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

[Screamface]

"Live Action" Zootopia that's just hyper realistic CGI this time?

A photoreal A Bugs Life done with less emotion and expression than the live action Lion King!

Seriously, they should maybe look at doing live action Treasure Planet or Atlantis. Films they can be less precious with and also can exist a bit separately from being a live action remake because most people probably aren't aware or remember them.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Because the “Snow White is a dated IP that no one really remembers or cares for” is a transparently pathetic excuse conjured up by a few posters here over the course of the last week.

Disney’s Snow White is a year older than Superman, and two years older than Batman. And it came out two years earlier than The Wizard of Oz, which did not seem to hurt the enthusiasm or awareness of Wicked Pt. 1.

Maybe the demarcation point for when IP is hopelessly old is 1938?

When did you last watch the original Snow White? I’ve discussed, in depth, why it doesn’t conform to the cinematic conventions that audiences have come to understand as fundamental to film. And no, that isn’t a new take, I made a similar post years ago because more or less faithfully adapting Snow has ALWAYS been a fools errand.

Your invocation of Superman and Batman is particularly silly. Those characters have grown and developed over tens of thousands of comic issues published every single month (usually several times a month) for decade after decade. This is what gives comic characters their unique longevity - they constantly adapt to cultural, political, and social trends. They continually experiment and throw out what doesn’t work. It’s precisely the reason comic character adaptations work so well.

You would have tremendous difficulty faithfully adapting the first Superman comic for a modern audience. This would be a Superman who couldn’t fly, just leap, a Superman without Perry or Jimmy or Lex or Kryptonite, a Superman who didn’t fight supervillains but instead spent most of his time tackling what would now be termed “social justice” issues, slumlords and sweatshop bosses and other ordinary scum of the Depression era. It would be a Superman who had none of the humanity or soap opera elements with which Marvel revitalized the industry in the 60s, a cardboard, depthless figure. It would be a Superman that was already outdated and fading in popularity by 1945!

No one denies Snow White is a masterpiece and a vital part of Disney and Hollywood history. The kneejerk attacks on anyone who examines the film critically in any way, however, displays an unhealthy idolization that is quite different from actual love and appreciation. Frankly, this rejection of nuance and critical thought is a fundamental problem in this thread and this country.

 

[Chi84]

And yet…numb there tries to “splain away” corporate mistakes each day…which to be fair most don’t do…

But still…he persisted.

The hate network thing got real old too from some. But at least that’s understandable tactics: create a boogeyman that can never be quantified to claim a “win”

My comment was just on a very specific subject matter.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Big Hero Six remake that integrates it into the MCU?

"Live Action" Zootopia that's just hyper realistic CGI this time?

I feel like Disney will keep trying for awhile

The absolute last thing society needs is a “live action” Zootopia.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Big Hero Six remake that integrates it into the MCU?

"Live Action" Zootopia that's just hyper realistic CGI this time?

I feel like Disney will keep trying for awhile

As long as king yutz keeps giving himself contract extensions

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

My comment was just on a very specific subject matter.

This is where we are…years of throwing these not clever “darts” in the box office thread.

You can try to compartmentalize the comments to “diffuse” it…I can appreciate that.

But it doesn’t change the history of the downright ugly here. For my part…that’s my bad. But I just say it when my opinion differs…not this kindergarten “I never said THAT” or “what do you mean?” Low brow stuff.

This thread should be closed. Facts were optional long ago.

The excuses for snow white bombing…because nobody ever wanted it for a hot minute…is apparently Snow White is just not acceptable for such a cosmopolitan world now.

Belle made $1.3 bil…and she was taken hostage and put into a cell by a werewolf…but that scanned…apparently?

 

[Casper Gutman]

But Wicked the, musical the movie is based on, is full of references to the MGM movie and only works as an alternate Oz retelling if you know what that was.

Wicked has existed for decades as a hit musical and cultural phenomenon. It tells a story that is complete in itself and does not require familiarity with the original. It is an enormously different take on some of the same material with clear (to the point of excess) themes.

Had Snow White used the original as a springboard for something totally new - say, the Shaolin Monk idea - it would still have faced an uphill battle but it wouldn’t be entirely dependent on nostalgia for a nearly 90-year-old original the way the live-action remakes are.

How did Oz the Great and Powerful do?

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Current prediction is a 68% drop for Snow White in its second weekend (worse than Dumbo), with $13.7 million total

Jason Statham’s ‘Working Man’ With $15M+ Opening Puts ‘Snow White’ To Sleep & Sends Jenna Ortega’s ‘Unicorn’ Out To Pasture – Sunday Box Office Update

Jason Statham's 'A Working Man' leading the weekend box office with $15M+ ahead of Jenna Ortega's 'Death of a Unicorn' and 'Snow White'

deadline.com

Oof, downright atrocious.

I saw Friday had a drop of 77%.

The rumblings of its boxoffice keep plummeting... whispers on the net now questioning if it will cross 80m domestic

"It likely wont even make back its advertising cost" has also entered the chat.

 

[BrianLo]

Honest question, with the Bambi remake having been canceled, how many more original animated features are potential grist for the mill?

