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

[celluloid]

This seems like a really bad play on what is currently one of their brightest IPs. It feels rushed and panicky. It had started as a TV series. It’s unclear if the principals have even done their voice work. And, let’s be real, with a few rare exceptions, Disney’s pretty bad at making sequels to their animated films.

Yep. And Music too. Lin Manuel was not involved, and music was also said to not be done when I heard about it two months ago.

Not smelling good.

inside Out 2 could not even get Bill Hader back.

Disney wants a slice of what Kung Fu Panda 4 and Despicable 4 Me will have this year.

 

[Disney Irish]

inside Out 2 could not even get Bill Hader back.

Only reason why Hader and Mindy Kaling didn't come back is because they didn't accept the contract offer. Disney could have paid more to get them but then that would have increased the budget. Something that many including yourself says Disney needs to get under control. So either they stop doing animation in the US (something I'm sure would be met with heavy criticism both here and in the industry) or they limit casting to a certain budget.

The rest of the original cast did come back. And I'm sure Tony Hale and Liza Lapira will do fine as the replacements.

 

[TP2000]

Hi gang, the first pass at Box Office estimates are out for this weekend!

The First Omen dropped to 10th place in its third weekend, and is now in 2,435 theaters.

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for August 2, 2024

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of August 2, 2024

www.the-numbers.com

 

[TP2000]

As Disney's only new movie in theaters for March and April, here's how The First Omen is faring thus far financially, after three weeks and with the estimates from overseas just coming in late this afternoon for this weekend's box office. It will need to hit approximately $90 Million at the global box office to break even.

The First Omen: Production $30, Marketing $15, Domestic $11, Overseas $11 = $23 Million Loss and improving

The First Omen (2024) - Financial Information

Financial analysis of The First Omen (2024) including budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, total earnings and profitability.

www.the-numbers.com

 

[celluloid]

Only reason why Hader and Mindy Kaling didn't come back is because they didn't accept the contract offer. Disney could have paid more to get them but then that would have increased the budget. Something that many including yourself says Disney needs to get under control. So either they stop doing animation in the US (something I'm sure would be met with heavy criticism both here and in the industry) or they limit casting to a certain budget.

The rest of the original cast did come back. And I'm sure Tony Hale and Liza Lapira will do fine as the replacements.

Unmm. I don't think that is where Disney is saving much dough from Pixar nor do they care about criticisms considering they just terminated like 20-30 percent off their workforce.
If casting is where money could have been saved, they could have replaced more in many of their works.
Bill Hader was not going to launch Pixar's costs. Nor did Wish cost 200 million for its cast. Nor did Disney mind having costly names in Haunted Mansion.
https://careerhub.students.duke.edu...at the,but disputed the publication's numbers.

 

[Miss Rori]

Disney wants a slice of what Kung Fu Panda 4 and Despicable 4 Me will have this year.

I honestly think they wouldn't have done this if not for how badly Wish did last Thanksgiving. They really don't want Universal to have a hit with Wicked Part One because that's more-or-less a family musical, and they had staked out the Thanksgiving slot for Mufasa: The Lion King before they pushed a lot of stuff to 2025. I figure they don't want to make the same mistake they did last year and bet their whole holiday season on just one movie, as they did with Wish, so they moved Mufasa to Christmas (where it's going up against Sonic the Hedgehog 3) but needed something for the Thanksgiving slot. Perhaps they should have moved Elio there - at least that was ready to go.

 

[celluloid]

I honestly think they wouldn't have done this if not for how badly Wish did last Thanksgiving. They really don't want Universal to have a hit with Wicked Part One because that's more-or-less a family musical, and they had staked out the Thanksgiving slot for Mufasa: The Lion King before they pushed a lot of stuff to 2025. I figure they don't want to make the same mistake they did last year and bet their whole holiday season on just one movie, as they did with Wish, so they moved Mufasa to Christmas (where it's going up against Sonic the Hedgehog 3) but needed something for the Thanksgiving slot. Perhaps they should have moved Elio there - at least that was ready to go.

