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

[Disney Irish]

Your assertion is that I've missed out on something by not seeing movies with blood and gore and gratuitous sex scenes. I haven't missed out on that at all. I was in the service, so have seen my fair share of stressful medical situations. And I have bar tabs from the 20th century that prove I haven't missed out on anything romantically.

But going to see that kind of stuff in modern movies is something else, and it's not my scene at all. I like 'em light and fun in general, with fabulous wit. I've lost track of how many times I've watched my BluRay of Auntie Mame, for example. Not a swear word or bare bosom in sight, but deliciously intelligent and sophisticated and devilishly witty!

Pre-Covid, I saw Auntie Mame with friends up at the Egyptian Theater (they used to screen it every early December), with dinner and film discussion at Musso & Frank's afterward. It was a heavenly Hollywood evening!

In my opinion you have missed out on some great cinema.

If you don't feel the same way as they don't meet your criteria for great cinema, that is up to you. But there is no argument or any assertion that you wrong for having not seem them.

 

[brideck]

As I mentioned 2 of the theaters are local to me. I personally can say they were released as I have gone to both theaters during that time.

For example we know also for a fact that Moana was released as the Once Upon a Studio short was played in front of it.

The Walt Disney Studios

The Walt Disney Studios encompasses a collection of respected film studios, including Disney, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios, Searchlight Pictures, and 20th Century Studios.

www.disneystudios.com

I think they're treated basically like any other special event, e.g. most things released through Fathom Events, like the annual Studio Ghibli Fest, etc. That sort of thing very rarely ever shows up in any of the domestic box office reports.

 

[TP2000]

I think they're treated basically like any other special event, e.g. most things released through Fathom Events, like the annual Studio Ghibli Fest, etc. That sort of thing very rarely ever shows up in any of the domestic box office reports.

But on The Numbers site those types of films are always counted on the daily box office report, although they often take an additional 18 to 24 hours to show up. And yet I can't find any of these Disney 100 films playing, or providing trackable box office figures, in the USA from July through October of 2023. What happened to them?

For example, here's The Numbers site for Monday, January 15th. It tracks dozens of movies down to the very bottom, with those religious films only playing in a dozen or so theaters nationwide and pulling in a few hundred bucks per day. But they still count, and still exist. Also, Barbie is still playing in 14 theaters and made 20 bucks on Monday, bless her heart.

The Numbers - Daily Box Office Chart for Monday January 15, 2024

Daily Domestic Box Office Chart for Monday January 15, 2024

www.the-numbers.com

 

[brideck]

In my opinion you have missed out on some great cinema.

For sure. We always tell the young people (10-15 year olds) in our lives that we can't wait until they're mature enough to start seeing R-rated stuff because that's what a lot of the best movies are. That is in no way me trying to be dismissive of the more family-friendly ratings or of all movies before 1968 (I'm here on a Disney forum for goodness' sake and love Rodgers and Hammerstein as much as the next 40-something does), but there are a lot of essential topics that just can't be done justice otherwise.

 

[brideck]

Not on The Numbers site. Those types of films are always counted on the daily box office report, although they often take an additional 18 to 24 hours to show up. And yet I can't find any of these Disney 100 films playing, or providing trackable box office figures, in the USA from July through October of 2023. What happened to them?

For example, here's The Numbers site for Monday, January 15th. It tracks dozens of movies down to the very bottom, with those religious films only playing in a dozen or so theaters nationwide and pulling in a few hundred bucks per day. But they still count, and still exist. Also, Barbie is stilly playing in 14 theaters and made 20 bucks on Monday, bless her heart.

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The ones you highlighted are just small current releases on the way out, though. All 3 played at least one AMC near me, sometimes for multiple weeks. All of that stuff definitely gets tracked.

I'm talking about things like the upcoming 85th anniversary re-release of The Wizard of Oz -- https://www.fathomevents.com/events/the-wizard-of-oz-85th-anniversary/

I don't think you'll see that one get reported, despite it playing at least 15 theaters just in my area alone.

