"Frozen" profits snowball despite decreased screen time.

[prberk]

Saw this AP/LA Times article in my local paper today (Richmond Times-Dispatch) and was really happy. I think it helps reiterate what our old friend @General Grizz (a.k.a. Grizzly Hall) used to say about returning Walt Disney Animation to its former glory: that they needed to return to musicals and fairy tales, with great production values. They have done this, and word-of-mouth has really picked up.

I also think that it was brilliant the way that they sort of under-sold it in the marketing campaign by focusing on Olaf and its lighter elements, which allowed the grand production to hit you unexpectedly at the theatre, making you more likely impressed and likely to share the word. This was something like what happened with Beauty and the Beast, although they sort of marketed that film as a date film, which also helped at the time to differentiate it.

[I could have put this in the long "Frozen" thread, but I did not want it to get lost; and I saw it as a distinct discussion from the general discussion of the movie itself. I prefer the old way here when we started new threads when "news" came out. Otherwise it is hard to tell when a thread has new info and is not just pages and pages of opinion.]

‘Frozen’ is a surprise hit at the box office
BY STEVEN ZEITCHIK Los Angeles Times | Posted: Friday, January 3, 2014 12:00 am
The holidays are a time when family-friendly films pack in audiences. But even in a season when G and PG fare comes with a built-in head start, it’s hard not to be impressed by what “Frozen” has done.
“Frozen” finished in second place at the box office last weekend, its fifth in wide release, with $28.6 million. The film even challenged the more recently released — and notably hyped — “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” for the top box-office slot, and wound up finishing just $400,000 behind it despite playing in 600 fewer theaters.
“Frozen’s” total stands at nearly $250 million since it went wide in late November, a solid number in its own right.
But it’s the way the Chris Buck-Jennifer Lee film — Disney’s musical retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale “The Snow Queen” — has reached the milestone that is surprising and unusual.
Though “Frozen” dropped out of 150 theaters last weekend compared with the previous weekend, its ticket sales surged 46 percent, nearly unheard-of in an industry in which week-to-week drops are the almost-inviolable rule.
In its own way, “Frozen” has the kind of cinematic virtues we associate with legendary films from Hollywood’s past that we don’t see much in mainstream movies — likable characters, clever dialogue, great songs and big emotional payoffs.
In the past few years, animated movies that opened in the fall with an eye toward playing through the holidays — “Puss in Boots,” “Wreck-It Ralph,” a pair of “Alvin and the Chipmunks” movies,” Madagascar Escape 2 Africa” — were out of the top five by the time their fifth weekend of wide release rolled around. (None of these movies, incidentally, got near $250 million in domestic box office receipts.) Even Pixar blockbusters such as “Toy Story 3” and “Finding Nemo” couldn’t stay in the top three during their second months of release.
In fact, most wide-release films in general can’t sustain that kind of momentum. “Frozen,” then, is in the uncommon realm of general-interest, spectacle-driven phenomena such as “Gravity,” which hung on at No. 5 in its fifth week, and “Avatar,” which continued to win the weekend on its sixth and seventh weekends of release.
Some of “Frozen’s” success is due to timing — this is a propitious time of the year for animated movies, and there isn’t a lot out to feed that appetite. But big animated films have had prime weeks all to themselves before without generating the same results.
There are, broadly speaking, two kinds of hits in the movie business — the splashy big-budget release that catches fire pretty much the moment it comes out. And there is the word-of-mouth hit that chugs along, performing well week in and week out.
In an age when most studio releasing is about hammering the audience early and grabbing the receipts quickly, the latter is the rarer form of hit.
“Frozen” is actually the even-rarer species: the film that operates on both levels.
It’s certainly a movie that made its mark right out of the gate. It opened in wide release on Thanksgiving weekend to $67 million, just behind juggernaut “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” and in fact went on to win the box office in its second weekend.
Over its first 12 days of wide release (it had played a one-theater limited engagement the week before it went wide), the film had racked up a whopping $134 million.
But it also has proved to be a word-of-mouth smash. Thanks to its crowd-pleasing mix of stirring action, catchy music and stunning visuals — evidenced, most clearly, by its A-plus CinemaScore — the film has brought out audiences even after the weeks and new competing movies have piled up.
At its current rate, it looks as if the film could approach $300 million in domestic receipts. (It recently crossed half a billion in worldwide dollars.) That would make it the fourth-biggest U.S. hit of the year and mean that two of the top four movies of 2013 were animated films (with “Despicable Me 2”).
That’s a feat that hasn’t happened since 2001.

 

[Magenta Panther]

And may I say, again, that I'm happy for Frozen's success, because that will help WDFA survive, even thrive. What could be better than that? And I'm also happy about the possibility of a Frozen attraction at the parks, because think of it: a new ride based on a Disney-adapted, Disney-created movie. Wow, just like the good old days! Stick it, Star Wars! Bite it, Muppets! A Disney park will get a DISNEY ride. Huzzah!!!!

Now if TDO would just start doing a little Blue Skying for Cherry Tree Lane...

 

[olinecoach61]

I really enjoyed frozen, although there was a little too much singing for my tastes. I thought Olaf stole the show.

 

[prberk]

I am just glad to see that it has legs. The theatres, I think, are returning prints too soon; and Disney should use this news to juice up their commercial buy-time for it, saying it's "Still number one at the box office: Frozen! See it again, or for the first time!"

It would create and sustain momentum that people will even remember when the video versions come out.

