'Lightyear' Coming Summer 2022

[Magenta Panther]

Lightyear had a bigger opening weekend than The Bad Guys, Sing 2 and pretty much every animated film released in the post-Covid times. Heck, it had a bigger opening weekend than Secret Life of Pets 2 and that was released before the pandemic.

Lightyear underperformed relative to projections but results are pretty favorable compared to other similar films. I think the bigger issue here is that family films aren’t doing all that much in this post-pandemic world and my gut feeling is that people don’t feel like it is “worth it” to go to a theater with kids with streaming so prominent. Sonic 2 is about the biggest success. It seems the only things that get big draws right now are franchise action movies - stuff that people feel “need” to be seen on the big screen and/or want to avoid spoilers or be part of national conversations.

I don’t know what it means for the future of family films, especially animation

Buzz Lightyear is a popular character that has sold tons of merchandise and is part of the most successful animated film series of all time. Sing and Pets are not now and never were as remotely successful by comparison. And yet the Lightyear film flopped - worldwide. Are you seriously trying to suggest that the box-office results are somehow okay? Do you think "Disney"/Pixar think they're okay?

Because that's what's important here.

 

[Andrew C]

For a movie like this, I think it’s just best to go see for yourself.

 

[Ghost93]

Buzz Lightyear is a popular character that has sold tons of merchandise and is part of the most successful animated film series of all time.

And I think a big strike against the movie from a financial standpoint is that Chris Evans isn't playing the Buzz Lightyear audiences love. He's playing an original character that's Buzz Lightyear in name only. I think the Lightyear movie is good, but it doesn't feel AT ALL like the Buzz from Toy Story or the animated series.

 

[doctornick]

View attachment 647184

Buzz Lightyear is a popular character that has sold tons of merchandise and is part of the most successful animated film series of all time. Sing and Pets are not now and never were as remotely successful by comparison. And yet the Lightyear film flopped - worldwide. Are you seriously trying to suggest that the box-office results are somehow okay? Do you think "Disney"/Pixar think they're okay?

Because that's what's important here.

I would say the results are disappointing but certainly are okay. I am honestly perplexed by anyone referring to this as a "flop" or "bomb" (based on the opening; we'll see how it does over the next few weeks). Animated family films just aren't doing anything much these days compared to pre-pandemic.

To put a different way, there is no reason for anyone at Disney to flip out or do anything drastic over this opening. I think as we've been discussing in this thread that tweaking how they release films - especially in regards to the timing of streaming - should be looked at but there's little of significance to take away from this opening other than animated films are not as sure fire like they were before 2020. But of course Chapek is in charge and seems to be an idiot, so they probably will do something stupid as an overreaction.

 

[CJR]

To be honest, Pixar has been on rocky ground since John Lasseter the boot. It was rough then and it's never really recovered.

77% on Rotten Tomatoes is not bad by any means, but compared to the 97% of Toy Story 4 and 98% of Toy Story 3, critically, it's just not as strong. The audience scores are also reflecting a similar drop. The brand name of Pixar doesn't mean what it did just five years ago. Even Family Guy recently made a joke that Pixar is no longer a "sure bet".

That's not to say this movie is bad, but when you compare it the series it's based on, it is lesser. They clearly are trying, but they're just not there yet.

They really need to work on a "classic" old school Pixar film to remind people they're still the same company that brought us the original Toy Story. No pushing boundaries, no attempting to expand the base for diversity. Just go do what they've done for around thirty years. They need that simple "feel good" premise again, I think.

 

[doctornick]

They really need to work on a "classic" old school Pixar film to remind people they're still the same company that brought us the original Toy Story. No pushing boundaries, no attempting to expand the base for diversity. Just go do what they've done for around thirty years. They need that simple "feel good" premise again, I think.

Soul and Luca to me both felt like classic Pixar films of high quality. I wasn't as impressed with Turning Red but thought it was decent enough. I'm not really convinced that the films are really any lesser than those that came before.

 

[MisterPenguin]

To be honest, Pixar has been on rocky ground since John Lasseter the boot. It was rough then and it's never really recovered.

77% on Rotten Tomatoes is not bad by any means, but compared to the 97% of Toy Story 4 and 98% of Toy Story 3, critically, it's just not as strong. The audience scores are also reflecting a similar drop. The brand name of Pixar doesn't mean what it did just five years ago. Even Family Guy recently made a joke that Pixar is no longer a "sure bet".

