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

[BrianLo]

Grogu merch was being driven by everyone really. A big chunk was definitely people who really don't care about star wars at all. My youngest (4 at the time) thought baby yoda was adorable, still does, but has no real connection to star wars. It became a thing outside of, being star wars. But the og fans, like myself, leaned more into the mando and grogu stuff. I know I have a couple shirts, lego sets, hot wheels with them. And @Phroobar is right on. I have a 18" grogu and many other things gifted to me. So while that demo wasn't driving it directly, they still made up a good chunk I believe.

Sorry my post read more the Gen X male doesn't like Grogu at all, which wasn't what I meant.

What I meant is what you said, it has gone well beyond just OG trilogy fans and Prequels to "new demographics". Lots of woman and lots of kids love Grogu. It expanded Star Wars to new audiences.

Unlike Andor. Which is excellent, but I suspect preaching to the choir.

 

[Phroobar]

To a Star Wars fan being gifted a Grogu is like getting a rock for Halloween.

 

[Agent H]

To a Star Wars fan being gifted a Grogu is like getting a rock for Halloween.

 

[Disney Irish]

To a Star Wars fan being gifted a Grogu is like getting a rock for Halloween.

I now question if you actually grew up in the 70s and 80s, some kids were getting these as presents and loving them -

 

[Baloo124]

What like "old Yeller?"

Too soon.

That movie was made 68 years ago! Spoilers!

Still a sad ending even today. Great movie though.

I thought the sequel was pretty good too. It has one of my favorite movie quotes in any Disney film, when Yeller's son encounters Travis as an adult, years after he had to put down Old Yeller.

"Hello, my name is Inigo MontoYeller. You killed my father. Prepare to die"

I miss the days when sequels were actually good. *sigh*

 

[Screamface]

I'm not sure we actually hear from a lot of 8-year olds on this forum. Just seems like a bunch of people over thirty shaking their fists at the sky and wishing for the good old days.

But some of us have families and work in professions where we interact with younger people. Outside of Reddit and some YouTube channels, no one is fond of the sequels. We can look at all the reasons the prequels had fans, none exist in the sequels. They'll hollow shells of films.

This is anecdotal, so I am aware means nothing. A few days ago I was making small talk with someone I barely know and they asked about my weekend. I mentioned I was going to see Revenge of the Sith. They then brought up how bad the sequels were. I asked if they're watching Andor and they had no clue what that was. They didn't even know what Rogue One was.

 

[Disney Irish]

But some of us have families and work in professions where we interact with younger people. Outside of Reddit and some YouTube channels, no one is fond of the sequels. We can look at all the reasons the prequels had fans, none exist in the sequels. They'll hollow shells of films.

This is anecdotal, so I am aware means nothing. A few days ago I was making small talk with someone I barely know and they asked about my weekend. I mentioned I was going to see Revenge of the Sith. They then brought up how bad the sequels were. I asked if they're watching Andor and they had no clue what that was. They didn't even know what Rogue One was.

Them not knowing Rogue One kinda tells me they checked out long before Disney ever got its hands on SW.

Anyways, in about 5ish years we'll see if the ST starts being looked at differently. As it was about 15ish years after Phantom Menace was released that I started to see the PT being spoke about positively which was before Force Awakens was released.

 

[Screamface]

Anyways, in about 5ish years we'll see if the ST starts being looked at differently. As it was about 15ish years after Phantom Menace was released that I started to see the PT being spoke about positively which was before Force Awakens was released.

If you were betting money, which way would you go?

The why of how the prequels are liked and the many spin-offs that existed in the years after that were successful. Novels, cartoon shows, comics, toys and so forth. Just isn't there with the sequels. Even the actors trash them.

 

[Disney Irish]

If you were betting money, which way would you go?

The why of how the prequels are liked and the many spin-offs that existed in the years after that were successful. Novels, cartoon shows, comics, toys and so forth. Just isn't there with the sequels. Even the actors trash them.

My guess is as time goes on they are seen as flawed but overall acceptable SW films. I know some here will disagree with that, but we're talking about kids that were 5-10 years old at the time the ST started coming out. They'll be in the 20s by then and that is what they'll look back on as "their" SW.

 

[donaldtoo]

I visited WDW for the first time when I was 29. Then went back for another 50+ visits.

Started out taking our parents, now we take our kids and grandkids.

We loved the all-inclusive feel of WDW. There’s less of that every visit now.

We still enjoy it but have branched out to cruising so we go less often now. If our kids had to pay, they would choose a less expensive vacation.

Y’all sound kinda’ like us.
My DWifey first visited WDW when she was 21.
We didn’t know each other then, but we went to WDW for our honeymoon in December of ‘88…she was 25 and I was 26.
I had also been to Disneyland 4 times prior to that, including 1 time with her in ‘87. I had previously been to Disneyland in ‘68, ‘70 and ‘72.
We didn’t take our first family trip to WDW until July of ‘01. Our kids were 6, 8 and our oldest turned 10 while we were there.
We haven’t been nearly close to 50+ times, but we’ve been about a dozen times. The last 2 times with our 2 young granddaughters.
We took our first Carnival cruise in December of ‘17 and have been hooked since. We’ve taken 5 cruises, including 1 DCL cruise, since then (3 with oldest granddaughter, and 2 with youngest), and have another Carnival cruise scheduled for this coming June.
We love cruising in general, but there’s also something about being out on the veranda to watch the sunrise that really puts me at peace…!!!

