Box Office for Sunday, January 21st

(Cue TP2000 and how he just watched The Miracle Worker again last night and thoroughly enjoyed it )

Geez, I haven't seen that movie since I was a kid. Is it even available on DVD? Was it ever on VHS? I'm not a particular fan of that old movie, I just have those images of Patty Duke throwing food at Anne Bancroft seared into my memory banks.

The other two upcoming Pixar releases skew a little more kid-friendly, so maybe more people might show up for those. Maybe. But I don't know how much kids express a desire to go to the movies these days just for the experience of being at the movies.

Especially after they've been watching them for free on Disney+ for the past two years.

I'm looking forward to seeing how many theaters Turning Red debuts in next month. Their strategy here is just baffling.

 

[brideck]

So then what do you think was Burbank and Emeryville's strategy for this re-release concept of Soul in 1,350 theaters? Surely this wasn't what they expected, and I'd bet extra butter on my popcorn that the theater chains weren't expecting this when they signed up to give Soul 1,350 theaters for the past two weeks.

What did they expect from 1,350 theaters? It can't be spending yesterday in 25th place with less than 50 bucks per theater.

It's like they thought about trying to make it an event (there are some theater-specific promotional tie-ins after all), but then didn't actually follow-through, probably because the ROI wouldn't be high enough. They might try harder with Turning Red, in which case Soul was just a necessary part of the set for release, so as to not leave any of them out. Or they'll just go through the motions with all 3 releases, I guess we'll see.

I honestly don't think very much of the general public even realizes that Soul is in theaters right now. This forum is extremely online re: Disney.

Here's Google Trends for the 3 Pixar releases + Wish + Poor Things:
(ETA: Fixed my issues with searching for Soul)

Red = Soul
Green = Luca
Purple = Turning Red
Yellow = Wish
Blue = Poor Things

None of the Pixar 3 have seen any recent rise over the last few weeks, indicating that there's no knowledge/buzz about them coming to theaters at all right now.

Geez, I haven't seen that movie since I was a kid. Is it even available on DVD? Was it ever on VHS? I'm not a particular fan of that old movie, I just have those images of Patty Duke throwing food at Anne Bancroft seared into my memory banks.

It's gotta be, right? I'm pretty sure I only ever saw it on literal film reels in elementary school, though.

 

[Disstevefan1]

In response to anyone who believes no one liked Soul… on Rotten Tomatoes it has a 95% critics score and an 88% audience score

Everyone saw it, liked it, and moved on.

 

[BuddyThomas]

I didn't mean to say nobody liked Soul. Just that it feels forgotten and had little cultural impact.

It had Pixar’s first African American lead. If that does not have “cultural impact”, I don’t know what does.

 

[DKampy]

I honestly don't think very much of the general public even realizes that Soul is in theaters right now. This forum is extremely online re: Disney.

I do believe this is true… I don’t think I would realize Soul was in theaters if I did not keep up what was being released in cinemas each week… I don’t recall seeing any promotion

 

[Phroobar]

Hey, Lord of the Rings Return of the King Extended Cut is playing at my theater on Wednesday. It is only 4hrs and 23mins. I wonder who will show up for that?