Disney could lose $140mil on Tomorrowland movie

MarkTwain

Well-Known Member
That's tells me it's not a marketing problem. It's just that Tomorrowland sucks and Pirates didn't.

Can't rule out that as a possibility. ;) I still haven't seen Tomorrowland yet so I can't adequately judge. But I do think it takes an exceptionally strong film to build a box office primarily through word-of-mouth.

I think also that Tomorrowland had the deck stacked against it, since its biggest appeal seems to be to fans of Disney history and the Disney theme parks, while Pirates had a more universal appeal with its casting of Bloom/Knightley and Johnny Depp's charismatic performance.

In that case, maybe Disney's mistake was spending so much on a film with a somewhat niche audience. It seems like there were a couple of mistakes with this movie.
 

prberk

Well-Known Member
Can't rule out that as a possibility. ;) I still haven't seen Tomorrowland yet so I can't adequately judge. But I do think it takes an exceptionally strong film to build a box office primarily through word-of-mouth.

I think also that Tomorrowland had the deck stacked against it, since its biggest appeal seems to be to fans of Disney history and the Disney theme parks, while Pirates had a more universal appeal with its casting of Bloom/Knightley and Johnny Depp's charismatic performance.

In that case, maybe Disney's mistake was spending so much on a film with a somewhat niche audience. It seems like there were a couple of mistakes with this movie.

The reason it hits certain fans of Disney history is the particular history that it relates to. It's too simple to say "fans of Disney history." We remember the awe and wonder and inspiration of looking toward the future that Disney used to embrace, along with a lot of the rest of the population (see NASA, and the World's Fair, and the GE behind The Carousel of Progress and Horizons, and even Coca-Cola' "teaching the world to sing"...). It was inspirational then, and could be today when told not only in context of then but also in the need for optimism today, which was a theme of the movie. The exposition of the theme to its grounding in the accomplishments of optimists from previous generations was not done well enough. That is why I ultimately agree with @Master Yoda in his assessment that there seems to be a great movie there, but part was left on the cutting room floor.

The awe and wonder and inspiration would have been helped by a little more time on the "backstory," which really was an integral part of the story as a whole.
 

Tony Perkis

Well-Known Member
Can we please stop letting Damon Lindleof collaborate with respected directors? He's already helped ruin films by Ridley Scott and Brad Bird.
 

Tony Perkis

Well-Known Member
IMHO, The Martian nailed how you do a trailer for a new property.

I had somehow never heard of this book and after watching this trailer once, I began impatiently counting the days until I can see it. In just 3 minutes I knew the heroes, the villains and just enough of the story to make me know that I have to see this film.


Not really a new property. Based on an excellent best selling book.
 

FoozieBear

Well-Known Member
I think the film is great, but no doubt in my mind that the advertising was the lousiest I've seen from the company in years. Had I not taken part in Disney's marketing campaign back in 2013 (and if it didn't have Disney in the title), I probably would have never seen it.

The trailers did a terrible job at giving anyone any reason to see this movie. They shrouded everything in secrecy for no apparent reason. For me, as a guy who was sold on this movie from day one of production, this mystery and intrigue built excitement for me, but for all the "outsider" people who I kept telling to get excited for this movie would just look at the trailer and say "why the heck am I supposed to care about a movie that doesn't even tell me what's it about?"

I really hope they're not completely crossing this off as a failure because it clearly came from their marketing department. Disney; In a summer of mega-blockbuster sequels, give us a reason to care about seeing this movie.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
Even then, only sort of. The original POTC's teaser trailer comes across as bizarre and confusing as anything released for Tomorrowland:

You're comparing a teaser... to opening week tho.. That's apples and oranges. Before opening week, we had real trailers.. like this one.


Which of course tell you way more what the movie is about.

And the whole movies only running for a few weeks is an industry wide thing. I don't know why in the land of more and more screens... we get movies for less and less time.
 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Without having seen the movie nor have I read any reviews, the biggest strike against the film seems to be the marketing. The trailer and TV spots didn't give much information at all concerning the story, the conflict, villains, goals, anything. A lot of people get paid big money to advertise this sort of thing, you'd think somebody would've said something. You know, "hey, um, what the heck is the movie about?", kind of thing.

I highly recommend you see this film.
It is something unique and may well be right up your alley.

A film for every dreamer, doer, and optimist who believes in a bright and wonderful future.
Being a EPCOT Center fan is a plus.
;)
 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
.......
This is frustrating as well. Delivering these kinds of press releases so early in the movie's run really does send a message to audiences of "It's already a failure, don't bother showing up." Many movies even today take several weeks to find their legs.