 

[Disney Irish]

I think they're treated basically like any other special event, e.g. most things released through Fathom Events, like the annual Studio Ghibli Fest, etc. That sort of thing very rarely ever shows up in any of the domestic box office reports.

Could be, it would be explain why they aren’t tracked domestically.

 

[TP2000]

The ones you highlighted are just small current releases on the way out, though. All 3 played at least one AMC near me, sometimes for multiple weeks. All of that stuff definitely gets tracked.

I'm talking about things like the upcoming 85th anniversary re-release of The Wizard of Oz -- https://www.fathomevents.com/events/the-wizard-of-oz-85th-anniversary/

I don't think you'll see that one get reported, despite it playing at least 15 theaters just in my area alone.

Huh. Okay, which makes sense if the Disney 100 re-releases only played in 24 theaters nationwide, they are just too tiny to be counted or cared about. Something tells me the 24 theater count was a goal, and the reality was far less.

Again, which helps answer the question from @tcool123 that started this conversation... What's the analogy for the release of Soul in 1,350 theaters compared to the re-release of Moana in 24 (likely none) theaters that were never tracked or mentioned by anyone who tracks box office?

The only real analogy for Soul being released in 1,350 theaters is the re-release of Hocus Pocus in 1,375 theaters or the re-release of Nightmare Before Christmas in 1,650 theaters. Because the re-release of Frozen doing $27,000 in box office in the Netherlands but being untrackable in the USA doesn't make the case that Disney 100 was anything to compare to.

In short, the re-release of the eight Disney 100 movies is about as impactful as a religious movie screened in a megachurch basement or a niche documentary about bird migration screened in the student union at Fullerton Junior College (Go Hornets!).

 

[brideck]

Huh. Okay, which makes sense if the Disney 100 re-releases only played in 24 theaters nationwide, they are just too tiny to be counted or cared about. Something tells me the 24 theater count was a goal, and the reality was far less.

Again, which helps answer the question from @tcool123 that started this conversation... What's the analogy for the release of Soul in 1,350 theaters compared to the re-release of Moana in 24 (likely none) theaters that were never tracked or mentioned by anyone who tracks box office?

The only real analogy for Soul being released in 1,350 theaters is the re-release of Hocus Pocus in 1,375 theaters or the re-release of Nightmare Before Christmas in 1,650 theaters. Because the re-release of Frozen doing $27,000 in box office in the Netherlands but being untrackable in the USA doesn't make the case that Disney 100 was anything to compare to.

In short, the re-release of the eight Disney 100 movies is about as impactful as a religious movie screened in a megachurch basement or a niche documentary about bird migration screened in the student union at Fullerton Junior College (Go Hornets!).

Don't hold me to The Wizard of Oz specifically. It looks like some Fathom releases show up in the monthly/yearly box office results. I still definitely don't see specifics reported anywhere for stuff like Ghibli Fest, though, and that's an annual re-release event. It's even less clear to me how it's decided what gets reported -- it must be up to the distributor. For example, Netflix notoriously doesn't usually share any box office info for their prestige theatrical releases. So in this case, Disney didn't bother to share the results of those 8 extremely limited re-releases.

 

[Phroobar]

Last year I remember seeing Nightmare before Christmas in the theater. It was fun but seeing Coraline a week before in the theater really shows how stop motion has progressed since. NBC felt very stiff and jumpy.

 

[tcool123]

No wonder no one had mentioned this until @tcool123 brought it up. If you aren't Dutch, you didn't know it was happening.

Toy Story was playing at my local Regal in West Kendall (neighborhood in Miami), saw Beauty and the Beast and Lion King - I have the receipts too , so they money taken was real all right.

W interesting though is that different countries had different films being shown. I believe the US had only 8 films, the UK had double.

 

[brideck]

It looks like Poor Things is expanding to 1400 screens this weekend and All of Us Strangers is going up to 295. It'll be interesting to see how that expansion goes without the benefit (yet) of Oscar nominations.

