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

[CinematicFusion]

What was its overt messaging in your opinion? The interpretations that people have offered over in the Wish thread are all over the place. If the film was lecturing us (and I personally don’t think it was), there seems to be little agreement on what it was saying.

Honestly why are we even talking about that movie. It wasn’t good. It was forgettable.
We all keep trying to explain why the film didn’t work and I gave the best opinion I could.
In the end… Wish simply didn’t resonate with audiences. It lacked the engaging elements and emotional depth that viewers expect from a successful Disney film, making it a forgettable entry in their catalog.

It happens… but Disney is back on its game with Inside out 2 and Deadpool and the audiences agree.

 

[LittleBuford]

I did not find Wish lecturing

Nor did I. Its messaging, if we can call it that, was very much along safe and predictable Disney lines: you are special, your wishes matter, and you can make them come true.

 

[LittleBuford]

Honestly why are we even talking about that movie.

Because it defies the idea that the respective success or failure of Disney’s recent films is directly or predictably correlated with ideological factors.

 

[LittleBuford]

What is the social messaging in Elemental you are referring to?

I think it’s pretty widely accepted that the film relates to immigrant experiences and to themes of love across cultural/racial lines. The director has confirmed this is the case in multiple interviews.

 

[bwr827]

Because it defies the idea that the respective success or failure of Disney’s recent films is directly or predictably correlated with ideological factors.

Your comments come across as very disingenuous.

“I’m confused…” (I don’t think you are).

“Hopefully we can move past this topic…” (so why are you insisting on discussing it?).

Also: Disney’s political situation has changed significantly. E.g. the whole governor fight is gone, old news (as is the governor).

Generally, if a movie wants to land a tricky message, it needs to be better than good.

And a generally good movie can make it big, even if it’s not the greatest ever.

 

[Disney Irish]

I’m so confused. After initially resisting the idea, I really became convinced that Disney’s box-office slump was due in part to ideological opposition to the company, and then Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine (which I just saw) came along. Whatever the explanation, I’m glad we can (begin to) move on from some of the notions that have dominated these threads during the last two years.

Well without going deep into off-limit topics its hard to give you an exact detailed explanation. Sure some quality issues were part of it, but lets just say, blame the 24h news cycle, once Disney was no longer being discussed and the constant attacks were dropped, people tend to forget what their issues were with Disney and just went back to watching the movies.

 

[Disney Analyst]

Because it defies the idea that the respective success or failure of Disney’s recent films is directly or predictably correlated with ideological factors.

The fact is, some films did not do well for a myriad of reasons. Yet one side decided to use those flops as fodder for their “anti-woke” messaging, when the truth is that made a negligible difference.

Plenty of presumably “woke” films have been smash hits (cough Barbie cough). But they refuse to see the idiocy of their argument, and double down.

Disney is successful again at the box office, and not a peep from them.

 

[LittleBuford]

Your comments come across as very disingenuous.

“I’m confused…” (I don’t think you are).

I wouldn’t say I’m confused if I weren’t.

“Hopefully we can move past this topic…” (so why are you insisting on discussing it?).

I can’t “insist” on discussing anything if people don’t reply to me. That’s generally how conversations here proceed; it’s a two-way street.

In any case, my wish has to do with the general tone of these threads, which for two years now have been dominated by a particular narrative that even I ended up buying into it. Hoping that we can move past that narrative going forward doesn’t mean I can’t continue discussing it in the short term.

 

[CinematicFusion]

Well without going deep into off-limit topics its hard to give you an exact detailed explanation. Sure some quality issues were part of it, but lets just say, blame the 24h news cycle, once Disney was no longer being discussed and the constant attacks were dropped, people tend to forget what their issues were with Disney and just went back to watching the movies.

Also… Wish was a bad film. Wish comes out today and it bombs.
Inside out 2 or Deadpool comes out last year and they are hits.
Let’s also never forget that.

 

[CinematicFusion]

Your comments come across as very disingenuous.

“I’m confused…” (I don’t think you are).

“Hopefully we can move past this topic…” (so why are you insisting on discussing it?).

Also: Disney’s political situation has changed significantly. E.g. the whole governor fight is gone, old news (as is the governor).

Generally, if a movie wants to land a tricky message, it needs to be better than good.

And a generally good movie can make it big, even if it’s not the greatest ever.

