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

[Basil of Baker Street]

This thread is nukin' futz

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Talking about users betraying their own kind...

Yeah, i think this thread is WAY off topic.

 

[brideck]

This thread is nukin' futz

Who is Futz and why are we dropping nukes on him?

 

[Disney Irish]

Talking about users betraying their own kind...

Yeah, i think this thread is WAY off topic.

Not at all, its talking about the current state of affairs of the box office, specifically Disney's. Its right in the title of the thread.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Not at all, its talking about the current state of affairs of the box office, specifically Disney's. Its right in the title of the thread.

Oooooo, agreed... it's almost poetic.

 

[Ghost93]

Well if we absolutely MUST talk about the box office, I will say that I am happy with Inside Out 2's performance, because I love theatrical moviegoing and this is a much-needed win for theaters.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Well if we absolutely MUST talk about the box office, I will say that I am happy with Inside Out 2's performance, because I love theatrical moviegoing and this is a much-needed win for theaters.

At this point, it seems very likely Disney wins the 2024 box office. The major open questions are whether Moana 2 harms the franchise despite making lots of money and whether Mufasa shows that TLMs underperformance was an outlier or a trend.

 

[Ghost93]

At this point, it seems very likely Disney wins the 2024 box office. The major open questions are whether Moana 2 harms the franchise despite making lots of money and whether Mufasa shows that TLMs underperformance was an outlier or a trend.

I'm desperately hoping the Moana 2 situation turns out more like Toy Story 2 (which was originally meant to be direct-to-video) and less like Atlantis: Milo's Return (which was three episodes of an abandoned TV show hastily cobbled together in movie form).

But I'm skeptical about the reliability of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Unlike Pixar, which has mostly released good/great movies in the past five years, Disney has given us mediocre movies like Frozen 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Strange World and Wish. Encanto seems to be a fluke.

 

[Casper Gutman]

I'm desperately hoping the Moana 2 situation turns out more like Toy Story 2 (which was originally meant to be direct-to-video) and less like Atlantis: Milo's Return (which was three episodes of an abandoned TV show hastily cobbled together in movie form).

But I'm skeptical about the reliability of Walt Disney Animation Studios. Unlike Pixar, which has mostly released good/great movies in the past five years, Disney has given us mediocre movies like Frozen 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Strange World and Wish. Encanto seems to be a fluke.

I really liked Ralph 2, but I think Moana 2 is a big mistake made out of desperation. It seems like a really good way to derail a lucrative franchise.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There are many minorities that will betray their own kind because they desperately seek the approval of the bigoted society they are raised in. There are many gay or black people that could have internalized homophobia or racism, even if they are not conscious of it.

I knew I was gay when I was a child and I would have loved to have seen gay representation in movies. It would have made me feel less alone in the world. Don't use TP200 as a shield for homophobia, he does NOT speak for the majority of the gay community.

I’m not denying bigotry and homophobia. I’m not 22…I have the life experience to know better.

What I’m saying is I’ve talked with TP privately and he is NOT what you just described.

The whole point…and thanks for adding Low grade fuel to the fire of the few…is that bigotry is being used as a blanket cop out in lieu of honest conversation about Disney’s decisions…

That certainly doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. It’s a low dignity excuse to run to it when math doesn’t look good.

We can do better

 

[DKampy]

Instead of labeling it "bigotry", I think it's an issue of context and timing for most parents when their kids are pre-teens.

I'm a very mature adult gay man who certainly enjoys watching movies with gays and Lesbians in them, or (even better) with gay campy themes. But when my nephews were 8 and 10 years old I would not have taken them to see Strange World, as that's just too young for me to get involved in that sort of discussion or topic. If the nephews were 14 and 16, then sure, I'd take them to Strange World if they wanted to see it. But 10 or younger? Nope.

I'd imagine my younger sister, who was very supportive of my coming out experience decades ago and my only family ally for years, would feel the same way about taking her young sons to see Strange World.

It seems that Disney pushed the envelope too much for a family cartoon with Strange World. What sounds like a great movie idea to a bunch of childless gay men at brunch in Silver Lake, is likely not going to sound that great to middle class parents of young children in Savannah. Disney should stick to making their family cartoons for the parents budgeting their entertainment dollars in Savannah, instead of the gays having a second round of Mimosas in Silver Lake.

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Perhaps I don’t get it… I am a straight white Male who has never and will never have children…although I don’t have an issue with my niece and nephew watching such content. But neither does my brother with his kids… as far as I can tell Wisconsin is middle America… so as part of the LBGTQ+ community enlighten me…. What is the difference between a gay character in Strange Workd and a non- binary character on Elemental…. Seeing as the latter was a word of mouth leggy film and also one of the top streaming movies on all platforms last year

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

At this point, it seems very likely Disney wins the 2024 box office. The major open questions are whether Moana 2 harms the franchise despite making lots of money and whether Mufasa shows that TLMs underperformance was an outlier or a trend.

Probably…if inside out gets to 10 figures and Deadpool does as expected?

Not sure about the others

I think redundant lion king may flame out and Moana will do well.

