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

[DisneyWarrior27]

The numbers are in.

Moana 2’s 5-day opening weekend worldwide is $386.3M ($221M in the U.S. and $165.3M overseas): .

 

[BrianLo]

It has its star song.

And 2-3 other memorable ones.

The rest are all "Fixer Upper."

That's two hours worth of Fixer Uppers.



Compare that to Moana (original) in which just about every song is an earworm. Or Encanto in which almost every song spent some time on Billboard Top 100.


It's difficult to have every song in a musical a smashing success. Just like it's difficult for a recording artist to put out an album in which all songs become hit-singles.

I definitely don’t think Moana had a consistently amazing soundtrack. Encanto is a bit better. Frozen more so. Wicked was a lot more consistent and Moana has more what you accuse it of - 3 songs of note. Though all these movies pale to the early renaissance soundtracks. Lion King are bangers from start to finish; even the added broadway song.

 

[BrianLo]

It’s surprising again how much stronger this is doing than Frozen 2. We’re going to see a third eventually and hopefully everyone gets their wish with LMM returning.

If executives should take away one thing from this weekend, it’s that don’t be afraid of good competition. Start focusing more of your slates on woman and families.

Iger is certainly coming off swimmingly with his decision making on refocusing back on theatrical.

1. Moana 2 (Dis) 4200 theaters, Wed $57.5M Thu$28M Fri $54.5M Sat $50.5M Sun $30.5M 3-day $135.5M 5-day $221M/Wk 1

2.Wicked (Uni) 3,888 theaters, Wed $20.4M Thu$17M Fri $32M Sat $29.4M Sun $18.6M 3-day $80M(-29%), 5-day $117.5M/Total $262.4M/Wk 2

 

[BrianLo]

Wowee, Maui! ‘Moana 2’ Sails Higher With $389M Worldwide Opening; Biggest Ever For An Animated Movie – International Box Office Update

Disney’s Moana 2 grossed $389M in its global box office bow, setting a new record for the highest ever reported global animated opening weekend

deadline.com

International markets blowing up too. A smattering of number one animated openings ever or number 1/2 for WDAS. This isn’t a holiday weekend internationally, which is all the more impressive next to summer animated openings. I’m seeing a lot of 1.5B energy; and a sequel.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Wicked is now the highest grossing movie musical based on a Broadway show, but that's not adjusting for inflation

However, once it passes $300 million domestically then it will be in the top 10 all time adjusted.

 

[Ghost93]

If executives should take away one thing from this weekend, it’s that don’t be afraid of good competition. Start focusing more of your slates on woman and families.

Which is what Disney did previously with Wish.

 

[Disney Analyst]

 

[LittleBuford]

Happy as I am for Disney, I wish this were happening with a worthier film.

 

[Farerb]

Happy as I am for Disney, I wish this were happening with a worthier film.

It's happening mostly thanks to how beloved the original is. We should all be happy that the original is as much a classic as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and receives the same treatment as they did by getting cheap sequels and a remake.

 

[LittleBuford]

It's happening mostly thanks to how beloved the original is. We should all be happy that the original is as much a classic as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and receives the same treatment as they did by getting cheap sequels and a remake.

I have no objection in principle to sequels and remakes. I just wish that box-office performance were more directly correlated with quality.

 

[Disney Irish]

I have no objection in principle to sequels and remakes. I just wish that box-office performance were more directly correlated with quality.

Unfortunately the general public has never truly cared about quality in the era of franchises. If they had we wouldn't have 11 and counting Fast and Furious movies all to varying degrees of success.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

It's happening mostly thanks to how beloved the original is. We should all be happy that the original is as much a classic as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and receives the same treatment as they did by getting cheap sequels and a remake.

A reminder for all those celebrating Moana 2's box office that Return of Jafar was among the top 10 best selling home video titles of all time in 1994.

 

[DKampy]

Unfortunately the general public has never truly cared about quality in the era of franchises. If they had we wouldn't have 11 and counting Fast and Furious movies all to varying degrees of success

It is not just a now problem….which is why we have so many Police Academy sequels and Adam Sandler movies

 

[celluloid]

Turns out family movies, animation and theaters are not all failing.

 

[DisneyWarrior27]

Now with the inevitability of Moana 2 making a billion thus making the experiment of turning a Disney+ series into a movie a success, there’s only one question… Will Disney turn Tiana into a sequel to The Princess and the Frog for a theatrical release in Thanksgiving 2029 and give it the needed money to make it fully 2D/hand-drawn animated?

Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

I would like to believe there will be C-suite level conversations at Disney about doing that when they come back from their holiday vacation tomorrow.

 

[Disney Irish]

Turns out family movies, animation and theaters are not all failing.

Its funny what a difference a year makes, however I don't think we're out of the woods yet to say one way or the other. Its going to take a few years of stellar box office before it can be said they aren't failing. Domestically theaters are still struggling, and we're still not if ever getting back to a prepandemic box office. AMC for example still has more than a few popcorn buckets full of debt they haven't taken care of yet, they've staved off going under for now, but that bill will come due soon. So unless things change for them that is one that may be lost. Regal isn't doing that much better even though they emerged recently from bankruptcy themselves. Cinemark is the only chain that seems solid for now. So when two of the three major chains still have financial troubles its still not clear how thing will shake out.

So yes things look rosy right now, but all it takes is another disruption for the house of cards to fall.

 

[Disney Irish]

Now with the inevitability of Moana 2 making a billion thus making the experiment of turning a Disney+ series into a movie a success, there’s only one question… Will Disney turn Tiana into a sequel to The Princess and the Frog for a theatrical release in Thanksgiving 2029 and give it the needed money to make it fully 2D/hand-drawn animated?

Guess we’ll have to wait and see…

I would like to believe there will be C-suite level conversations at Disney about doing that when they come back from their holiday vacation tomorrow.

I think it all depends on how far along they are in production. The thing that made it easy for Moana 2 to transition from a series to theatrical is they hadn't really started yet on the animation, only on the story (which I assume only had some rough storyboard animations done).

If the Tiana series, especially if its 2d hand drawn, has already started animation I don't see them spending the money to transition it to theatrical.

But we'll have to wait and see, anything is possible.

 

[Tha Realest]

It's happening mostly thanks to how beloved the original is. We should all be happy that the original is as much a classic as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin and receives the same treatment as they did by getting cheap sequels and a remake.

Taking Pixar out of the equation (and their record is mixed too) WDAS has an abysmal record in terms of sequels to their animated films.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Taking Pixar out of the equation (and their record is mixed too) WDAS has an abysmal record in terms of sequels to their animated films.

The direct-to-video sequels were done by Disney Toon Studios, not WDAS proper. Their sequels to date:

The Rescuers Down Under
Fantasia 2000
Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Frozen 2
Moana 2*

+ the upcoming Zootopia 2 and Frozen 3 and 4

Having said that, I hope future sequels turn out better than their last 3

 

[DisneyWarrior27]

I think it all depends on how far along they are in production. The thing that made it easy for Moana 2 to transition from a series to theatrical is they hadn't really started yet on the animation, only on the story (which I assume only had some rough storyboard animations done).

If the Tiana series, especially if its 2d hand drawn, has already started animation I don't see them spending the money to transition it to theatrical.

But we'll have to wait and see, anything is possible.

From what I understand, the last I heard of Tiana was when I was at D23 and all they said was that it’s “now in production,” meaning it may have already started production in August.

So, compared to Moana 2, it’s early enough that they might be able to change course before it’s too far into the production process.