 

[donaldtoo]

I now question if you actually grew up in the 70s and 80s, some kids were getting these as presents and loving them -

I had one of those.
It peed and crapped everywhere, darn near ate me outta’ house and home and tore up the furniture.
I had to give it to the rock shelter.
I hope it finally found the right home.

 

[TP2000]

Snow White is now in 610 theatres and as of yesterday (Friday) is at 85.4 million...

It will not be making 90 million domestic.

That definitely warrants an Oof! Just two months ago in this thread, who among us could have thought it would bomb that badly?

Sorry for missing my reporting shift here yesterday, gang. I was extra sociable this weekend for this town's Concours events, January-like temps and rain and all!

Rachel Zegler's Snow White took a mighty drop down to 16th place this weekend. She might still be able to creep past $200 Million globally, but it's going to be tight. As noted above, getting to $90 Million domestically will be nearly impossible now.

 

[Agent H]

I had one of those.
It peed and crapped everywhere, darn near ate me outta’ house and home and tore up the furniture.
I had to give it to the rock shelter.
I hope it finally found the right home.

What a badly behaved pet. You should have rocked it to sleep.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Indeed. Regardless of nitpicking the sequels longevity (I don’t know!), it’s a bit hard to ignore Grogu’s merchandise penetration.

That one isn’t 50 year old men driving that.

The whole reason that stuck in the first place is because it’s a yoda junior wizard…

Yeah…the 50 year old “problem” again…

They’ve spun it “cute” since…too cute actually…but the reason it got a beach head was because of Frank Oz

Let’s not kid


And there’s no sense going the Irish “we don’t know what the movies will be like later…” with that terrible sequel set. They’re awful…a bland reboot and two unwatchable pieces of digital trash. They have no “longterm”

Far, far less than the prequels…

The only way people are “ok” with then from a nostalgia standpoint is if Disney rebuilds the brand to where it’s dependable to deliver good material and people accept them as just a bad chapter…not something done on purpose

They have a growing opportunity there…but let’s see how they screw it up?

 

[brideck]

And there’s no sense going the Irish “we don’t know what the movies will be like later…” with that terrible sequel set. They’re awful…a bland reboot and two unwatchable pieces of digital trash. They have no “longterm”

But again... we're talking about kids here. Even if I take your descriptors at face value (not that I agree with them), 8-year olds watch all sorts of "digital trash" and grow up having warm, nostalgic feelings about it anyway. We really can't predict what the long-term feelings about them will be from that set of people.

It's very clear what your long-term feelings for them are, but that's neither here nor there.

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

20 year old film Disney didn't make does gangbuster. Obvious how Star Wars fans will come out to see real Star Wars.

 

[Disney Irish]

Nostalgia is a funny thing, one can never tell what the masses will be nostalgia for. For example if anyone would have said that the number one movie of 2025 so far would be from a 15 year old open world building game just 5 years ago they would have been lying.

15 years seems to be the when nostalgia starts to hit and just grows stronger from there. So yeah in about 5 years or so we'll see if the 20-somethings at the time are starting to be nostalgic for the ST.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’: Disney’s First R-Rated MCU Title Claws Way To $400M Profit And No. 3 On 2024’s Most Valuable Blockbuster List

Deadpool & Wolverine starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman helped resurrect superhero cinema with $1.3 billion-plus at the worldwide box office.

deadline.com

 

[brideck]

‘Deadpool & Wolverine’: Disney’s First R-Rated MCU Title Claws Way To $400M Profit And No. 3 On 2024’s Most Valuable Blockbuster List

Deadpool & Wolverine starring Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman helped resurrect superhero cinema with $1.3 billion-plus at the worldwide box office.

deadline.com

Well, there you have it. That should mean that Disney had the three most profitable movies of 2024. The struggle is real.

10 - Sonic 3 - $123.6m
9 - Mufasa - $175.0m
8 - Kung Fu Panda 4 - $178.0m
7 - Dune: Part Two - $184.3m
6 - It Ends With Us - $207.0m
5 - Wicked - $230.0m
4 - Despicable Me 4 - $370.0m
3 - Deadpool & Wolverine - $400.0m

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

But again... we're talking about kids here. Even if I take your descriptors at face value (not that I agree with them), 8-year olds watch all sorts of "digital trash" and grow up having warm, nostalgic feelings about it anyway. We really can't predict what the long-term feelings about them will be from that set of people.

It's very clear what your long-term feelings for them are, but that's neither here nor there.

There will be some kids who cling to it as they age…

But it’s the law of diminishing returns

OT > PT > DT

We shall see


there is already evidence
KK touting daisy Ridley back…which was received like a fart in church

Now the rumor is hide her behind Ryan gosling

Which is actually smart. Rush it into production and get it made. Use it as a platform to try and rebuild

Even “hubritic” Disney might actually be learning they can’t force a fanbase into existence