The Rescuers 1 & 2, Robin Hood, The Fox and Hound, the 80s titles that aren’t recognizable enough properties to be worth the expense…

Point being they’re quickly running out of movies to pull from. So I guess they’ll go back to sequels for everything.

You are right, there isn't much left. They've done like 25 of them now and that's the bulk of the low lying stuff.

Sleeping Beauty, Hercules, Tangled, P&tF, Brave, Coco, Frozen.. Encanto. I only bring half that up because of Moana... which I think is a terrible mistake.

Aristocats, Rescuers, Robin Hood, Sword in the Stone have direct to D+ energy.

I think Tarzan, Pochohantas and Hunchback are awkward for various reasons.

Edit - I'm dumb, Maleficent is sleeping beauty.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

A group of Disney friends just departed Ft. Lauderdale on the Disney Dream for a cruise to Cozumel and Castaway Cay. They mentioned Snow White is showing on the boat and were wondering if they'd be drunk and bored enough to go fall asleep seeing it on the boat.

 

[Chi84]

This is where we are…years of throwing these not clever “darts” in the box office thread.

You can try to compartmentalize the comments to “diffuse” it…I can appreciate that.

But it doesn’t change the history of the downright ugly here. For my part…that’s my bad. But I just say it when my opinion differs…not this kindergarten “I never said THAT” or “what do you mean?” Low brow stuff.

This thread should he closed. Facts were optional long ago.

The excuses for some white bombing…because nobody ever wanted it for a hot minute…is apparently Snow White is just not acceptable for such a cosmopolitan world now.

Belle made $1.3 bil…and she was taken hostage and put into a cell by a werewolf…but that scanned…apparently?

But Beauty and the Beast was an interesting story with more developed characters.

I’m not sure what you mean by cosmopolitan. My grandkids are excited to see the Minecraft movie but haven’t asked to see Snow White even though they’ve seen the ads.

They’re normal, bright kids but I wouldn’t call them cosmopolitan.

 

[Casper Gutman]

You are right, there isn't much left. They've done like 25 of them now and that's the bulk of the low lying stuff.

Sleeping Beauty, Hercules, Tangled, P&tF, Brave, Coco, Frozen.. Encanto. I only bring half that up because of Moana... which I think is a terrible mistake.

Aristocats, Rescuers, Robin Hood, Sword in the Stone have direct to D+ energy.

I think Tarzan, Pochohantas and Hunchback are awkward for various reasons.

Sword in the Stone is ripe for a fairly big budget live action series based on the original book series. That actually seems like a logical IP to revive.

 

[Farerb]

They should remake The Aristocats the same way Universal did Cats.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

How did Oz the Great and Powerful do?

It was a bad movie, but did better than people remember with $235 million domestically, and nearly $500 million worldwide unadjusted for a dozen years of inflation.

What sunk it was the high production/marketing budget that required it needing $700 million to justify its existence and it playing poorly in countries less familiar/enamored with Oz, something even Wicked had to deal with.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They should remake The Aristocats the same way Universal did Cats.

With Chappell roan instead of Taylor this time?…

…i’m interested

 

[Disney Irish]

This is where we are…years of throwing these not clever “darts” in the box office thread.

You can try to compartmentalize the comments to “diffuse” it…I can appreciate that.

But it doesn’t change the history of the downright ugly here. For my part…that’s my bad. But I just say it when my opinion differs…not this kindergarten “I never said THAT” or “what do you mean?” Low brow stuff.

This thread should be closed. Facts were optional long ago.

The excuses for snow white bombing…because nobody ever wanted it for a hot minute…is apparently Snow White is just not acceptable for such a cosmopolitan world now.

Belle made $1.3 bil…and she was taken hostage and put into a cell by a werewolf…but that scanned…apparently?

The difference here my friend is that I don't think I've ever said that Snow White was going to be a success, if I ever did it was years ago when the project was first announced. I've already said, especially recently, that this project probably was a mistake and probably shouldn't have been made. It however doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on the whys this one failed just like others, so I talk about them. This is a discussion forum after all, and we all discuss the topics at hand.

As for past conversations about other projects, so what. I'm entitled to an opinion just as you are.

But its funny how you want to rail against a few for not talking about box office or whatever else, but not others just because you agree with their takes on things.

 

[Agent H]

Big Hero Six remake that integrates it into the MCU?

Not the worst idea they’ve had.

 

[Agent H]

I remain confused why we’re suddenly saying the original Snow White is irrelevant. Feels like there’s some Scrooge mcduck levels of rewriting history going on here .

 

[Agent H]

Sword in the Stone is ripe for a fairly big budget live action series based on the original book series. That actually seems like a logical IP to revive.

An even better option would be the series of books that inspired the black cauldron.

 

[Chi84]

I remain confused why we’re suddenly saying the original Snow White is irrelevant. Feels like there’s some Scrooge mcduck levels of rewriting history going on here .

I don’t think anyone is saying it’s irrelevant. It’s more that the story is not the best for a modern day remake.

You’ve heard the term “didn’t age well?”

When I first saw the original I posted a fairly lengthy opinion on why a faithful remake wouldn’t resonate with modern audiences. It was posted in November 2024 in the now-closed Snow White thread.

We’re not “suddenly” saying this.