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

[Tha Realest]

For those checking random theaters… did you check those same theaters during other big blockbusters to compare and contrast the availability of seats. I have checked my local theater with other big movies for Sundays since that is our usual film going day…as it is the one day my wife and I both have a day off..And it is usually sparse for seats on Thursday…especially when the big movies are on several screens… then I will check a Saturday night and the theater will be crowded…. I have to buy tickets immediately to make sure I get 2 seats together

yes, that’s a thing many people have done time and time again on these pages, for multiple movies (Disney and non-Disney)

 

[Tony the Tigger]

I have never bought movie tickets more than an hour or two in advance on the day of.

I wait to see where I can get a spot away from people!

 

[brideck]

But African Americans did not show up in numbers for Cap like they did Panther.

That little fact doesn’t neatly fit into the narrative your trying to build.

The Black Panther movies are very much marketed toward a black audience, featuring a nearly all-black cast and a distinct Afro-Futurism vibe. The new Cap was marketed to general audiences as a run-of-the-mill political thriller with some superheroics that just happens to feature a black actor at its head. The marketing was pretty specifically trying to downplay that aspect of it. So of course you're seeing what you're seeing in the audience makeup.

 

[easyrowrdw]

I don’t find the reaction to those comments at all proportionate. Indeed, the vitriol was bizarre at best and unhinged at worst. I am someone who cares passionately about the original film; that doesn’t give me the right to lose all reason when someone criticises it.

What do you think a proportionate response would be for someone who thinks her comments on the original movie are totally off base?

I haven’t seen many responses to her comments that fit your description but we might just have different frames of reference.

 

[Tha Realest]

Anything Disney - good or bad - is heightened within the media. It is one of the largest and most expansive media companies around. Its live action remakes had generally expected to be billion dollar earners. Until that point, Snow White - both the foundational Princess of the company and its most significant film - had yet to be remade.

So you combine all that with the lead actress giving an early insight into the production which seemed to suggest the creators weren’t too reverential of the source material, to the point of criticizing it (whether you happen to agree with those criticisms or not) and that’s a recipe for a media maelstrom. Keep in mind, little had been publicly shared about this production at that time other than some of the creators involved, so there was a relative vacuum in terms of news on this project. So it had the added bonus of being something of a first impression formed on this production.

 

[Chi84]

Isn’t a lot of this beside the point now? Disney’s treatment of the material is out there now and from nearly all accounts Rachel Zegler has done an amazing job with the role she was given.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

What do you think a proportionate response would be for someone who thinks her comments on the original movie are totally off base?

I haven’t seen many responses to her comments that fit your description but we might just have different frames of reference.

I was kind of thinking the same thing, I’ve seen many comments (and written some) about her being unlikable, smug, not very wise, etc but it’s not like people are threatening her, wishing ill will towards her (she’s the only unhinged one who’s done that), etc. Lots of people saying they won’t give the movie a chance because they don’t like her but that’s about as extreme as it’s got.

 

[LittleBuford]

What do you think a proportionate response would be for someone who thinks her comments on the original movie are totally off base?

To state—calmly and in a manner befitting an adult—“I think her comments on the original movie are totally off base” before elaborating on why.

I haven’t seen many responses to her comments that fit your description but we might just have different frames of reference.

Here are some direct quotations from this forum:

“She's never been put in her place or had anyone teach her respect.”

“People may be political about a snotty starlet who dissed the source material at company-sponsored media events.”

“What audiences and fans will not accept is outright contempt for the original. That contempt oozes out of everything that has emerged from her.”

“Yea, what part of you don’t crap in the same exact spots you eat and sleep doesn’t this twit understand…?!?!?!”

“Before Disney sends Rachel Zegler out on the talk show circuit this winter, they need to give her media relations lessons from Halle Bailey. If not just perform a personality transplant.”

“On the other hand, ‘It’s not 1937 anymore’ is a direct attack on the original film (and the people who love it).”

“Rachel Zegler said nothing new or bold or insightful. It's all so stale and predictable now. But somehow, and this is the magic of it all, she comes across to many as being this unlikable person. A real snot.”

“Because she's a snotty young person who just crapped on previous generations of artists who were far more accomplished than she is.”

These are just some of the posts (most of them by men in their 40s or older) that, to my mind at least, represent a rather extreme reaction to what Zegler said. No film is worth getting that worked up over.

ETA: And yes, I will acknowledge that I myself was perhaps guilty of a bit of hyperbole in my earlier post. Only a small number of posters here have said things that are truly unhinged. But many have reacted in a manner that I consider disproportionate and/or unseemly.

 

[WoundedDreamer]

I was kind of thinking the same thing, I’ve seen many comments (and written some) about her being unlikable, smug, not very wise, etc but it’s not like people are threatening her, wishing ill will towards her (she’s the only unhinged one who’s done that), etc. Lots of people saying they won’t give the movie a chance because they don’t like her but that’s about as extreme as it’s got.