Moana has very good brand appeal. Moreso than a lot of others they seem to be fixated on…

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

We can’t live in a world where everyone with an opinion is a bigot or pretentious…

I won’t…we already see how destructive that can be in just 10-15 years. Which is NOTHING in terms of time.

We certainly don’t need to muddy already dark waters by using it as a shield for a company playing the greed game…with a guy who pays himself $100,000,000 a year and won’t LEAVE past his expiration date.

No thanks.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Perhaps I don’t get it… I am a straight white Male who has never and will never have children…although I don’t have an issue with my niece and nephew watching such content. But neither does my brother with his kids… as far as I can tell Wisconsin is middle America… so as part of the LBGTQ+ community enlighten me…. What is the difference between a gay character in Strange Workd and a non- binary character on Elemental…. Seeing as the latter was a word of mouth leggy film and also one of the top streaming movies on all platforms last year

Humans have a fear of things that aren’t their experience. It’s primal.

They’ll get there…we just can’t put things on a time table. That’s what Disney needs to do…make progress without drawing battle lines. They haven’t done a good job so far.

The mistakes they’re making ultimately go back to this blue ocean nonsense. Which was a bad theory…not a viable plan. Bob can keep that when they deactivate his id.

That doesn’t mean you discard or try to marginalize everyone who needs more time. They’ll get there. I promise.

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

At this point, it seems very likely Disney wins the 2024 box office. The major open questions are whether Moana 2 harms the franchise despite making lots of money and whether Mufasa shows that TLMs underperformance was an outlier or a trend.

Im usually wrong in my BO predictions... Moana 2 will do well but Mufasa will struggle. Wolverine and Deadpool will crush it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Im usually wrong in my BO predictions but Moana 2 will do well but Mufasa will struggle. Wolverine and Deadpool will crush it.

That’s my guess as well

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Ah… It would probably be a boring debate… we would be too agreeable…I did not think Strange World was a good movie…. I don’t think your reasoning would be of the bigotry variety… even though you enjoy twisting words, jumping to conclusions and making up false quotes

So we agree but i’m a different breed of scum?…

I’ll take it…i pride myself in being a rust belt comedian

 

[Ghost93]

They’ll get there…we just can’t put things on a time table. That’s what Disney needs to do…make progress without drawing battle lines. They haven’t done a good job so far.

Well, eventually, somebody has to make the risky move to make progress happen. Even if it isn't financially rewarding in the short term, it helps pave way for future representation.

I will somewhat agree, however, the way Disney has gone about LGBT inclusion has been clumsy from a business standpoint. I still maintain Disney should have made one GREAT movie with a gay romance/relationship as the focus and then have had several movies in a row with no gay characters rather than try to shoehorn a bunch of insignificant gay supporting characters into almost every film. Gay or lesbian people may appreciate seeing a minor gay supporting character, but they won't show up in droves to support a film with relatively minor representation. Yet people who have an issue with gay characters WILL boycott a movie with gay representation, even if it's small. Which is why if Disney was to endure all the controversy for LGBT representation, they should have just gone all out and made something more substantial.

 

[Ghost93]

Perhaps I don’t get it… I am a straight white Male who has never and will never have children…although I don’t have an issue with my niece and nephew watching such content. But neither does my brother with his kids… as far as I can tell Wisconsin is middle America… so as part of the LBGTQ+ community enlighten me…. What is the difference between a gay character in Strange Workd and a non- binary character on Elemental…. Seeing as the latter was a word of mouth leggy film and also one of the top streaming movies on all platforms last year

A few things:
1. Elemental is an infinitely better movie than Strange World
2. No one would know the character in Elemental who has maybe one line was nonbinary if not for the voice actor confirming so, wheraz Ethan's crush on Diazo is explicitly stated numerous times in Strange World. I even hesitate to call the nonbinary person in Elemental a "character" as they have one scene and we know absolutely nothing about them other than they are related to Wade. I don't mind the inclusion but it should NOT have been hyped up in articles before hand because it is extremely easy to miss.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Well, eventually, somebody has to make the risky move to make progress happen. Even if it isn't financially rewarding in the short term, it helps pave way for future representation.

I will somewhat agree, however, the way Disney has gone about LGBT inclusion has been clumsy from a business standpoint. I still maintain Disney should have made one GREAT movie with a gay romance/relationship as the focus and then have had several movies in a row with no gay characters rather than try to shoehorn a bunch of insignificant gay supporting characters into almost every film. Gay or lesbian people may appreciate seeing a minor gay supporting character, but they won't show up in droves to support a film with relatively minor representation. Yet people who have an issue with gay characters WILL boycott a movie with gay representation, even if it's small. Which is why if Disney was to endure all the controversy for LGBT representation, they should have just gone all out and made something more substantial.

I totally agree that they should do these things…

The problem is this isn’t a non-profit or a government agency…

This is a stock behemoth with bad management. I always (jokes aside) try to be a pragmatist…and this is where that comes in.

They have to shift their market…which takes time…not turn away from it.

And that is frustrating. But there’s hope. I can think of ALOT of things 10, 15, 25 years ago that advocates were distraught it would “take forever”…but they happened and aren’t second guessed now.

It’s possible with brain power.