Yeah. Putting a musical film from a TV series without music yet against arguably the most well liked Broadway and touring musical of all time(with themes of fantasy ad magic) being a film was a weird choice.

 

[TP2000]

Unmm. I don't think that is where Disney is saving much dough from Pixar nor do they care about criticisms considering they just terminated like 20-30 percent off their workforce.
If casting is where money could have been saved, they could have replaced more in many of their works.
Bill Hader was not going to launch Pixar's costs. Nor did Wish cost 200 million for its cast. Nor did Disney mind having costly names in Haunted Mansion.
https://careerhub.students.duke.edu/blog/2024/01/19/significant-layoffs-to-hit-pixar-in-2024-report/#:~:text=Sources told Techcrunch that the,but disputed the publication's numbers.

I have to wonder... Why do you even need human, much less higher cost human celebrity, voices in animation now? Why can't you just create an AI voice that fits the animated character perfectly instead of hiring a human? Then as part of the production process, have an audio engineer tweak the AI voice for whatever nuance the director wants or needs from that voice.

It's a cartoon. You can't see the human doing the voiceover work. Just get AI to do it, and that could cut way down on the bloated budgets Disney and Pixar use for their animated films that no longer seem to break even at the box office.

 

[LittleBuford]

I have to wonder... Why do you even need human, much less higher cost human celebrity, voices in animation now? Why can't you just create an AI voice that fits the animated character perfectly instead of hiring a human? Then as part of the production process, have an audio engineer tweak the AI voice for whatever nuance the director wants or needs from that voice.

It's a cartoon. You can't see the human doing the voiceover work. Just get AI to do it, and that could cut way down on the bloated budgets Disney and Pixar use for their animated films that no longer seem to break even at the box office.

Because just as AI can’t write as well as humans, it can’t act as well as humans either.

Those of us who actually watch the films in question care about their quality.

 

[celluloid]

I have to wonder... Why do you even need human, much less higher cost human celebrity, voices in animation now? Why can't you just create an AI voice that fits the animated character perfectly instead of hiring a human? Then as part of the production process, have an audio engineer tweak the AI voice for whatever nuance the director wants or needs from that voice.

It's a cartoon. You can't see the human doing the voiceover work. Just get AI to do it, and that could cut way down on the bloated budgets Disney and Pixar use for their animated films that no longer seem to break even at the box office.

For sure the stardom stacking of celeb names has hurt the great voice acting talent outnthre thst actualpy chsnge their voices. Some, like Steve carrel for Despicable actually at least changes his voice for the character. The rest is either contract work for the studio or stacking names for a draw to attention.

But yet, some "experts" say the star system is dead.

Disney's overspending is not soley, or even majority talent based though.

 

[Disney Irish]

Unmm. I don't think that is where Disney is saving much dough from Pixar nor do they care about criticisms considering they just terminated like 20-30 percent off their workforce.
If casting is where money could have been saved, they could have replaced more in many of their works.
Bill Hader was not going to launch Pixar's costs. Nor did Wish cost 200 million for its cast. Nor did Disney mind having costly names in Haunted Mansion.
https://careerhub.students.duke.edu/blog/2024/01/19/significant-layoffs-to-hit-pixar-in-2024-report/#:~:text=Sources told Techcrunch that the,but disputed the publication's numbers.

Studios try to reduce costs where they can, including in casting. Disney has said they were reducing budgets on all their content.

Based on the article you provided, or this one from Variety, what I see is further cost reductions for the studio happening. Something that many here claim should have happened long ago with Pixar when this story was first discussed months ago. So I'm not sure you're proving what you think you are. Especially since as Pixar has stated all their budgets include the costs to run the studio. So if they are reducing staff to reduce costs then budgets on future movies should be lower as a result.

 

[Disney Irish]

I have to wonder... Why do you even need human, much less higher cost human celebrity, voices in animation now? Why can't you just create an AI voice that fits the animated character perfectly instead of hiring a human? Then as part of the production process, have an audio engineer tweak the AI voice for whatever nuance the director wants or needs from that voice.