You know, as someone who found her comments somewhat angering, it really doesn't have anything to do with her. Her comments making fun of the original film and saying how little she valued it pushed my buttons. Why? Because, as Iger informed us, the modern Walt Disney Company exists to be in the IP "mining" business. Iger/Chapek's Walt Disney Company is possibly too risk averse, lacking in creativity, or too incompetent to create new stories. Fine. If they want to cynically continue to go on "mining" IP it's their right as the owners of the business. The only thing audiences expected in return was for The Walt Disney Company to treat the intellectual property with respect.

In a way, Zegler's flippant comments seemed to show Disney couldn't even bother to do that bare minimum. They couldn't be bothered to pretend that they respected the original artists who created the very thing they were about to cynically exploit. And it was not only the original artists that were being exploited, no, it was the legions of fans who had grown to love it.

If you're going to cynically do some IP "mining," I expect you to put in that minimum effort.

“What audiences and fans will not accept is outright contempt for the original. That contempt oozes out of everything that has emerged from her.”

Good quote! Who said that?

But people have harassed her and shown up at her apartment since she got the part.

Edit - The hate campaign started years before she made any comments about the election.

No one sane wants her to face harassment or danger.

 

[Wendy Pleakley]

Im at least seeing more seats booked on Friday than Thursday.

I can't imagine there's much demand for the Thursday "preview" showings versus the weekend.

Thursday crowds I imagine are more for the big established franchises, like Marvel or Star Wars where people really really want to see it first in part because they're more prone to spoilers.

 

[LittleBuford]

You know, as someone who found her comments somewhat angering, it really doesn't have anything to do with her. Her comments making fun of the original film and saying how little she valued it pushed my buttons. Why? Because, as Iger informed us, the modern Walt Disney Company exists to be in the IP "mining" business. Iger/Chapek's Walt Disney Company is possibly too risk averse, lacking in creativity, or too incompetent to create new stories. Fine. If they want to cynically continue to go on "mining" IP it's their right as the owners of the business. The only thing audiences expected in return was for The Walt Disney Company to treat the intellectual property with respect.

In a way, Zegler's flippant comments seemed to show Disney couldn't even bother to do that bare minimum. They couldn't be bothered to pretend that they respected the original artists who created the very thing they were about to cynically exploit. And it was not only the original artists that were being exploited, no, it was the legions of fans who had grown to love it.

If you're going to cynically do some IP "mining," I expect you to put in that minimum effort.

I didn’t take Zegler to be speaking for Disney. I’m sure they didn’t welcome her remarks.

With one or two exceptions, I’m no fan of the remakes, but I don’t believe any of them reflects disrespect for the originals.

 

[Farerb]

There hasn't been a good live action adaptation of Snow White. It's interesting to note that live action adaptations of Cinderella have been more successful.

 

[Chi84]

I didn’t take Zegler to be speaking for Disney. I’m sure they didn’t welcome her remarks.

With one or two exceptions, I’m no fan of the remakes, but I don’t believe any of them reflects disrespect for the originals.

And now we will be able to see the movie to judge for ourselves whether Zegler’s remarks accurately represented how it differed from the original.

 

[Farerb]

And now we will be able to see the movie to judge for ourselves whether Zegler’s remarks accurately represented how it differed from the original.

I read some of the reviews:

Spoiler

They keep the TLK part but they all believe Disney decided to add that in reshoots.

 

[Chi84]

I read some of the reviews:

Spoiler

They keep the TLK part but they all believe Disney decided to add that in reshoots.

Was there anything she said that contradicted how the movie was described in the reviews?

 

[WorldExplorer]

There hasn't been a good live action adaptation of Snow White. It's interesting to note that live action adaptations of Cinderella have been more successful.

Mirror Mirror wasn't terrible. It had the moments of seemingly-required, obnoxious "look how subversive we think we're being!" crud but other than that it was fun.

 

[Farerb]

Was there anything she said that contradicted how the movie was described in the reviews?

Both Rachel and Gal said in early interviews at D23 2022 that she wasn't going to be saved by the prince. I guess it's kind of still true cause the guy isn't a prince anymore.

 

[Chi84]

Both Rachel and Gal said in early interviews at D23 2022 that she wasn't going to be saved by the prince.

Was she saved by the prince? I haven’t read all of the reviews but I thought they changed the love interest.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Love this ad, I'm starting to think Lilo and Stitch could be the first billion dollar movie of the year.

 

[Agent H]

I read some of the reviews:

Spoiler

They keep the TLK part but they all believe Disney decided to add that in reshoots.

was there ever any doubt? I know they went on and on about how this movie would have a better love story but I couldn’t have imagined they would have removed that part.