Elemental (Pixar - June 2023)

MrPromey

Well-Known Member

This is good news for Elemental but it feels weird up-voting your post showing a movie Disney released a month and a half ago is doing better than an even more expensive movie they released only a month ago.

... Just the same, at least this one didn't get forgotten and unlike Indy, I was compelled to go out and see this one opening weekend.
 
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lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
By the silly rule of thumb it’s going to show a loss well under $100 million. But the rule of thumb is completely arbitrary. It includes marketing costs that are intended to boost profits on secondary platforms but doesn’t include those platforms. The ignorance on these boards about how the entertainment industry actually works is matched only by the complete unearned confidence in that ignorance.

Read a book! (This isn’t directed at you, Penguin).
Wait until people learn that studios have spent decades claiming movies didn’t make money.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
But the rule of thumb is completely arbitrary. It includes marketing costs that are intended to boost profits on secondary platforms but doesn’t include those platforms.

Besides DVD, BluRay, PVOD and Streaming, what are the secondary platforms a movie marketing campaign boosts profits for?

I ask because DVD and BluRay sales are collapsing into almost nothing now, and not only has Streaming (Disney+) not made Disney any money, but Disney+ continues to lose at least a half a Billion dollars every fiscal year since it launched in 2019.

PVOD is probably a better indicator of profit, but does Disney do big business with PVOD?

If I rent Lightyear tonight on Amazon Prime for $3.99, how much money does Disney get from that after they pay Amazon for all the energy and computing power and what not to beam it to my TV for one night? Where are those profits called out? Anyone know?
 

Disney Irish

Premium Member
Besides DVD, BluRay, PVOD and Streaming, what are the secondary platforms a movie marketing campaign boosts profits for?

I ask because DVD and BluRay sales are collapsing into almost nothing now, and not only has Streaming (Disney+) not made Disney any money, but Disney+ continues to lose at least a half a Billion dollars every fiscal year since it launched in 2019.

PVOD is probably a better indicator of profit, but does Disney do big business with PVOD?

If I rent Lightyear tonight on Amazon Prime for $3.99, how much money does Disney get from that after they pay Amazon for all the energy and computing power and what not to beam it to my TV for one night? Where are those profits called out? Anyone know?
I've heard the split for PVOD on Amazon and other services (may vary of course by service) is an average 80/20. So 80% would go to Disney, and the 20% to the provider.

Its why the post-theatrical market is so lucrative for studios as they get a higher take than the 50/50 average during the theatrical run.
 

DKampy

Well-Known Member
I've heard the split for PVOD on Amazon and other services (may vary of course by service) is an average 80/20. So 80% would go to Disney, and the 20% to the provider.

Its why the post-theatrical market is so lucrative for studios as they get a higher take than the 50/50 average during the theatrical run.
That would explain why studios jump at getting their movies to PVOD as quickly as they can for 19.99 even why movies are still in theaters
 

MisterPenguin

President of Animal Kingdom
Premium Member

The narrative around Peter Sohn's animated adventure has completely changed since it was first released in theaters back in June. Elemental debuted to a paltry $29.6 million in its opening weekend, giving the storied Pixar Animation Studios its lowest debut since Toy Story was released in 1995. It seemed like yet another nail in the coffin for the studio, which has struggled to gain any traction theatrically since the pandemic. However, in the month-and-a-half since its release, Elemental has turned into the Little Engine That Could, slowly becoming a big win for the studio.​
This week, Elemental crossed $400 million at the global box office, a feat that seemed almost impossible after its disastrous opening. What once seemed like a film that was destined to lose a lot of money, just as Lightyear did in 2022, has turned profitable for Pixar. It's also the very first original film to pass $400 million at the box office since the start of the pandemic. Every other film to cross the threshold has been part of a franchise or based on some kind of existing property.​
Elemental is a success story that needs to be talked about when it comes to the changing habits of moviegoers and how studios look at box office success. Hats no longer have to be hung on opening weekend, and Elemental proves it would be silly to do so. Patience is most definitely a virtue when it comes to the box office. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 faced a similar scenario earlier in the year. It wasn't quite the flop that Elemental was, but it opened lower than many expected, and didn't quite meet the standards of other Marvel movies. However, Guardians 3 went on to deliver record-low drops for Marvel week after week, letting positive word of mouth guide people to the theaters. It went on to become one of the highest earning films in all of 2023.​
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
This week, Elemental crossed $400 million at the global box office, a feat that seemed almost impossible after its disastrous opening. What once seemed like a film that was destined to lose a lot of money, just as Lightyear did in 2022, has turned profitable for Pixar.​

How has Elemental turned profitable once it hits $400 Million globally in a day or two? 🧐

Elemental cost $200 Million to produce, and Disney is reported to have spent $100 Million on its global marketing. With that budget, it would need $600 Million globally to break even and thus "turn profitable" for Pixar.