It's a cartoon. You can't see the human doing the voiceover work. Just get AI to do it, and that could cut way down on the bloated budgets Disney and Pixar use for their animated films that no longer seem to break even at the box office.

Given that at least some basic protections regarding AI were put into the the most recent SAG/AFTRA (which also covers voice acting) agreement that might make that at least a bit difficult.

And I can't imagine that SAG/AFTRA is going to stop trying to put full protections into future contracts.

 

[brideck]

If casting is where money could have been saved, they could have replaced more in many of their works.
Bill Hader was not going to launch Pixar's costs. Nor did Wish cost 200 million for its cast.

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Amy Poehler is getting $5m to reprise Joy and then they offered everyone else $100k. Hader and Kaling, rightfully so, probably viewed that as a slap in the face, so Pixar found different people they could hire for that amount instead. One could say that Pixar shaved ~$10m off the budget by not doing what it took to bring Hader and Kaling back, though they obviously never would have even made the attempt.

 

[celluloid]

I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that Amy Poehler is getting $5m to reprise Joy and then they offered everyone else $100k. Hader and Kaling, rightfully so, probably viewed that as a slap in the face, so Pixar found different people they could hire for that amount instead. One could say that Pixar shaved ~$10m off the budget by not doing what it took to bring Hader and Kaling back, though they obviously never would have even made the attempt.

One could say that l. But we don't know. 100k seems low for talent of returning main cast.
So at most, that would account for 10 million less if your source is true.
But in reality, probably not even thst for Hale likely got more but gets him out of or into a Pixar contrsct. (Prob helps that he is Forky.)

Chris Pine was the only expensive talent for Wish, and that movie still cost near 200 million. .

 

[brideck]

Hi gang, the first pass at Box Office estimates are out for this weekend!

Yet another horror movie misses its estimate, this time by a full $2m, as Abigail opened really soft this week. Night Swim (at a whopping $11.8m) still, somehow, remains the largest horror opening of the year out of 6+ movies in the genre.

Overall, we continue to be well under 2022 levels on a month-by-month basis.

 

[celluloid]

Yet another horror movie misses its estimate, this time by a full $2m, as Abigail opened really soft this week. Night Swim (at a whopping $11.8m) still, somehow, remains the largest horror opening of the year out of 6+ movies in the genre.

Overall, we continue to be well under 2022 levels on a month-by-month basis.

It's saturated right now in bot horror and R rated market. I imagine Abigail will hold a lot more than the others as weeks go on.
The situation is also why you see Kong x Godzilla, Kung Fu Panda and Ggostbusters getting a boost.

Overall, We would be as the strike impact there have been less releases.

 

[brideck]

So at most, that would account for 10 million less if your source is true.

The reporting was from Vulture -- https://web.archive.org/web/2022091...e.com/2022/09/inside-out-2-pixar-details.html

Took me a little while to track it down.

 

[brideck]

Overall, We would be as the strike impact there have been less releases.

Do you mean fewer tentpole releases? Because there have actually been more releases overall so far in 2024 than over the comparable period in 2023. I'm way behind on seeing stuff that I'd like because there's been so much hitting theaters, but people are definitely not going out to see much of any of it.

 

[celluloid]

Do you mean fewer tentpole releases? Because there have actually been more releases overall so far in 2024 than over the comparable period in 2023. I'm way behind on seeing stuff that I'd like because there's been so much hitting theaters, but people are definitely not going out to see much of any of it.

Nope. Less new wide releases from holiday season until now compared to last year due to strike, which also hurts thus years total numbers.

 

[TP2000]

Because just as AI can’t write as well as humans, it can’t act as well as humans either.

Those of us who actually watch the films in question care about their quality.

In 2024, it would seem we're about at the point where human-guided AI could create perfectly acceptable voiceovers for animation.

And where will the technology be in 2026? In 2028? Etc.?

It seems that AI is definitely one of the ways this new tech could replace human talent. Human talent that is often costly, depending on what type of ratings their latest sitcom or movie recently got.