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

[Vegas Disney Fan]

No love for The Ugly Dachshund? Anything with Suzanne Pleshette was a winner in my book, and she was brilliant in the Bob Newhart Show.

Disney used to do these movies perfectly. As you say, they weren't masterpieces, but they were great for the Disney brand and cemented it as an American icon that parents could instinctively trust with their children. Brilliant strategy.

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If I did an extensive list of all the old Disney movies I love it would be pages long.

I grew up with “Uncle Walt” and being a 70s/80s kid (nearly) everything Disney did was part of my childhood, I doubt you’d find many people under 20 today who hold the same sentiment or nostalgia for Disney.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Gus80s too. And not forgettable.

Splash and Three Men and be attributed the company's success that went onto be the powerhouse.

Eisner new how to cultivate good stories with those budgets.

He visited the sets.

Here's the full list of Walt Disney Pictures films:

List of Walt Disney Pictures films - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I'm sure we all have our favorites, but there's a whole lot of movies on that list that probably have been seen by almost nobody in decades. The Three Lives of Thomasina, anyone? The Boatniks. Monkeys, Go Home. Gus. The Cat From Outer Space. The Misadventures of Jupiter Jones, which surprisingly even got a sequel, with a title song by the Beach Boys, no less! Just to randomly name a few of many obscure titles Disney has released over the years.

 

[Casper Gutman]

If there’s one thing Marvel should be thankful for it’s that they don’t have DC’s luck, 2 major superhero flicks this year, one starring a very controversial male actor and one featuring a very controversial female actor. Neither being overly controversial when filming started, the odds that 2 movies would be torpedoed in one year by their stars/costars personal issues feels unprecedented.

Amber Heard has almost nothing to do with Aquaman’s looming box office troubles.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Only One 2023 Movie with a Budget Over $200 Million Has Made a Profit (So Far) This Year

And there’s no assurance that others will follow suit. As “Wish” and “Napoleon” join the $200 Million Club, we examine the increasingly slippery slope of making money …

www.indiewire.com

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Most of what Disney released this year were safe bets on paper 4 years ago; live action remakes, franchise sequels etc. The company released all of 2 original movies under their name, one of which made a surprise turn around in the long run.

I'm not sure doubling down on "safe bets" like sequels and remakes is going to work anymore. It didn't for other studios.

Are we at the end of the all franchise Hollywood era? Or are people just tired of the same properties (Marvel, Transformers, Fast and Furious etc) getting sequels over and over again?

 

[DisneyHead123]

I think he's talking about Feige's oversight of the direction and production. Typically, the director of a film has a lot more creative control. But with the MCU, Disney has set up Kevin Feige to be a sort of super producer who guides the whole thing and then they've hired younger/less-proven directors to do their work under him.

It still seems like an unusual way of phrasing things (vs. citing whatever he thought the specific problem was - lack of immersiveness, not enough action scenes, character development, whatever.) I assume there’s some sort of palace intrigue going on behind the scenes or something.

 

[TalkingHead]

Most of what Disney released this year were safe bets on paper 4 years ago; live action remakes, franchise sequels etc. The company released all of 2 original movies under their name, one of which made a surprise turn around in the long run.

I'm not sure doubling down on "safe bets" like sequels and remakes is going to work anymore. It didn't for other studios.

Are we at the end of the all franchise Hollywood era? Or are people just tired of the same properties (Marvel, Transformers, Fast and Furious etc) getting sequels over and over again?

The next SW feature has to be a ground-level entry point. If they even think of linking it to D+ series or the last trilogy, they’ll have something resembling The Marvels on their hands.

Either that or make a deal with Paramount to do a SW/Trek combo. Studios are eventually going to have to start considering co-productions, right? At this point, what do they have besides gimmicks?

 

[Animaniac93-98]

The next SW feature has to be a ground-level entry point. If they even think of linking it to D+ series or the last trilogy, they’ll have something resembling The Marvels on their hands.

After the reception to Episode 9 I can't imagine them doing anything related to that trilogy anytime soon.

I think there's been more references to the prequel trilogy in the Disney+ shows at this point.

