'Lightyear' Coming Summer 2022

[mf1972]

for me, some of the movies coming from both pixar & disney animation have been mediocre. not saying they’re not bad or unwatchable, but they haven’t grabbed me like their other movies have done in the past. i’ll still watch this one, but maybe it’s me just getting older

 

[Kirby86]

We'll see how Lightyear does when schools get out. It could have 'legs.'

It could however two things going against it are Minions 2 is out in two weeks they will be going for the same family dollar. Also now that the theatrical window is 45 days people might now just be waiting for it to show up on Disney +.

 

[Phroobar]

We've speculated it could be Covid keeping people out of theaters.
We've speculated it could be homophobia keeping people away from this movie.
We've speculated it could be resentment over this movie not casting Tim Allen for the iconic role he's owned for decades.
We've speculated it could be poor marketing.
We've speculated it could be inflation.
We've speculated it could be Toy Story burnout.
We've speculated it could be the sci-fi-meets-animation curse of Treasure Planet, Atlantis, and others that have attempted this.
We've speculated it could be the fact this movie doesn't connect fully to the Toy Story saga.
But one factor we have surprisingly not speculated yet, which could easily be the actual reason....

Werewolves.
Now hear me out first.

Before thinking I've gone crazy or am just trolling, rest assured I have not gone crazy. Werewolves could be out there. Can you honestly say you have ever heard of someone who skipped a movie on the big screen and waited for the streaming release getting attacked by a werewolf? Have you? HAVE YOU??? I didn't think so.

So just keep that in mind as another possibility as to why Lightyear isn't raking in No Way Home type of box office numbers.

I hate it when I'm watching a movie with a bunch of dead people that were killed by a werewolf that just bite me on the moors.

 

[Phroobar]

I think the real reason for Lightyear's poor showing is because we've been trained over the last two years to watch Pixar and Disney animated stuff on Disney+ for free (or near free). The only reason to go to the theater is to watch Marvel movie

 

[DCLcruiser]

I liked the movie A LOT! Go see it, enjoy it.

Thank god they cleared up what universe the movie takes place.

The movie has tons of old sci-do movie references.

The kiss is fine, it’s minor, easily missed and yet probably very powerful for those kids who have same-sex parents.

 

[mightynine]

It’s honestly just an OK movie that probably would’ve been better served not being tied to IP.

 

[GimpYancIent]

I liked the movie A LOT! Go see it, enjoy it.

Thank god they cleared up what universe the movie takes place.

The movie has tons of old sci-do movie references.

The kiss is fine, it’s minor, easily missed and yet probably very powerful for those kids who have same-sex parents.

Meh.

 

[Ghost93]

I hate it when I'm watching a movie with a bunch of dead people that were killed by a werewolf that just bite me on the moors.

I didn't see anyone get attacked by a werewolf at my screening. Of course, it's possible the werewolf killed them before they had the opportunity to purchase their tickets for Lightyear.

 

[mf1972]

for those who didn’t care for the movie

 

[vikescaper]

I’m no box office expert but I think Disney made a mistake releasing this when they did. I am interested to see what happens with Lightyear this coming weekend but it is going to get obliterated on July 1 when Minions 2 is released.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I’m no box office expert but I think Disney made a mistake releasing this when they did. I am interested to see what happens with Lightyear this coming weekend but it is going to get obliterated on July 1 when Minions 2 is released.

You mean when a studio releases a sequel with popular characters that people recognize? And also a studio that hasn’t been releasing their movies direct to streaming for the past 3 films? ;(

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

That said... Rise of Gru is coming out in a few weeks and will probably itself get more of the family attention, so I think Lightyear will probably get most of its box office the first two weeks.

Gru will be a good indicator of current theater interest in animated family movies, if it underperforms it’ll show it’s an overall movie theater problem, if it performs well it’ll show it’s a Disney problem. If that happens then the question becomes whether it’s quality related, politics related, Disney+ related, etc.

 

[doctornick]

You mean when a studio releases a sequel with popular characters that people recognize? And also a studio that hasn’t been releasing their movies direct to streaming for the past 3 films? ;(

I recall seeing Boss Baby 2 on Peacock the same day it was released to theaters so I'm not sure that assessment is accurate. Pretty much every service has released films on streams simultaneously or soon after theatrical openings - Disney is far from unique in that.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Universal has been the studio pushing VOD/streaming the hardest, much to the annoyance of movie theater chains.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I recall seeing Boss Baby 2 on Peacock the same day it was released to theaters

Exactly my point.... it was released to theaters. lol.

