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

[BlakeW39]

Studios need theaters in order to survive, so this is good news.

Now the studios need to "relearn" how to keep their costs down (like they did in the old days).

I think TWDC needs to be careful with cost cutting though

Solely decreasing the amount of $$$ they invest in their films will only make them less appealing to consumers. So instead of increasing ROI, what they'd end up doing is probably just decreasing revenue and keeping ROI the same.

What studios probably need to be do is just make fewer big movies in general. When demand for a product becomes lower, you should cut back on supply, not decrease product quality. That would just result in decreasing demand even further.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I think TWDC needs to be careful with cost cutting though

Solely decreasing the amount of $$$ they invest in their films will only make them less appealing to consumers. So instead of increasing ROI, what they'd end up doing is probably just decreasing revenue and keeping ROI the same.

What studios probably need to be do is just make fewer big movies in general. When demand for a product becomes lower, you should cut back on supply, not decrease product quality. That would just result in decreasing demand even further.

Only bad stories make their movies less appealing to customers in my opinion.

You can spend 250M making a movie but if the story is bad, the movie will be less appealing.

 

[Jedijax719]

Only bad stories make their movies less appealing to customers in my opinion.

You can spend 250M making a movie but if the story is bad, the movie will be less appealing.

You can have good stories but bad acting/scripting and that will do the trick. Not saying we've seen that with the movies in question, but it will still do the trick.

 

[BlakeW39]

Only bad stories make their movies less appealing to customers in my opinion.

You can spend 250M making a movie but if the story is bad, the movie will be less appealing.

But worse visuals, talent, soundtrack, etc. can all make a film less appealing as well. Not to mention what if cutting $$$ means hiring cheaper writers, directors, etc? Those will all affect the quality of your movie. Decreasing investment imo will not necessarily increase profit margins, they might just turn audiences away more than they already have been.

 

[Disstevefan1]

But worse visuals, talent, soundtrack, etc. can all make a film less appealing as well. Not to mention what if cutting $$$ means hiring cheaper writers, directors, etc? Those will all affect the quality of your movie. Decreasing investment imo will not necessarily increase profit margins, they might just turn audiences away more than they already have been.

Then assuming they will not reduce costs, let's hope they create stories more folks will want to see.

 

[Disney Analyst]

We can knock Disney all we want over less-than stellar post-Covid results on Marvel, Pixar and Lucasfilm titles, but the fact of the matter is the brands are still delivering, making the theatrical motion picture studio the continued box office leader with $3.4 billion worldwide for the period of Jan. 1-July 2.

That breaks out to $1.35 billion domestic and $2.05 billion abroad, and this is off of seven theatrical releases so far in 2023. Exhibitors can continue to give thanks that the former practitioner of theatrical day-and-date on streaming is no longer doing so and committed to a theatrical window, thus seeing the financial vibrancy of a downstream model post-pandemic. The riches of that trigger concession sales for theater owners and other exhibition ancillary businesses and beyond (i.e. Imax).

Disney, Despite ‘Indy’ & ‘Elemental’ Misfires, Leading 2023 Global Box Office With $3.4B

Disney Leads 2023 global box office with $3.4 billion despite Indiana Jones, Elemental bombing

deadline.com

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney, Despite ‘Indy’ & ‘Elemental’ Misfires, Leading 2023 Global Box Office With $3.4B

Disney Leads 2023 global box office with $3.4 billion despite Indiana Jones, Elemental bombing

deadline.com

YaY! Disney leads Box office with $3.4 billion.

Remind me again how much it cost to make and market theses and how much of that 3.4B actually came back to Disney?

 

[Jedijax719]

I'm over and tired of all this cat fighting about Disney box office. Just bring me some new Harry Potter movies/streaming and good SW streaming shows and call it a day!

 

[flynnibus]

I think you have that backwards. Studios don't need theaters to survive, as they will always find a way to distribute movies to the masses whether through theater releases or digital release. Its the whole reason why theaters are in the position they are now, studios discovered they could still release movies without them. In fact most studios would love nothing more than to cut out the theaters from taking a percentage of the box office, hence why theaters got scared during the pandemic.

When the theatrical experience goes the way of the dodo, and it will, studios will just start charging the direct consumer in whatever distribution method is used at the time, such as PVOD.

Ehh... if that was the case they wouldn't be distributing to theaters at all right now.

Truth is the established market of theatres is the only way the studios are able to collect PER VIEWER PER SHOWING revenue at these kinds of scales... and why they DO still need theatres. Because they HAVEN'T been able to replace that revenue with their Direct-to-Consumer offerings these days.

PPV.. DTC... none of it has displaced the theatre release revenue they get. And it's exactly why Disney has been getting beaten up.. spending at the old levels while not getting the revenue of their old levels.

 

[flynnibus]

I think TWDC needs to be careful with cost cutting though

Solely decreasing the amount of $$$ they invest in their films will only make them less appealing to consumers. So instead of increasing ROI, what they'd end up doing is probably just decreasing revenue and keeping ROI the same.

Your statement assumes $$$ directly relates to appealing to customers. A concept disproven over and over.

Hits come in all sizes... those in need will find ways to do something cheaper. Those who are encouraged to spend... will.

What studios probably need to be do is just make fewer big movies in general. When demand for a product becomes lower, you should cut back on supply, not decrease product quality. That would just result in decreasing demand even further.

Another concept that has proven deadly over and over. The notion of 'all tentpoles, all the time' is just another take on "too big to fail" -- aka studios get so dependent on a single project being successful (because there are no others to carry the torch...) that they will ride a loser right into the ground, and overspend all the way til the end... because they literally can't count on any other project.