 

[crispy]

Many of my favorite Disney movies are cheap movies from this era, Apple Dumpling Gang movies, the Herbie movies, the Kurt Russel movies, etc. They weren’t masterpieces but they were fun.

The original Parent Trap is still one of my favorite movies. That ranch house was amazing! I read that they still get requests for house plans for it, but it was actually just a set.

 

[Tha Realest]

It still seems like an unusual way of phrasing things (vs. citing whatever he thought the specific problem was - lack of immersiveness, not enough action scenes, character development, whatever.) I assume there’s some sort of palace intrigue going on behind the scenes or something.

There’s no palace intrigue. This clearly lays the problems of The Marvels on non-studio executive(s) who supervised the production (I.e. the director, who reportedly didn’t stick around for post-production). Read into that what you’d like

 

[Andrew C]

There’s no palace intrigue. This clearly lays the problems of The Marvels on non-studio executive(s) who supervised the production (I.e. the director, who reportedly didn’t stick around for post-production). Read into that what you’d like

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Oh dang.

 

[_caleb]

It still seems like an unusual way of phrasing things (vs. citing whatever he thought the specific problem was - lack of immersiveness, not enough action scenes, character development, whatever.) I assume there’s some sort of palace intrigue going on behind the scenes or something.

So do I! I wondered if it wasn't Iger putting shots across Feige's bow? I mean, at the very least he's throwing Feige under the bus for some recent disappointments, right?

 

[_caleb]

There’s no palace intrigue. This clearly lays the problems of The Marvels on non-studio executive(s) who supervised the production (I.e. the director, who reportedly didn’t stick around for post-production). Read into that what you’d like

View attachment 756934

This makes sense. The way it's worded originally sounded to me like, "There wasn't much supervision, and Feige was on the set!" But I think your take might be right.

I've seen all that about the director skipping out during post production. And post production is supposedly what Feige sees as the most important!

 

[DisneyHead123]

There’s no palace intrigue. This clearly lays the problems of The Marvels on non-studio executive(s) who supervised the production (I.e. the director, who reportedly didn’t stick around for post-production). Read into that what you’d like

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Palace Intrigue may be overstating it but… more to the story maybe. Or maybe not, who knows?

 

[DisneyHead123]

So do I! I wondered if it wasn't Iger putting shots across Feige's bow? I mean, at the very least he's throwing Feige under the bus for some recent disappointments, right?

Yes, that’s what I’m wondering. With an activist investor back in the picture, my tendency is to view Iger’s comments as a larger statement on how the company is going to frame things and maneuver next. But I might be reading too much into it.

 

[LittleBuford]

Disney CEO Bob Iger says company's movies have been too focused on messaging

Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged his company's movies have been too focused on messaging rather than strong storytelling.

www.cnbc.com

It's an unproductive and inaccurate opposition if you ask me. What "messaging" does Lightyear have to explain its poor story? And Elemental has very clear messaging while also being a great story.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Either that or make a deal with Paramount to do a SW/Trek combo.

 

[Tha Realest]

It's an unproductive and inaccurate opposition if you ask me. What "messaging" does Lightyear have to explain its poor story? And Elemental has very clear messaging while also being a great story.

Ask Bob Iger. He’s a man that’s exceedingly careful with his words. Prior to and since his return he’s expressed numerous problems with the quality of the creative content being produced. He also stated a desire to “quiet the noise” on the culture war stuff, and now says entertainment has suffered at the expense of pushing a message.

 

[LSLS]

If there’s one thing Marvel should be thankful for it’s that they don’t have DC’s luck, 2 major superhero flicks this year, one starring a very controversial male actor and one featuring a very controversial female actor. Neither being overly controversial when filming started, the odds that 2 movies would be torpedoed in one year by their stars/costars personal issues feels unprecedented.

You also have Gunn coming in and blowing up the entire franchise to start over, so you know these movies are basically going nowhere in the future and have no connection to the new universe. Something Marvel is kind of struggling with right now too.

 

[LittleBuford]

He also stated a desire to “quiet the noise” on the culture war stuff, and now says entertainment has suffered at the expense of pushing a message.

I know. That’s what my post was about.