FWIW, Poor Things is currently the 2nd most popular movie on IMDb (behind Saltburn, of all things -- crazy how that's getting a ton of Internet buzz now that it's more or less out of theaters) and it's surpassed its predecessor's (The Favourite) peak on Google Trends. These could, of course, all just be people checking it out only to be turned off by the weirdness and nudity, but it is certainly being noticed.

 

[TP2000]

It looks like Poor Things is expanding to 1400 screens this weekend and All of Us Strangers is going up to 295. It'll be interesting to see how that expansion goes without the benefit (yet) of Oscar nominations.

After their disastrous 2023, it would be wonderful if Disney's Searchlight had a movie that at least breaks even in 2024.

With its admirably modest $35 Million budget, maybe Poor Things is just the movie to do that?

 

[brideck]

After their disastrous 2023, it would be wonderful if Disney's Searchlight had a movie that at least breaks even in 2024.

With its admirably modest $35 Million budget, maybe Poor Things is just the movie to do that?

It looks like Box Office Report is predicting $2.7 million for this weekend, which would keep it on the good side of the crucial $2000 per screen number it needs to hang on to screens -- good for an expanded pre-nominations performance. If that prediction holds, here's what the comp chart would look like:

Could next week's nominations actually manage to bump it ahead of The Favourite's trajectory? I can't say I would have expected that, but anything is seemingly possible here.

 

[LittleBuford]

whinging

“Whinging”! A fellow Brit?

 

[brideck]

“Whinging”! A fellow Brit?

Ha, no. Just felt like being a little extra dramatic with that statement. I'm an ugly American from the "Bold North."

 

[BrianLo]

*No recent Disney analogy. When was Disney's last true blockbuster? The Black Panther? Frozen II?

Definitely Way of Water. I guess we can get In the weeds and call that a global one.

Otherwise it was 2019 movies and several very strong 2022 marvel films (doctor strange particularly), but not the sheer domestic achievements that would be Endgame or No Way Home.

 

[brideck]

It looks like Box Office Report is predicting $2.7 million for this weekend, which would keep it on the good side of the crucial $2000 per screen number it needs to hang on to screens -- good for an expanded pre-nominations performance.

Well, it looks like it was a pretty lousy weekend all around. Poor Things missed this bold prediction by a fair bit, and only four non-boutique releases overall even hit the desired $2000 per screen figure. BOR's estimated weekend take for some stuff:

[Note: There's a more complete chart, but the omitted movies are either gasping for air or are very small releases.]

PT did an additional $5 million overseas, so the slow, steady advance continues. We'll see what Oscar nominations on Tuesday do to screen counts next weekend. I've already seen evidence of things like The Holdovers coming back to screens near me. The Zone of Interest and Origin should also be expanding some next weekend. For those looking for Soul news, it pulled in $131,000 this weekend on 1350 screens -- although I know for sure that the number of screenings was cut back dramatically this weekend, e.g. there are only 9 screenings on 7 screens near me today.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Most of the Oscar bait titles will probably get some kind of boost after the nominations...except The Iron Claw which may end up with none.

 

[TP2000]

Here's how the estimate for the weekend box office looks for Disney's four movies on The Numbers chart. Poor Things is down in 10th place, and Soul fell down to 27th with 1,350 theaters.

I can't imagine the theater chains are happy about that agreement with Disney to debut Soul on 1,350 screens. I do wonder how they end this rather disastrous re-release strategy for the remaining two movies, Turning Red and Luca. Do they abandon it and only ask for a few hundred theaters, or do they have to contractually keep something like 1,300 theaters and thus try and market it a bit more?

Regardless, the Pixar re-release gimmick of '24 seems like a disaster for Emeryville.

And then further down the list in the twenties, you get the other three movies from Disney owned studios...

 

[Disstevefan1]

Soul is breaking records at the box office, just not for good reasons.