I had contemplated seeing the movie but haven't yet due to a busy few weeks, but this kind of gives me the message that it's not a movie worth seeing. Not even Disney has faith in it anymore.

I highly recommend you check it out.
I found it to be a great surprise and absolutely LOVE this film now.
It is unique, and 'different'...and although it is not perfect and has a few quirks, i found it to be wonderfully entertaining and thought provoking.
Some interesting concepts that have your brain cranking long after you leave the theater, well in my case anyway.
I have seen it three times already, once each week of release to date, including in IMAX and really took a lot away from it.
It's been a while since i have been this 'into' a film.

Mark, trust me - i think you would like 'Tomorrowland'.
Ignore the reviews online and the negative press.
Give it a chance and i would be willing to bet you will end up being surprised by how good it is, too.
 
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Beholder

Well-Known Member
I highly recommend you see this film.
It is something unique and may well be right up your alley.

A film for every dreamer, doer, and optimist who believes in a bright and wonderful future.
Being a EPCOT Center fan is a plus.
;)

Considering your love of EPCOT and the optimism you display, I'll take that as a quality recommendation and will add it to my "must see" list. Thanks!
 

Figments Friend

Well-Known Member
Considering your love of EPCOT and the optimism you display, I'll take that as a quality recommendation and will add it to my "must see" list. Thanks!

Thank you for the compliment.
:)
Definitely get out and see it ASAP before it leaves theaters.
This is one that needs to be seen on the BIG screen ( IMAX is a plus! )


In all seriousness, i felt the 'Tomorrowland' film was just a wonderful concept and experience...without even considering the 'Disney' related connections.
The story, characters, and overall cool concept of it all i found to be both entertaining and engrossing.
Fires up the imagination and leaves you feeling pretty great at the end, particularly if you can relate to being one of those 'Dreamers' or 'Doers'.
Not your typical film...unique. Has some quirky moments, but also some good chuckles.
It is one of those rare movies that i thought about long after i left the theater.
I am still thinking about it...on a daily basis.

I really hope more people check out this film as it can be a real inspiration to those who 'get it'.
It is disheartening to realize so many people that would probably get a lot out of seeing it are completely passing it over solely due to the negative press it is getting.


Repeat viewings help make the little nuances come to light better...and several scenes are just jam packed full of interesting details and eye candy in the backgrounds.
Check out the walls of Frank's house, the 'Blast From The Past' shop, and of course 'Tomorrowland' itself.
Once this hits home video, i just know i will be still-framing a lot of those shots to see everything contained in them.

Maybe i am just 'seeing' more there then your average movie-goer....but man, the parallels between EPCOT Center and what eventually happened to it are mirrored in this film.
Society lost hope in a positive, exciting future and EPCOT Center suffered because of it.
Without posting spoilers, i will say this - there is one scene in the film that really hit me hard in reflecting back that reminder of the wonderful place that once existed, and now, currently, it is in 'ruins'.
Those who have seen the film will know at what point i am talking about.

'Tomorrowland' itself, from a design standpoint, is heavily influenced by Walt's original ideas for 'Progress City' and a lot of this you can see in the spectacular settings in the first half of the film.
Anyone familiar with that project, and the early EPCOT plans will immediately make the connection there.
It's a real 'geek out' moment for those paying attention.

Cannot wait to see this again.
Hope to squeeze in a 4th showing this coming week!
Yes, i am obsessed. I LOVE this movie.
 
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imagineer boy

Well-Known Member
While I agree that the movie was just "meh" it seems like Disney's marketing of movies of late has just been flat out awful. Its like they don't know how to market anything anymore.

My major concern is that the failure of tomorrowland might give Disney an excuse not to move forward with the Del Toro Haunted Mansion film. :(
 

Prince-1

Well-Known Member
Sadly, there wasn't enough of us. This is also a commentary of sorts on the validity of the movie's main point- "folks have lost hope and are fulfilling their own destiny of a bleak future". Off soapbox...

Or it's a commentary that it wasn't really that good of a movie and people didn't want to waste their money.
 

216bruce

Well-Known Member
Or it's a commentary that it wasn't really that good of a movie and people didn't want to waste their money.
Nah, sorry. Obviously I feel differently about the film. But I am curious...did you see it? If so, what turned you off so much...and please don't say "Because it sucks" as that's just an embarrassing response. Was it the film's message or a specific fault in the crafting of the movie? Not enough action? I'm just trying to find out the polarized opinions on this. Folks seem to love it or hate it.
 


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