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

[Sirwalterraleigh]

What's interesting is that it wasn't always that way. In the 90s, for instance, you've got popular movies like Dances with Wolves, Silence of the Lambs, Forrest Gump, and Titanic winning Best Picture. Schindler's List, Braveheart, and Unforgiven also did well at the box office.

I think that has shifted in the years since, with less popular movies winning more frequently now. I'm sure there are many factors that go into the change.

To be fair…there were less movies

But you make an excellent point

 

[brideck]

I’m not a film critic…so I’m not reading trades or watching YouTubers (as I don’t for those that “cover” Disney)…so I respond when I pick it up on my radar. I looked for Anora about a month ago…which is honestly when a normie might have caught wind…just not a wide net

I'm not any of those things either, but I do pay attention to what Neon & A24 distribute because they both generally have great taste and I know I'll be able to easily find those movies around me.

Is it available for buy? I thought it wasn’t available until 3/17?

Rent for $6, buy for $15 on Amazon, as an example. Per Twitter, 3/17 is when it'll turn up on Hulu.

I never liked the bifurcation of Hollywood in the last 25+ years. It’s either arthouse that is weird…or popcorn that is intentionally dumbed down to the lowest common dumbinator

In an ideal world (I’m still searching for)…they’d both move toward the middle

I would argue that movies like what you seek are still being produced, just not in great number. As an example, I would highly recommend My Dead Friend Zoe, which just came out this weekend. It's a funny, devastating, heartwarming, veteran-made movie about PTSD and caring for veterans -- topics that have unfortunately somehow become politicized in our current environment, but used to be something the general public could rally around. It deserves a massive audience, but has no hope of finding one (<$1m for its opening weekend).

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm not any of those things either, but I do pay attention to what Neon & A24 distribute because they both generally have great taste and I know I'll be able to easily find those movies around me.



Rent for $6, buy for $15 on Amazon, as an example. Per Twitter, 3/17 is when it'll turn up on Hulu.



I would argue that movies like what you seek are still being produced, just not in great number. As an example, I would highly recommend My Dead Friend Zoe, which just came out this weekend. It's a funny, devastating, heartwarming, veteran-made movie about PTSD and caring for veterans -- topics that have unfortunately somehow become politicized in our current environment, but used to be something the general public could rally around. It deserves a massive audience, but has no hope of finding one (<$1m for its opening weekend).

I agree with you…totally

Now can we agree that Brody is an insufferable d!nk that nobody likes and that’s 100% on him?

He’s like the clearance bin version of Daniel day Lewis…

 

[brideck]

Now can we agree that Brody is an insufferable d!nk that nobody likes and that’s 100% on him?

Ha. Honestly, I generally like him as an actor. He has such a distinct look that it would be hard to necessarily believe him in some roles, but his first stretch of post-Oscar movies was good stuff in my book -- Hollywoodland, The Village, The Brothers Bloom, etc.

As a person? No real idea. I don't pay much mind to folks, but I just assume that I wouldn't really enjoy being around very many celebrities from any field at all. Moreso, I'm not really sure what I'd get personally out of having such strong negative feelings about some of them, but it seems to be a popular pastime.

I was surprised that the producers and orchestra went along with extending his time -- apparently it's now the longest Oscars acceptance speech in history. It was like 90% subtext without really saying anything concrete -- overly careful and a bit amusing to watch.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Ha. Honestly, I generally like him as an actor. He has such a distinct look that it would be hard to necessarily believe him in some roles, but his first stretch of post-Oscar movies was good stuff in my book -- Hollywoodland, The Village, The Brothers Bloom, etc.

As a person? No real idea. I don't pay much mind to folks, but I just assume that I wouldn't really enjoy being around very many celebrities from any field at all. Moreso, I'm not really sure what I'd get personally out of having such strong negative feelings about some of them, but it seems to be a popular pastime.

I was surprised that the producers and orchestra went along with extending his time -- apparently it's now the longest Oscars acceptance speech in history. It was like 90% subtext without really saying anything concrete -- overly careful and a bit amusing to watch.

