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

[Disney Irish]

A surprising number of people online don't seem to realize this. Movie promotional efforts have been so weirdly mishandled lately, though the lack of professional reviews or even social media commentary probably isn't helping in this case. (The embargo for social media lifts tomorrow, professional reviews go live Wednesday.)

Dunno, even if I didn't follow this stuff closely it seems to be advertised fairly well at least around me. But then again I live in a fairly large metro area so maybe I just see more advertisements then the regular person.

 

[BrianLo]

Apes is now 359.8 Million worldwide. Which shifts it nicely into a post theatrical profitability band.

It will need to keep going a bit further for theatrical profitability and it really doesn’t start making a whole lot of money currently as participation pays out. But overall I’m sure they’re pretty happy given the terrible low bar of last year. For a fairly premium piece of streaming content. Plus the deadly box office landscape that only Sony has really escaped so far.

I wonder if a sequel is going to be approved? It would seem to suggest to me there’s room for it.

 

[CinematicFusion]

A surprising number of people online don't seem to realize this. Movie promotional efforts have been so weirdly mishandled lately, though the lack of professional reviews or even social media commentary probably isn't helping in this case. (The embargo for social media lifts tomorrow, professional reviews go live Wednesday.)

With fewer people tuning into traditional TV or reading newspapers, movie studios are finding it tougher to reach their audience. The days of easy promotion through TV commercials and print ads is gone, and now studios have to get creative with digital and social media marketing to catch people’s attention

 

[Miss Rori]

Even that's not working; a lot of people didn't even know Wish existed until the Disney+ drop and they advertised heavily on social media platforms. On the other hand, I think one reason Wonka went over well in terms of awareness was (beyond the familiar IP and a teaser trailer being attached to Barbie) was that WB/Discovery cross-promoted that film all over its various cable networks, finding different things to tie it to for each one. NBA coverage on TNT had the commentators guess how many candies were in a jar, TCM showed the 1971 movie in prime time along with other movies involving kids and grandparents, Food Network's Holiday Baking Championship had a challenge involving "floating" cakes, etc.

 

[Miss Rori]

Dunno, even if I didn't follow this stuff closely it seems to be advertised fairly well at least around me. But then again I live in a fairly large metro area so maybe I just see more advertisements then the regular person.

I live in a midwestern burg without bus stops, bus wraps, etc. where a lot of movies seem to find room for ads these days, if that's the kind of thing you mean.

 

[Disney Irish]

I live in a midwestern burg without bus stops, bus wraps, etc. where a lot of movies seem to find room for ads these days, if that's the kind of thing you mean.

Nope, I mean other type of ads, from billboards to pre-roll trailers. I’ve seen it advertised everywhere for the past month near me. I was even at a local mall a few weeks ago and there was a kiosk ad on display. This doesn’t even include ads I’ve seen on ABC itself.

 

[DKampy]

Plus the deadly box office landscape that only Sony has really escaped so far.

What is interesting here is Sony is the one studio that is still fully committed to theatrical with absolutely no interest in streaming

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Hiya, gang! It was a lazy weekend for me where I'm just puttering around the house mostly, and it was a fairly lazy early summer weekend at the Box Office too.

I guess we're just sort of waiting for Inside Out 2 later this month to really get some Disney content going at the box office. Apes 9 came in 5th place this weekend.

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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

I'm really surprised to see The Lord of the Rings movies out on theatre again!!! That just seems odd to me since it's been out a while on DVD, which I have the whole series of LOtR. Are they thinking of a new one now?

 

[Tha Realest]

Even that's not working; a lot of people didn't even know Wish existed until the Disney+ drop and they advertised heavily on social media platforms.

huh? The film was extensively marketed. Do you honestly think they spent less on advertising for the box office release than they did on D+?

 

[Miss Rori]

No, I believe they spent a lot on marketing the theatrical release of Wish, particularly on social media but also on TV, and it just didn't reach people regardless. (Although it's possible people saw it but didn't realize it was a theatrical movie, and not a streaming-only title?) But then, they never found a real "hook" with that movie to attract viewers.

 

[TP2000]

I live in a midwestern burg without bus stops, bus wraps, etc. where a lot of movies seem to find room for ads these days, if that's the kind of thing you mean.

I live in a small Southwest city with very few bus stops, and we have very few billboards around town, and I kept seeing Inside Out 2 commercials on my YouTube TV viewings constantly starting about two weeks ago. I rarely watch network TV, but all the ads I've seen for Inside Out 2 were on YouTube.

But I've seen the commercials for so long, that I forgot it opens this Friday. I thought we had another couple of weeks.