This is also bad for artists because it means no films that take a chance get made. You bemoan Disney's IP usage... this notion of reducing supply does exactly that... forces studios to be less risky and count on things they believe are already proven.

Hollywood studios still don't really know what will be big successes or not... they survive by KEEP TAKING SWINGS and praying the hits will bury the losses.

Disney isn't flooding the market with their release schedule - they are spending so much they can't get a profit on what the market is returning to them.

They need less Avatars and more Slumdog Millionaire-type films that didn't need half a BILLION in sales to return a profit.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

You could have said the same about any woman and I would have called you out.

But I wouldn’t say it About other women

I’m saying it about your new…former…little mermaid…a cultural “icon” decreed by a couple of apologists on a Disney board before the credits from the first showing rolled.

Absolutely no reason to do that unless it was to get some kinda “cred” for it?

I don’t get it. By accusing everyone who just didn’t want to see this remake - the latest in a line of cynical cash grab remakes - of being focused on race…it became only about race.

Who’s guilty of being obsessed with that one element?

 

[BuddyThomas]

What is a strong opinion? That TLM is a bad product, or that bad products deserve to fail? In the case of the former, I believe the TLM is a bad product due to the transitive properties it possesses as a remake. In the case of the latter... well, I don't think it's a strong opinion... or at least not a controversial one... really, I think all consumers should feel the same way. It's how our economy works. For our interests as consumers to be fulfilled, good products must succeed and bad products must fail, so that the former are incentivized and the latter are deincentivized.

It is an excellent remake. You are missing out. Not a great look posting negative stuff about something you haven’t even seen, but you’re in good company….or something.

 

[BuddyThomas]

That's... sorta kinda fair actually.... but it doesn't contradict anything I said previously. My opinion is that the remakes are inherently bad products. They don't bring enough new to the table in order to justify their own existence. They are quite literally remakes of other films Disney has made in the past. As a concept that is just stupid and the remakes are obviously creatively cheap cashgrabs. TLM is a remake, and therefore possesses all of the aforementioned charactersitics which I believe make the remakes bad products. Now maybe my wording is flawed... as a movie I won't say it's bad. But as a product I maintain that the remakes are creatively cheap and I wish Disney didn't make them, hence why I want them to fail financially.

There are plenty of motion picture remakes that are better than the original. A remake is not necessarily a bad thing.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I don't know about TLM as I have not seen it, but this thread is fun to read.

 

[Trauma]

The next big film is the Marvels right ?

At least they get a little bit of a break before the next flop.

 

[BuddyThomas]

I don't know about TLM as I have not seen it, but this thread is fun to read.

View attachment 728685

I actually find it to be exactly the opposite, because this thread is dominated by a huge swath of people who are rooting for a movie that they have not seen and will not see to fail. I keep having to remind myself that this is a Disney fan board and not a Disney hate board.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

There has been plenty of analysis in the multiple threads about the box office, including what Hollywood trades are saying, you just haven't accepted what was provided. Also this is a fan board with very limited access to real data beyond just the box office, there is only so far these discussions can go before a wall is hit, so its all going to be opinion anyways with very little recourse.

As for the rest, the picture isn't anything more than what one would see at any beach across this nation just 2 days ago and is considered tame by today's standards. So I'm pretty sure Disney has no issue with one of their stars posting an innocent photo.

Fair points.

But I dispute that “data access” is an issue here. There’s no secret pot of gold at the end of the rainbow here. It just didn’t succeed.

And the sun comes up in the east tomorrow.

 

[Disney Irish]

Ehh... if that was the case they wouldn't be distributing to theaters at all right now.

Truth is the established market of theatres is the only way the studios are able to collect PER VIEWER PER SHOWING revenue at these kinds of scales... and why they DO still need theatres. Because they HAVEN'T been able to replace that revenue with their Direct-to-Consumer offerings these days.

PPV.. DTC... none of it has displaced the theatre release revenue they get. And it's exactly why Disney has been getting beaten up.. spending at the old levels while not getting the revenue of their old levels.

And yet ticket sales are still down 21% from 2019 levels. And overall tickets sold have been on a downward trend for years.

Its getting more and more expensive every year for families to go to the theaters, leading to less trips to the theater and thus lower box offices (as we've seen), its not sustainable even in the medium term. And its not just due to movie quality, as there have always been crappy movies.

There will be a tipping point, and its coming sooner than anyone thought. And that is when the PVOD/DTC market will end up taking over as the primary revenue for movies.

 

[Disney Irish]

Fair points.

But I dispute that “data access” is an issue here. There’s no secret pot of gold at the end of the rainbow here. It just didn’t succeed.

And the sun comes up in the east tomorrow.

It didn't succeed in the theaters, but truth be told Disney will find a way to make this one successful post-theatrical. And you know it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I actually find it to be exactly the opposite, because this thread is dominated by a huge swath of people who are rooting for a movie that they have not seen and will not see to fail. I keep having to remind myself that this is a Disney fan board and not a Disney hate board.

It failed. It’s not about “rooting”

10 more people seeing it matters not.

The problem with the discussions of this movie - just another remake no one wanted (an igerian hallmark) - That failed…is it immediately began looking for excuses that insisted on a focus of the worst things the world has to offer.

When it’s just Disney messing up.

There are racists…it’s real and we always struggle with it. This became just as ugly assuming that the majority of humans are…so they didn’t go see a movie?

I’m not eager to believe that. Even if I’m wrong