That's not to say this movie is bad, but when you compare it the series it's based on, it is lesser. They clearly are trying, but they're just not there yet.

They really need to work on a "classic" old school Pixar film to remind people they're still the same company that brought us the original Toy Story. No pushing boundaries, no attempting to expand the base for diversity. Just go do what they've done for around thirty years. They need that simple "feel good" premise again, I think.

Lasseter left in 2017.

Since then Soul, Luca, and Turning Red all had RT scores in the 90s. And very good critical and audience scores. They all have very high streaming numbers, too.

It's hard to gauge just how well those movies were received because they went to D+ in the U.S., and so we don't have apples to apples Box Office receipts with which to compare them to other Pixar movies.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

I feel like Soul was 100% the definition of Pixar!

 

[MisterPenguin]

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

 

[Magenta Panther]

Just looking up more numbers because they've been recorded before...

Cars 3 had a $53.6 million opening day weekend

Coco had a $50.8 million opening day weekend

I have to agree that the Toy Story connection seems to have inflated expectations.

And I think a big strike against the movie from a financial standpoint is that Chris Evans isn't playing the Buzz Lightyear audiences love. He's playing an original character that's Buzz Lightyear in name only. I think the Lightyear movie is good, but it doesn't feel AT ALL like the Buzz from Toy Story or the animated series.

Finally, someone makes a good point. Replacing Tim Allen was a mistake, perhaps. But I doubt that's the whole reason for the film's failure.

 

[doctornick]

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

A lot of schools are already out in the country though kids films can certainly have relatively good weekdays and not be as weekend heavy. 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.

 

[Screamface]

I am very skeptical that the lesbian kiss or any culture wars is doing much of anything in terms of the box office (at least domestically). The box office is pretty much in line with all other family animated films, which have consistently been underwhelming during the pandemic.

We'll see how Rise of Gru does in a few weeks.

In the past kids had a limited number of VHS or DVDs they would rewatch constantly. A film was something new to break that cycle. Now they have a large library with streaming to watch. The appeal of "new" doesn't really matter to them. It's the parents that will drag them to the cinema. Or so I have observed with my nieces and nephew.

This is where I believe the decision for a theatrical release came from. Aiming at the parents. Yet, there's not really any nostalgia for Toy Story. They're just good films that never went away. If you told most people there was a Lightyear film that came out 15 years ago. They wouldn't question it.

The girls are happy just watching Disney + all day. Everything is new to them, even if they've seen it before. The boy is fine with youtube. Watching Australian man-children dropping a giant solid steel hulk fist off a tower to smash things is all he needs. It is surprisingly entertaining tbh.

 

[Ghost93]

Finally, someone makes a good point. Replacing Tim Allen was a mistake, perhaps. But I doubt that's the whole reason for the film's failure.

Tim Allen wouldn't have worked for the younger and more serious take on the character they went with in Lightyear. However, as a result it ends of feeling like a different character.

 

[Screamface]

Tim Allen wouldn't have worked for the younger and more serious take on the character they went with in Lightyear. However, as a result it ends of feeling like a different character.

Why not? He can alter his performance. Channel a bit of a young Gil Gerard.

 

[erasure fan1]

Replacing Tim Allen was a mistake, perhaps. But I doubt that's the whole reason for the film's failure.

It wouldn't surprise me if most of the Disney films from here on out underperform. Disney has done a great job making all sides mad at them. So now, every decision they make is going to get pushback.

 

[MisterPenguin]

It wouldn't surprise me if most of the Disney films from here on out underperform. Disney has done a great job making all sides mad at them. So now, every decision they make is going to get pushback.

Didn't stop the Doctor Strange 2 from making $250M more than Doctor Strange 1. And the sequel famously had the 'two moms' scene.

 

[erasure fan1]

Didn't stop the Doctor Strange 2 from making $250M more than Doctor Strange 1. And the sequel famously had the 'two moms' scene.

That's why I said most and I wouldn't be surprised. Thor will do well, Guardians should be fine too. Would I be surprised if one of the marvel films under performs though? Not really.

 

[TwilightZone]

As I mentioned before in the Space Mountain thread, I think the flop is less towards homophobia or any politics and more towards Lightyear already being a bad idea with meh execution. No one wanted or asked for an "epic" Buzz Lightyear movie.

 

[TwilightZone]

But also even though this is just 1 tweet, I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up becoming a trend across movie theaters in the future

 

[Jacob Marley]

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.