 

[MisterPenguin]

We'll see what happens with Minions 2.

The first two "Despicable Me's" were well received by the public. And, thus, no surprise, a lot of people went out to see "Despicable Me 3" and "Minions." And they had a huge box office.

However, the latter two movies were not as well received by the public, and could depress the showing of Minions 2.

Remember, Cars 2, had a half a billion B.O., but, because it was so bad, it hurt the B.O. of Cars 3, even tho, it was a much better movie.

OR... ba na na.

Of course, this explains whey Universal is close to building a mini-Minions land...

 

[TP2000]

I’m no box office expert but I think Disney made a mistake releasing this when they did. I am interested to see what happens with Lightyear this coming weekend but it is going to get obliterated on July 1 when Minions 2 is released.

Agreed. Lightyear already bombed at the box office on its opening weekend. Ticket sales today have fallen off a cliff. That doesn't bode well for Weekend #2.

It didn't even get to its already lowballed opening weekend projection of $70 Million.

Lightyear is a box office bomb, face it. Box office numbers don't get better the second weekend.

Pixar's 'Lightyear' fizzles at the box office

"Lightyear" wasn't able to get enough buzz at the box office this weekend.

www.cnn.com

As ‘Lightyear’ Sputters at the Box Office, Where Should Pixar Go Next?

Double Take: The “Toy Story” spinoff divided critics, confounded audiences, and fizzled at the box office. Is it time for Pixar to course correct?

www.indiewire.com

Meanwhile, on the other side of the multiplex where the crowds are...

Box Office: Tom Cruiseâs âTop Gun: Maverickâ Will Absolutely Pass $1 Billion

'Top Gun: Maverick' will certainly be the biggest domestic earner of the summer and now has a shot at taking the worldwide crown as well.

www.forbes.com

 

[TP2000]

Pixar spent a production budget of $200 Million on Lightyear, plus at least an extra $50Million on marketing. It opened in over 4,200 theaters in the US, as per usual for big budget Pixar summer movies. The Hollywood industry's modern rule of thumb is that a movie must make double its production budget at the box office to break even. In Lightyear's case, that's $400 Million needed in box office sales.

Lightyear only made $51 Million its opening weekend, and is falling off a cliff this week at theaters.

This is only the latest box office bomb or straight-to-free-streaming that Disney/Pixar has had in the past year or so. The Walt Disney Company's collection of major movie studios can not continue on this financial path; box office bombs or releasing movies basically for free on an $8 streaming service. The company needs to make profit off the products it sells. Burbank can't just rely on Marvel movies to earn some money.

How Much Lightyear Cost To Make (& How Much For Box Office Success)

To infinity and the bank!

screenrant.com

'Lightyear' sputters to underwhelming $51 million at box office, 'Jurassic World' maintains lead

The Pixar action film failed to clinch the top spot at the box office in its first weekend, earning $51 million across North American theaters.

www.usatoday.com

 

[ElvisMickey]

I love the “people didn’t know it was only in theaters” excuse. That didn’t seem to hurt Top Gun, or even Doctor Strange, which is under Disney’s umbrella. There‘s no excuse here…the box office for this is horrendous.

 

[MisterPenguin]

The Hollywood industry's modern rule of thumb is that a movie must make double its production budget at the box office to break even. In Lightyear's case, that's $400 Million needed in box office sales.

The rule of thumb is that the extra costs are 50% of budget. So, it cost $300M.

And the studio gets, as a rule of thumb, half of the Box Office.

Lightyear will have to hit $600M to break even.... In the theatrical window. There are other 'windows' in which a movie can make extra dough (PPV, DVD, streaming, merch).

Here are some other movies that didn't make their theatrical window profitable: Tangled, Captain America: The First Avenger, Brave.

Several other popular ones that just about broke even: WALL*E, Iron Man 2, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Pirates: At World's End.

Disney's problem is their budget, which can be 2.5 - 3 times higher that another studio's films. They then have to make closer to a billion dollars at the Box Office just to make a profit.

Then again, every movie Disney releases is another addition to the D+ library, thus helping that part of their media empire.

And another rule of thumb: Movies with a CinemaScore of "A", usually make 3.5 to 4 times their opening weekend. So, with $85M worldwide, it's expected to hit a BO of at least $340M.

And if this first weekend was unusually depressed because of the competition, it could be more. Several family films had the "legs" to earn five times more than their biggest weekend, such as E.T.