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

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Nope. @BlakeW39 understood what I meant, and that’s good enough for me.

Yeah…his last post was saying not to make excuses for bad products.

Good enough for me too

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Well therein lies a big problem with Disney. EVERY movie Disney releases seems to be meant to be a tentpole. So EVERY movie they release gets a TON of attention and the spotlight is always on those movies. Universal (and other studios) release a lot more movies than Disney does each year. However, 90% of people have never heard of 90% of those other studios' movies. Other studios may put out 1 or 2 movies a year that are meant to be tentpoles, hoping at least one of them will be big.

And other studios have escaped the vicious political/social media attacks that Disney has undergone. The only other studio to suffer from the media onslaught has been WB, mostly for their handling of DCEU.

Disney’s movies are not being brought down…domestically or abroad…by politics

It factors in…but that’s not the guilty party.

They’ve run their studios pretty badly for 5-10 years and that’s now showing up.

Most of the people in the US are concentrated in cities and “coasts”…the old “too bad cows don’t vote” doctrine.
And the rest of the world cares not for US politics.

The product is stale.
Lightyear didn’t bomb because his friend was gay…it’s because nobody wanted the story in the first place.

Solo…basically.

 

[Jedijax719]

Disney’s movies are not being brought down…domestically or abroad…but politics

It factors in…but that’s not the guilty party.

They’ve run their studios pretty badly for 5-10 years and that’s now showing up.

Most of the people in the US are concentrated in cities and “coasts”…the old “too bad cows don’t vote” doctrine.
And the rest of the world cares not for US politics.

The product is stale.
Lightyear didn’t bomb because his friend was gay…it’s because nobody wanted the story in the first place.

Solo…basically.

And....so you have nothing to say about movies like FastX, Rise of the Beast, Dungeons and Dragons, the new bomb Teenage Kraken, etc? It's all about how DISNEY has failed for the past 10 years (despite having an unthinkable 2019). Disney is the only studio "guilty" for such "travesties"?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

And....so you have nothing to say about movies like FastX, Rise of the Beast, Dungeons and Dragons, the new bomb Teenage Kraken, etc? It's all about how DISNEY has failed for the past 10 years (despite having an unthinkable 2019). Disney is the only studio "guilty" for such "travesties"?

I have the the same exact thing to say: they’re repetitive to be “safe” for bankers in Hollywood…so it’s all they make…and it’s not going well.

diminishing returns across the board. You just provided great examples of an industry wide problem.

Where we divert is that Disney is the poster child for it. Running gigantic IP off the road.

Fast and furious and transformers? Big deal…
Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Disney animation, Pixar, marvel?
Decades of high profile recognition. They NEVER should fail. Got 3 in the tank already this year…actually 4…

Just did it again.

You don’t have to support that. It doesn’t mean they won’t still sell you a Halloween party ticket it you don’t.

They still accept cash and major credit cards…no questions asked.

 

[Jedijax719]

I have the the same exact thing to say: they’re repetitive to be “safe” for bankers in Hollywood…so it’s all they make…and it’s not going well.

diminishing returns across the board. You just provided great examples of an industry wide problem.

Where we divert is that Disney is the poster child for it. Running gigantic IP off the road.

Fast and furious and transformers? Big deal…
Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Disney animation, Pixar, marvel?
Decades of high profile recognition. They NEVER should fail. Got 3 in the tank already this year…actually 4…

Just did it again.

You don’t have to support that. It doesn’t mean they won’t still sell you a Halloween party ticket it you don’t.

They still accept cash and major credit cards…no questions asked.

Nothing should ever fail. If that were true about life, we'd all be in paradise. Very few movies have succeeded since the pandemic. There have only been about 4 movies that have hit a billion since the pandemic. That's 4 in the past 3-4 years. In 2019, Disney had 7 movies hit a billion. Anyone expecting Disney (or any studio) to match that now is crazy and living in fantasy world. Anybody thinking a studio should have more than one billion-dollar movie in a year now is equally crazy. Just not happening. Budgets for ALL studios have swelled since the pandemic due to multiple delays, etc. We may settle into a time where budgets level off (if anyone other than stakeholders care), but the box office results won't change.

Wait to see what happens next year if you think this year is bad. We have Deadpool 3 and Inside Out 2 as the top prospects. I don't see Captain America 4 or Thunderbolts being huge hits unfortunately. And Avatar 2 moved to 2025. 2024 is going to make 2023 look like a goldmine.