It was awful

He came off as a self righteous A-hole

Getting snippy and lamenting negative Pr he created…I’m surprised Halle berry didn’t have her bodyguard kneecap him just on principal

…and speaking of…my god…she’s almost 60…like fine wine

 

[brideck]

Getting snippy and lamenting negative Pr he created…I’m surprised Halle berry didn’t have her bodyguard kneecap him just on principal

You say that and yet...

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/...s-famous-kiss-adrien-brody/story?id=119361165

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I was surprised that the producers and orchestra went along with extending his time -- apparently it's now the longest Oscars acceptance speech in history. It was like 90% subtext without really saying anything concrete -- overly careful and a bit amusing to watch.

Yeah, missed opportunity. If you’re going to stall the music, you’d better have your thoughts together.

This is why we have screenwriters!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I think "Mother Earth and Father Time" would have been a nicer In Memoriam song, both as a tribute to Richard Sherman who was included in the montage, and because its simple sentimentality would have been more tonally appropriate IMO.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Had to laugh when Iger got his contractually-required random cutaway shot sitting in the audience.

It was also a weird shot/angle of him. If you didn't know who he was (as most don't) you'd be like "who was that?"

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You say that and yet...

https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Culture/...s-famous-kiss-adrien-brody/story?id=119361165

Well good for her for getting past it…it was creepy/cringey as all hell

 

[TalkingHead]

Flow winning best animated feature is kinda wild when you realize it was made with open-source software by a small team of artists. I still haven’t seen it but heard good things. Amazing that it beat Pixar and Universal entries. Really goes to show how much the Academy voting body has changed in the last ten years.

 

[Farerb]

Flow winning best animated feature is kinda wild when you realize it was made with open-source software by a small team of artists. I still haven’t seen it but heard good things. Amazing that it beat Pixar and Universal entries. Really goes to show how much the Academy voting body has changed in the last ten years.

I heard that the Academy hates the people who worked on the Disney Renaissance, which is why Musker and Clements never won the award, why Musker wasn't nominated for his short film (and Andreas Deja as well) and why Menken is never nominated anymore. Maybe that's the reason why they didn't want to give the award to Chris Sanders.

 

[Agent H]

I heard that the Academy hates the people who worked on the Disney Renaissance, which is why Musker and Clements never won the award, why Musker wasn't nominated for his short film (and Andreas Deja as well) and why Menken is never nominated anymore. Maybe that's the reason why they didn't want to give the award to Chris Sanders.

Source?

 

[TP2000]

And what’ll end up happening once TPs generation no longer tunes in is that they’ll go back to not televising it like they did the first 25 years of its existence.

That line cracked me up more than it should have.

I had to go to untrustworthy Google to look up how many TV sets there were in the 1930's and 40's. (I'm old, but I wasn't there.)

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held in Hollywood in 1929. There were no commercially available TV's.

The first large scale exhibit of Television was made at the 1939 New York World's Fair. But World War II put it all on hold.

After World War II ended, in 1946 there were approximately 10,000 TV sets in the USA.

The Academy Awards was televised for the first time in March, 1953. Prices for 12 inch TV sets were dropping fast by then. 1953 was the same year that half of American households had a TV set!

This isn’t a night for the public to celebrate films, it’s a night for Hollywood to celebrate themselves and their films. It always has been that way, and always will be no matter who watches or doesn’t watch the broadcast.

It actually hasn't always been that way.

In 1975, 48.1 Million Americans watched the Oscars. That was 23% of the US population of 216 Million that year.

Fifty years later...

In 2024, 19.5 Million Americans watched the Oscars. That was 6% of the US population of 340 Million that year.

Doing that math actually surprised me. I can sense the Oscars are on the cusp of cultural irrelevancy, but I hadn't realized how low it had dropped as a percentage of the US population. That's incredible to see, really.

 

[brideck]

In 1975, 48.1 Million Americans watched the Oscars. That was 23% of the US population of 216 Million that year.

Fifty years later...