Agree

 

[LittleBuford]

Well without going deep into off-limit topics it’s hard to give you an exact detailed explanation. Sure some quality issues were part of it, but lets just say, blame the 24h news cycle, once Disney was no longer being discussed and the constant attacks were dropped, people tend to forget what their issues were with Disney and just went back to watching the movies.

Perhaps. But Disney is still receiving plenty of (ideologically inflected) bad press at the moment, which is why I’m genuinely puzzled by the apparent—and rather sudden—box-office turnaround. I suppose another reason I’m confused is that, while I did enjoy Inside Out 2, I would never have predicted after seeing it that it would be the film to break the curse. It’s a solid film, but not as good as its performance would suggest (I felt the same about Frozen 2).

 

[Disney Irish]

Perhaps. But Disney is still receiving plenty of (ideologically inflected) bad press at the moment, which is why I’m genuinely puzzled by the apparent—and rather sudden—box-office turnaround. I suppose another reason I’m confused is that, while I did enjoy Inside Out 2, I would never have predicted after seeing it that it would be the film to break the curse. It’s a solid film, but not as good as its performance would suggest (I felt the same about Frozen 2).

Its not though, at least not like it was in 2023. Once the attacks were dropped by certain figures sentiment toward Disney changed for the positive. So just like what appeared to be Disney losing the box office overnight, so too is their reclaiming the top spot at the box office.

 

[Disney Irish]

Also… Wish was a bad film. Wish comes out today and it bombs.
Inside out 2 or Deadpool comes out last year and they are hits.
Let’s also never forget that.

Wish wasn't "bad", it might not have been inspiring, but it wasn't bad. As the kids today say, it was "meh", ie neither good nor bad.

 

[CinematicFusion]

Perhaps. But Disney is still receiving plenty of (ideologically inflected) bad press at the moment, which is why I’m genuinely puzzled by the apparent—and rather sudden—box-office turnaround. I suppose another reason I’m confused is that, while I did enjoy Inside Out 2, I would never have predicted after seeing it that it would be the film to break the curse. It’s a solid film, but not as good as its performance would suggest (I felt the same about Frozen 2).

Great films like the first Inside Out create demand. My girls couldn’t wait to see another Inside out, they watched it quite a bit growing up.
Everyone loved the character Riley and couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

 

[erasure fan1]

Wish wasn't "bad", it might not have been inspiring, but it wasn't bad. As the kids today say, it was "meh", ie neither good nor bad.

I'd say it wasn't terrible. It leaned more towards bad then meh for me. It was really hard to get through for me. It put me to sleep at least 3 times. Lol

 

[Disney Irish]

Have now seen the Wicked trailer a bunch of times in theaters. Is it just me or is Ariana Grande evoking Kristin Chenoweth in her portrayal of Glinda? It makes sense as Chenoweth originated the character for Broadway, and Grande is known as a very good vocal mimic. But man I'm hearing Chenoweth's voice every time I see the trailer.

 

[Disney Irish]

I'd say it wasn't terrible. It leaned more towards bad then meh for me. It was really hard to get through for me. It put me to sleep at least 3 times. Lol

To each their own, but its just meh to me.

 

[LittleBuford]

It’s not though, at least not like it was in 2023. Once the attacks were dropped by certain figures sentiment toward Disney changed for the positive. So just like what appeared to be Disney losing the box office overnight, so too is their reclaiming the top spot at the box office.

On balance, I think I agree with @Disney Analyst that ideological factors were not particularly impactful in the first place. I acknowledge that the situation regarding the governor of Florida has changed, but I’m doubtful that this shift can account for what we’re seeing at the box office, particularly at the international level.

 

[Disney Irish]

On balance, I think I agree with @Disney Analyst that ideological factors were not particularly impactful in the first place. I acknowledge that the situation regarding the governor of Florida has changed, but I’m doubtful that this shift can account for what we’re seeing at the box office, particularly at the international level.

I'm sure there are a bunch of factors not just one single reason. But whatever the reasons the mood has changed surrounding Disney, at least with their movies.

 

[LittleBuford]

Great films like the first Inside Out create demand. My girls couldn’t wait to see another Inside out, they watched it quite a bit growing up.
Everyone loved the character Riley and couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

I get that. I loved the first film too, but the second didn’t quite live up to it for me. I definitely didn’t expect it to become the most successful animated film of all time.