 

[Indy_UK]

The product is stale.
Lightyear didn’t bomb because his friend was gay…it’s because nobody wanted the story in the first place.

Solo…basically.

This I certainly agree with.

Disney like to make movies that fill a story gap but a story that people don’t want in which case, it’s going to bomb.

I love Star Wars but I will never watch solo again. I really didn’t need to know about Landos Relationship with a droid and how it became part of the falcon.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This I certainly agree with.

Disney like to make movies that fill a story gap but a story that people don’t want in which case, it’s going to bomb.

I love Star Wars but I will never watch solo again. I really didn’t need to know about Landos Relationship with a droid and how it became part of the falcon.

I totally forgot about that!

Never watched it again

Solo was awful…and I’d argue it’s the second best Disney Star Wars movie

 

[Indy_UK]

I totally forgot about that!

Never watched it again

Solo was awful…and I’d argue it’s the second best Disney Star Wars movie

That’s a stetch. As much as I disliked Rise of Skywalker for the mess it was, at least things actually happened in the movie. Solo was essentially Han winning the Falcon in a card game and promoting droids rights.

They should have canned that before they brought Ron Howard on.

And it worries me that in their future slate, they again intent to release 2 Star Wars films within 6 months again. History will just repeat itself.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

That’s a stetch. As much as I disliked Rise of Skywalker for the mess it was, at least things actually happened in the movie. Solo was essentially Han winning the Falcon in a card game and promoting droids rights.

They should have canned that before they brought Ron Howard on.

And it worries me that in their future slate, they again intent to release 2 Star Wars films within 6 months again. History will just repeat itself.

I can be very compelling

You mean a reboot NO ONE ever asked for? (Check the tape)…followed by a twit director who literally tried to rewrite 45 years of mythology beloved worldwide (YOU…are the magic!)…followed by a dumpster fire after they realized how badly they had screwed up?

Ok…back to tracking Indy bombing…alert the hurt locker

 

[Indy_UK]

I can be very compelling

You mean a reboot NO ONE ever asked for? (Check the tape)…followed by a twit director who literally tried to rewrite 45 years of mythology beloved worldwide (YOU…are the magic!)…followed by a dumpster fire after they realized how badly they had screwed up?

Ok…back to tracking Indy bombing…alert the hurt locker

I’m not disagreeing. They messed up massively with the sequels and I expect more of the same with Daisy Ridley coming back.

My fandom for Star Wars is hanging on by the TV shows like the Mandalorian

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’m not disagreeing. They messed up massively with the sequels and I expect more of the same with Daisy Ridley coming back.

My fandom for Star Wars is hanging on by the TV shows like the Mandalorian

I think they’ve even kinda mailed that in…a little…Mando. It’s getting silly. Favreau is maintaining his distance a bit and filoni is a huge Ashoka nut…

That I do want to see..

That daisy crap should never happen. Disney lost…reset…don’t double down.

But kath kath and Bob gotta go…
Stay tuned

 

[Indy_UK]

I think they’ve even kinda mailed that in…a little…Mando. It’s getting silly. Favreau is maintaining his distance a bit and filoni is a huge Ashoka nut…

That I do want to see..

That daisy crap should never happen. Disney lost…reset…don’t double down.

But kath kath and Bob gotta go…
Stay tuned

Whenever I see anything with Favreau I get the sense he ‘likes’ what he’s doing but he really doesn’t want to get too involved.

He knows everyone would want him to take over Lucasfilm but you know full well, he wouldn’t want it

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Whenever I see anything with Favreau I get the sense he ‘likes’ what he’s doing but he really doesn’t want to get too involved.

He knows everyone would want him to take over Lucasfilm but you know full well, he wouldn’t want it

If he’s smart…he waits for Iger to go.

Money aside…it’s becoming increasingly clear he’s less sane than King George

Interesting historical parallel…in fact

As far as a favreau goes…as an “independent”…he doesn’t have to bow to stockbrokers

That’s worth ALOT

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

With the results of the last few Star Wars movies and now Indy faltering I wonder what the valuation of LucasFilm is now, Disneys already recouped what they paid for it but I’m wondering if it’s still worth what they paid for it a decade ago.