My famous Spidey Sense on what the kids are into (as a rapidly aging gay man who thinks every child should attend mandatory etiquette classes and only speak when spoken to) is not sensing a huge groundswell of pop culture interest in it yet, but things could change this week when the social media kicks in. I'll eavesdrop on the kids next door when they are on their trampoline and bouncing above the fence line, if I need to. Let me know.

 

[LSLS]

Dunno, even if I didn't follow this stuff closely it seems to be advertised fairly well at least around me. But then again I live in a fairly large metro area so maybe I just see more advertisements then the regular person.

I've started seeing a few ads here and there. I will say I saw one last week and was completely shocked it was only two weeks away. BUT, I know my wife is beyond excited for this one, so this is going to be a family event (first family movie since Mario for us).

 

[Phroobar]

I'm really surprised to see The Lord of the Rings movies out on theatre again!!! That just seems odd to me since it's been out a while on DVD, which I have the whole series of LOtR. Are they thinking of a new one now?

Yes. Yes there is.

Theaters show old movies all the time. Heck, the Never Ending Story 40th Anniversary is opening tomorrow. Another week after that my theater is showing Spirited Away. I think in July the Muppet Movie anniversary is being shown.

 

[BrianLo]

We’ll have to see if trailer views are strictly just an internet phenomenon (as in its a growing proportion of how people view trailers even with waning interest). But there has been a lot of views for both Inside Out 2 and Deadpool and now subsequently Moana 2.

Either that’s a good indicator or it’s just a passing curiosity. But I’d assume it indicates some form of strong interest?

I’m always a bit dubious in how Disney presents the ‘stats’ because they glom onto a good way of presenting it. But Inside Out 2 had the best animated trailer debut (ahead of Frozen 2 - so not just Pixar).

I think Deadpool 3 straight has the biggest trailer launch of all time? Ahead of Spider-Man No Way Home. Though it also includes Super Bowl.

Then Moana one ups Inside out 2 with 178 v 157 million views.

Now Disney also presented Wish as the ‘most watched since Frozen 2’. Which turns out was a dubious way of presenting its 66.5 million trailer view launch.

 

[DKampy]

Besides the budget should have been a bit lowered… IF is not doing too bad…it will cross 100 million… which even before the pandemic if an original film did great the most it could do was just over 100 million domestically

Also I think people had too high of expectations for Fall Guy… especially since it took that first weekend of may which is normally the Kick off to summer…which was suppose to be Deadpool…Fall Guy had large expectations that it would not have had if it were to open in it’s original March weekend… it’s still a disappointment but I also believe it would of hit that 100 million threshold for an original movie if it did not have it’s legs cut off with PVOD… it’s been hanging in there every week… I know it’s based on an old TV show… but it is barely remember today… so it is basically an original film to most

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Besides the budget should have been a bit lowered… IF is not doing too bad…it will cross 100 million… which even before the pandemic if an original film did great the most it could do was just over 100 million domestically

Also I think people had too high of expectations for Fall Guy… especially since it took that first weekend of may which is normally the Kick off to summer…which was suppose to be Deadpool…Fall Guy had large expectations that it would not have had if it were to open in it’s original March weekend… it’s still a disappointment but I also believe it would of hit that 100 million threshold for an original movie if it did not have it’s legs cut off with PVOD… it’s been hanging in there every week… I know it’s based on an old TV show… but it is barely remember today… so it is basically an original film to most

I don't think PVOD impacts theatrical performance. At least, it doesn't change a movie's trajectory during release.

Popular movies like Wonka come to home viewing quickly and still maintain their expected theatrical performance.

Most movies drop off 30-50% week to week. In rare cases, a movie that has great word of mouth or whatever, will have above average staying power.

In the case of Fall Guy, it didn't make any sort of comeback in week two and at that point it's fate is pretty much set.

I assume bringing it to PVOD super quickly is beneficial, otherwise studios wouldn't regularly do it. People are more enthusiastic about buying or renting a movie at a premium price because it's so close to the theatrical window. It's a more appealing product.

There's a reason the iTunes store highlights movie rentals and purchases as being currently in theaters, "bring the theater home" is a marketing tagline now.

Whether or not the shortened time between theater and home is having an impact in general, is the bigger question IMO.

 

[Phroobar]

Then there is Five Nights at Freddie's that was released on both streaming and theatrically on the same day and made close to $300million on a $20million budget.

 

[Disney Irish]

Then there is Five Nights at Freddie's that was released on both streaming and theatrically on the same day and made close to $300million on a $20million budget.

A streaming service that was toward the bottom of the sub counts at the time, ie it didn't move the needle very much.

 

[Phroobar]

A streaming service that was toward the bottom of the sub counts at the time, ie it didn't move the needle very much.

It isn't at the bottom anymore

 

[Disney Irish]

It isn't at the bottom anymore

Still isn’t toward the top, it’s like #11.