TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
Back to the topic. Sort of... ya’ll see how well Minions is doing!? So it’s not the probalem of Animation or family films.
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'Lightyear' Coming Summer 2022
- Thread starter NateD1226
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Disney Irish
Premium Member
Well so far Minions appears to have dropped 70% in its second weekend, on par with other animation/family films. That means it was front-loaded (helped by a holiday week and meme status) and may not bring in the huge $1.1B BO like the first one did.
So yeah it may just be that it had a one-off stellar weekend and then fizzles out, we'll have to wait and see. If that's the case, then yes we can still say there is a problem with animation/family films. And that Lightyear just didn't get the same front-loaded first weekend for reasons already discussed.
The gentleminions are a fickle group. Once they've used you, they dump you.
GimpYancIent
Well-Known Member
Minions box office 280 + mil and growing at a production budget of 80 mil, sounds like a very good return on investment. Way better than Lightyear.
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
"Minions" has earned 209 million-plus in its second week. That's just the domestic take. Worldwide, it's earned nearly 300 million. It's already profitable.
As for Lightyear, it premiered June 17, and has earned a little over 110 million domestic, a total it was expected to do its first week. Its worldwide take to date is...192 million. It will have to struggle to make much more, since it's now being dropped from theaters due to its anemic performance. Since its production budget is reportedly 200 million, and the average film has to make twice its production budget just to break even...Lightyear is now a certified bomb. A terrible performance for a Pixar film starring a known, liked and formerly very profitable Toy Story character.
Frankly, I think it's bull to say that families have been "trained" or "conditioned" to not see a Disney/Pixar animated movie at theaters because they could just wait for Disney+. Because not everybody is subscribed to Disney+, duh. And families want to get out post-pandemic like everybody else, and an appealing family film at a movie theater is the perfect venue for that.
I'm going to be very interested to see how Strange World does. At best, I think it looks awful, especially the character design. The only appealing character is the dog.
As for Lightyear, it premiered June 17, and has earned a little over 110 million domestic, a total it was expected to do its first week. Its worldwide take to date is...192 million. It will have to struggle to make much more, since it's now being dropped from theaters due to its anemic performance. Since its production budget is reportedly 200 million, and the average film has to make twice its production budget just to break even...Lightyear is now a certified bomb. A terrible performance for a Pixar film starring a known, liked and formerly very profitable Toy Story character.
Frankly, I think it's bull to say that families have been "trained" or "conditioned" to not see a Disney/Pixar animated movie at theaters because they could just wait for Disney+. Because not everybody is subscribed to Disney+, duh. And families want to get out post-pandemic like everybody else, and an appealing family film at a movie theater is the perfect venue for that.
I'm going to be very interested to see how Strange World does. At best, I think it looks awful, especially the character design. The only appealing character is the dog.
TwilightZone
Well-Known Member
Strange World, IMO, on the surface looks more interesting than Lightyear, but also seems quite boring. I hope that Disney takes notes from the reportadbly middling audience previews to make Strange World a fun and engaging movie.
MarvelCharacterNerd
Well-Known Member
I think it's been mentioned before, but I'll note that the extremely vivid bright color palette of Minions (also see: the gorgeous Encanto and all the actual Toy Story films) was likely a strong part of its appeal and success. Whereas both Lightyear and Strange World look washed out. Bright colors imply happy films. Washed out, darker tones do not. (Perfect example: the evolution of Steve Rogers' Captain America suit from the earlier films to the later ones as the films themselves grew more serious in tone and events.) Why would parents want to take their kids to films that even subconsciously imply darkness or unhappiness?
Prince-1
Well-Known Member
MarvelCharacterNerd
Well-Known Member
Analyzing too much? In a thread discussing why a movie is successful or not? lolI think you might be analyzing this a little too much.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
No. It’s pretty spot on. Turning Reds marketing looked very happy and fun vs. the dark and depressing looking Lightyear.I think you might be analyzing this a little too much.
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
It’s a very good point indeed.
It’s amazing how so many things can impact audience perspective. Colour tone, name of film, etc.
TwilightZone
Well-Known Member
Speaking of, I think naming the movie "Lightyear" was a bad idea, because for a while when I searched google images or anything outside of main google (and occasionally youtube), I get a lot of stuff on the original Buzz Lightyear, not this new movie (or oddly images of cars). This was all within the first week of the movies release, so it is different now, but there was quite a surprising lack of results for a long period of time.
Screamface
Well-Known Member
It's going to do worse than Lightyear. The retro nostalgia of the trailer doesn't work on anyone. It's an old meme at this point. It's eye-rolling now. In this current day, after all we've seen on the screen. The "weirdness" of the worlds looks boring and dull.
Now for the bit people won't like to hear, and people will say is a red flag comment. No one likes these pathetic and cowardly male characters. People can justify them for social agenda reasons. Not being toxic masculinity or whatever. It doesn't change the fact no one likes them or wants to see them. They can be justified on a spreadsheet but it doesn't change the fact they are unappealing. One of the big reasons Lightyear failed is that his character in the trailer seemed to lack confidence, isn't respected, was the butt of jokes and was constantly being knocked to the ground. It's simply not the type of character that garners interest.
Buzz seemed like the loser in his film in the trailer. It's no different with the main trailer for Strange Worlds. Everyone else is the strong hero. As too much focus in Hollywood of what character should and shouldn't represent on a spreadsheet means they're creating bad characters. It's not just that a character can be reluctant or unsure. There needs to be a confident character dunking on them over it, making fun of them so the audience definitely understands the point being made. Yet as a viewer, people just roll their eyes at this now common trope.
Part of the reason it is unappealing is that we all have moments of lacking confidence. The last thing we would want in them is someone to be making fun of us. It's mean and bullying behaviour. We've all experienced it. Why would we want to go see that in a film happen to our main character?
Sharon&Susan
Well-Known Member
So will this week be the week where Disney will announce when this comes to Disney+? Doesn't seem like there's much more to be made theatrically.
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BuddyThomas
Well-Known Member
People who attempt to speak for everyone (“no one likes this; no one likes that”) speak for no one.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Except for Paws of Furry this week and DC's Super Pets on the 29th , there isn't anything else being released this month for families. So I suspect they'll wait until August to give it a D+ release date, just my gut feeling.
Well, 45 days is the new normal for big films (used to be 90). Disney cut Encanto short with 30 days and cut its legs with the announcement of immediately going to D+.
So, I'm gonna guess 45 days, which is until Aug 1.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Very possible.... Anytime between Aug 1-15 would be my bet.
Prince-1
Well-Known Member
Trying to say that the movie failed because the movie has darker tones and a darker color palette and that it subconsciously swayed families to not go see it is too much. I mean Wall-E was dark and it did pretty ok at the box office.
TrainsOfDisney
Well-Known Member
You don’t think colors matter in marketing?
They could have had the exact same movie and it would have had a better opening weekend if the ads were brighter, mentioned Toy Story, and featured the cat.