 

[TP2000]

With the results of the last few Star Wars movies and now Indy faltering I wonder what the valuation of LucasFilm is now, Disneys already recouped what they paid for it but I’m wondering if it’s still worth what they paid for it a decade ago.

Valid point there. The weekend box office is not exactly off to a rousing start, as of Friday's box office numbers. You'll need to depend on the neighborhood boys for fireworks this weekend, because the box office doesn't have any this year for the 4th.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

With the results of the last few Star Wars movies and now Indy faltering I wonder what the valuation of LucasFilm is now, Disneys already recouped what they paid for it but I’m wondering if it’s still worth what they paid for it a decade ago.

The estimates when the deal was announced …10/30/12 I believe…what I call “hurricane Sandy day”…was Lucas shorted himself.

If he had put himself on the market it would have gotten $6-$8 bil…

That’s likely…so the valuation now may be back down to $4?

Not what you want with investment. Two big franchises and they lessened their marketing pull by maybe 50%??

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Nothing should ever fail. If that were true about life, we'd all be in paradise. Very few movies have succeeded since the pandemic. There have only been about 4 movies that have hit a billion since the pandemic. That's 4 in the past 3-4 years. In 2019, Disney had 7 movies hit a billion. Anyone expecting Disney (or any studio) to match that now is crazy and living in fantasy world. Anybody thinking a studio should have more than one billion-dollar movie in a year now is equally crazy. Just not happening. Budgets for ALL studios have swelled since the pandemic due to multiple delays, etc. We may settle into a time where budgets level off (if anyone other than stakeholders care), but the box office results won't change.

Wait to see what happens next year if you think this year is bad. We have Deadpool 3 and Inside Out 2 as the top prospects. I don't see Captain America 4 or Thunderbolts being huge hits unfortunately. And Avatar 2 moved to 2025. 2024 is going to make 2023 look like a goldmine.

Star Wars and Indiana Jones should never fail.

they literally started the modern Hollywood licensed franchise/Tentpole/blockbuster machine.

I’m not talking all those other things to try to run interference. Special circumstances.

Disney messed up. Try to divert the “winds” on this…mother Nature always wins.

 

[Jedijax719]

There are tons of videos on YT that explain how to create a screenplay and get movies sold to studios. People need to RUN, not walk, but RUN away from the idea of making movies. If people come up with ideas, they need to think in terms of streaming and series. Don't try to mash a plotline into a 2-hour movie that nobody is going to see. Flesh it out into something longer where you can spill all the exposition, backstory, etc. into episodes and seasons. I HOPE that the "new" Harry Potter takes advantage of the opportunity to really get down to the magical world and backgrounds for characters. Movies just don't make a lucrative business for pretty much anyone any more. If established IP's keep falling (not, not just Disney but ALL Ip's except maybe Mario now), then there's no real room for anyone on the big screen.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There are tons of videos on YT that explain how to create a screenplay and get movies sold to studios. People need to RUN, not walk, but RUN away from the idea of making movies. If people come up with ideas, they need to think in terms of streaming and series. Don't try to mash a plotline into a 2-hour movie that nobody is going to see. Flesh it out into something longer where you can spill all the exposition, backstory, etc. into episodes and seasons. I HOPE that the "new" Harry Potter takes advantage of the opportunity to really get down to the magical world and backgrounds for characters. Movies just don't make a lucrative business for pretty much anyone any more. If established IP's keep falling (not, not just Disney but ALL Ip's except maybe Mario now), then there's no real room for anyone on the big screen.

I actually agree with you…but the “studio system” stands in the way
Studios like big, quick scores (like a dvc sale )…actors like big, guaranteed paydays

Lawyers like charging for the hour for both…


Hard habit to break.

But here’s what’s wrong with stream: ENOUGH of the 6 episode “seasons”

Star Trek: the next generation was one of the best written/development/acted series (ds9 as good or better)…
It used a future setting to explore deep, emotional characters and many social issues far ahead of it’s time

But that takes time. If it takes 20 hours to do it…SHOOT it.
Don’t overspend/chince it down to 5

Lazy

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Star Wars and Indiana Jones should never fail.

Star Trek gives me some hope, they had a couple box office failures around 2000 and managed to revitalize the series a decade later and make it successful again.

Star Wars could probably benefit from some time off right now, let people forget about the last several years and get excited for SW again. Other than the Mandalorian D+ isn’t helping the cause either, most of the D+ SW shows have been more miss than hit.