In 2024, 19.5 Million Americans watched the Oscars. That was 6% of the US population of 340 Million that year.

Doing that math actually surprised me. I can sense the Oscars are on the cusp of cultural irrelevancy, but I hadn't realized how low it had dropped as a percentage of the US population. That's incredible to see, really.

More math-related questions for you:

How many TV channels were there in 1975?

How many are there now? (I'll cut you some slack and not even ask you to include all of the non-TV ways that people watch video entertainment today.)

How many people tuned in back in 1975 due to lack of other options, but didn't really care about them?

How many people care today, but don't actually watch the broadcast, instead watching via snippets posted to various social media platforms?

 

[Disstevefan1]

More math-related questions for you:

How many TV channels were there in 1975?

How many are there now? (I'll cut you some slack and not even ask you to include all of the non-TV ways that people watch video entertainment today.)

How many people tuned in back in 1975 due to lack of other options, but didn't really care about them?

How many people care today, but don't actually watch the broadcast, instead watching via snippets posted to various social media platforms?

In 1975 you had 2 through 13 and a couple of UHF channels from the antenna or a hand full more if you were rich enough to afford cable and there was nothing on to watch.

Fast forward to today, thousands of choose from and there is still nothing on to watch

 

[TP2000]

More math-related questions for you:

How many TV channels were there in 1975?

How many are there now? (I'll cut you some slack and not even ask you to include all of the non-TV ways that people watch video entertainment today.)

How many people tuned in back in 1975 due to lack of other options, but didn't really care about them?

How many people care today, but don't actually watch the broadcast, instead watching via snippets posted to various social media platforms?

While we await the official viewership numbers from last night's Oscars telecast on ABC.... You can answer the question of the cultural relevancy of the Oscars, and it's crashing viewership in the past 15 years, by comparing it to other TV events that were as big, or bigger, than the Oscars. Using our 50 year timeframe again:

In 1975, 48.1 Million people watched the Oscars. That was 23% of the US population at that time.
In 1975, 56.0 Million people watched the Super Bowl. That was 26% of the US population at that time.

In 2024, 19.5 Million people watched the Oscars. That was 6% of the US population at that time.
In 2025, 127.7 Million people watched the Super Bowl. That was 38% of the US population at that time.

In 1975 the Super Bowl was only 8 years old, and the Oscars were 46 years old.

Technology has changed greatly since 1975, but the cultural relevancy and impact of the Oscars has crashed in the last 15 years. And trust me when I tell you that in the last few decades of the 20th century, the Oscars viewing parties in the homes of confirmed bachelors were epic!

 

[TP2000]

Since hardly any of us probably saw Anora, and it wasn't mentioned here at all really the past four months, here is the Box Office performance for that Best Picture winner.

Doing the box office math on that gives us this profit for this arthouse film by Neon studios:

Anora: Production $6 Million, Marketing $3 Million, Domestic $10, Overseas $9 = $10 Million Profit

Anora (2024) - Box Office and Financial Information

Financial analysis of Anora (2024) including production budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports.

www.the-numbers.com

 

[Disstevefan1]

Since hardly any of us probably saw Anora, and it wasn't mentioned here at all really the past four months, here is the Box Office performance for that Best Picture winner.

View attachment 847016

Doing the box office math on that gives us this profit for this arthouse film by Neon studios:

Anora: Production $6 Million, Marketing $3 Million, Domestic $10, Overseas $9 = $10 Million Profit

Anora (2024) - Box Office and Financial Information

Financial analysis of Anora (2024) including production budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports.

www.the-numbers.com

6M is the catering budget on a typical Disney movie.

 

[Phroobar]

Flow winning best animated feature is kinda wild when you realize it was made with open-source software by a small team of artists. I still haven’t seen it but heard good things. Amazing that it beat Pixar and Universal entries. Really goes to show how much the Academy voting body has changed in the last ten years.

I saw Flow in the theaters. It's wonderful movie with a lot of heart. It makes me want to replay Stray. It was definitely the best choice for an Oscar followed by Wild Robot.