Where's the hidden $200 Million in ticket sales, and why would a global cabal of evil theater owners conspire to hide them?

Elemental .jpg
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Besides DVD, BluRay, PVOD and Streaming, what are the secondary platforms a movie marketing campaign boosts profits for?

I ask because DVD and BluRay sales are collapsing into almost nothing now, and not only has Streaming (Disney+) not made Disney any money, but Disney+ continues to lose at least a half a Billion dollars every fiscal year since it launched in 2019.

PVOD is probably a better indicator of profit, but does Disney do big business with PVOD?

If I rent Lightyear tonight on Amazon Prime for $3.99, how much money does Disney get from that after they pay Amazon for all the energy and computing power and what not to beam it to my TV for one night? Where are those profits called out? Anyone know?

Here you are


Elemental is probably pushing projected profitability (say that four times fast) based on Lightyear vs. 'the rule of thumb'. Combined with nearly double Lightyears box office receipts, which will surely translate to a stronger Home Entertainment and TV/stream receipts for it. It should do a tidy little amount on the backend and becomes a film that is a completely new property that actually seems reasonably well liked for them to continue to wring out money from for decades to come... unlike say Lightyear, that they will mostly ignore to salvage the Toy Story Brand.

Screen Shot 2023-08-03 at 8.25.14 PM.png
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Reminder for everyone... we all WANT Elemental to be successful.

I'm really not sure what one could even be considered a fan of if you are actively cheering against this one.

It's a pretty great film, not merely paint by the numbers, original, beautifully animated, non-controversial. Well liked by audiences.

May it explode onto the scene on D+.
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
"Elemental has also done well overseas, including turning into a juggernaut in South Korea, which leads all markets with $44.8 million so far. Per Disney, admissions are expected to hit 6 million on Thursday — meaning that tickets have been sold for one out of every eight people in that country. Other milestones achieved in South Korea include: No. 3 animated film of all time behind Walt Disney Animation’s two Frozen movies; No. 2 release of 2023 among all films behind local title Round Up; and No. 5 Hollywood release in the pandemic era after Avatar: The Way of Water, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Elemental opens in its final major market, Japan, on Friday."

Beyond the point of this discussion - maybe I'll go start this on the International Parks board...

But I think Disney needs to start more seriously looking at South Korea as a whole. They've been a really strong market for Disney (other than the strong TLM rejection); are really into Marvel as well as a market. I know the parks are a bit crowded in that region, but in terms of their own outbound travel China isn't really thing and Japan, while proximal, is not really a country they head to either.
 

Phroobar

Well-Known Member
Maybe in the interest of world peace Disney could build in South Korea. That will keep North Korea from wanting to nuke the place.
 

celluloid

Well-Known Member
Barbie was also animated movies.

So, Barbie is the thing this board hates the most: A live-action remake!!!

Well it is a different studio entirely. Barbie animated series of films were typically Universal.

The new movie is WB.

So under this logic.

Bob Iger still approves of Tar Baby and Brer Rabbit stories of Uncle Remus that exist!

As far as Elemental goes.

It just goes to show you that when all other movies suck, including your others, you can market it out the whazoo and nearly break even on the deal.

Those legs it had unfortunately end now with Ninja Turtles Mutant Mayhem being another option for families to purchase tickets for.
 

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Here you are

So Lightyear lost them $106 Million after Disney paid itself $95 Million to put Lightyear on Disney+???

That seems to get at the core of the problem I see. Disney loses money on the film at the box office, then takes monthly subscription revenue from Disney+ subscribers to pay itself from one company division to another to lessen the net loss on the film that lost money at the box office.

Which is likely a big reason why Disney+ keeps losing a Billion or more dollars every fiscal year, because it uses subscriber revenues to pay off failing movie divisions in the same company. That's just not sustainable, in my opinion. And it still means the movie didn't earn a profit at the box office.

Lightyear Negatives.jpg
 

Tha Realest

Well-Known Member
So Lightyear lost them $106 Million after Disney paid itself $95 Million to put Lightyear on Disney+???

That seems to get at the core of the problem I see. Disney loses money on the film at the box office, then takes monthly subscription revenue from Disney+ subscribers to pay itself from one company division to another to lessen the net loss on the film that lost money at the box office.

Which is likely a big reason why Disney+ keeps losing a Billion or more dollars every fiscal year, because it uses subscriber revenues to pay off failing movie divisions in the same company. That's just not sustainable, in my opinion. And it still means the movie didn't earn a profit at the box office.

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I’m not sure where $60M in “home entertainment” comes from, unless it was miraculously pulling in a bunch of digital sales in the week or two it was on those platforms before being shuttled off to D+

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