 

[Dragonrider1227]

And may I say, again, that I'm happy for Frozen's success, because that will help WDFA survive, even thrive. What could be better than that? And I'm also happy about the possibility of a Frozen attraction at the parks, because think of it: a new ride based on a Disney-adapted, Disney-created movie. Wow, just like the good old days! Stick it, Star Wars! Bite it, Muppets! A Disney park will get a DISNEY ride. Huzzah!!!!

Now if TDO would just start doing a little Blue Skying for Cherry Tree Lane...

Wait, Frozen may be getting a ride while Tangled (which did just as well if not better) just gets a frickin' BATHROOM?!!!

 

[RandomPrincess]

Wait, Frozen may be getting a ride while Tangled (which did just as well if not better) just gets a frickin' BATHROOM?!!!

Tangled, - nearly $201 million US "almost $391 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to about $592 million.

Frozen - Is at about $250 mil US and World so at about $500 mil so far. It has some time left in the theaters. It's projected to make about $18 mil in the US this weekend. It is project to well pass Tangled which had already dropped off by this point.

 

[Gabe1]

I really enjoyed frozen, although there was a little too much singing for my tastes. I thought Olaf stole the show.

Olaf - Sven
Sven - Olaf

Loved them both

 

[Gabe1]

Wait, Frozen may be getting a ride while Tangled (which did just as well if not better) just gets a frickin' BATHROOM?!!!

But a popular Tangled potty it is. 45 minute wait on NYE!

 

[Dragonrider1227]

Tangled, - nearly $201 million US "almost $391 million overseas, bringing its worldwide total to about $592 million.

Frozen - Is at about $250 mil US and World so at about $500 mil so far. It has some time left in the theaters. It's projected to make about $18 mil in the US this weekend. It is project to well pass Tangled which had already dropped off by this point.

Okay, maybe not "better" but still roughly the same.

But a popular Tangled potty it is. 45 minute wait on NYE!

HA HA Great! Maybe they'll install FP+ XD

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Frozen....Snowball. Iiiiiiiiiiiii see what you did there!

 

[RandomPrincess]

From Entertainment Weekly.

As much of the Northeast was trapped in a winter wonderland not unlike its snow-cursed setting, Disney’s Frozen managed to reclaim the No. 1 spot at the box office for the first time in three weekends. The animated film took in $20.7 million, which is a nearly 28 percent drop from last week’s numbers but still impressive considering it’s no longer a holiday and the film is already in its sixth weekend of wide release. It’s now inevitable that the Disney hit will cross the $300 million mark, as it’s currently sitting pretty at $297.8 million. That’s $97 million more than 2010′s Tangled –Disney’s previous CG-animated adaptation of a fairy tale with a past participle for a title—made in its entire domestic run. Meanwhile, Frozen‘s worldwide total has reached $639.9 million.

 

[prberk]

Now would be time for Disney to remember what they used to do (and Star Wars and others did), and add prints (or digital copies) back to theatres with a big secondary ad campaign, building on the good word-of-mouth (and lack of January competition), saying something like, "Frozen is the hit of the season... New theatres added this weekend. See it while you can on the big screen."

It says something that it was number one again with so many theatres having dropped prints or showtimes in exchange for other movies.

 

[DisneyFan 2000]

This pattern is nothing short of a modern-day miracle, in an age where downloading and streaming is as simple as can be and where movies rely on strong opening weekends and quickly evaporate into DVD land. I'm both impressed and extremely pleased to see, at last, another golden age for Disney and hope they don't stumble on their own creative successes too soon.

 

[Matt_Black]

And may I say, again, that I'm happy for Frozen's success.

... Okay, who are you and what have you done with Magenta Panther?!?

 

[Matt_Black]

This pattern is nothing short of a modern-day miracle, in an age where downloading and streaming is as simple as can be and where movies rely on strong opening weekends and quickly evaporate into DVD land. I'm both impressed and extremely pleased to see, at last, another golden age for Disney and hope they don't stumble on their own creative successes too soon.

Well, we'll see how Big Hero 6 turns out, as that's a risky movie from several angles. First, you've got a large cast of protagonists. Second, Disney animated and science fictiony action haven't really meshed all that well in the past. Third, there's a concern that they might Anglicize the characters to make them more palatable to white audiences, which was a big criticism of the Last Airbender movie (granted, LA had a LOT of problems aside from that). Hollywood hasn't had the best track record with portraying Asian characters as anything other than sidekicks, though admittedly Disney Animated has done well in that regards before. Fourth, it's a superhero movie, and there's already a bunch of superhero movies that are going to be out in 2014; audiences very well may have had their fill by that point in the year.

It does have a lot of pluses in it's favor, though, so knock on wood that BH6 keeps the momentum going for the studio.

 

[RandomPrincess]

Frozen seems to have hit at just the right time. Lot's of internet attention for this film and it is now the 2nd highest rated Disney animated film on IMDB

Apparently Frozen has reached tweendom shipping Fanfic status. The oddist couple to ship? Anna and Elsa! There is Anna and Elsa sexual fan fiction floating around out there.

 

[brifraz]

So, we went to see Frozen for the second time this morning. It has been 9 weeks since it was released and the show was SOLD OUT. Yup. Completely sold out. But, of course, this is MLK day - an off day for school kids - oh, wait Frozen came out before Thanksgiving, which means it has already had at least 8-10 weekdays that school kids have been off for families to go see it.

It is quite impressive to me that it is now over $330 million (close to $800 million worldwide) and #6 all time for animated movies (behind only Lion King, Toy Story 3, and Finding Nemo in the Disney universe). With it still pulling well over $10 million a week it will likely end up #4 all time animated and has a chance (not a great chance, but certainly possible) to pass Lion King and $1B in worldwide box office.

Wow.