Wish (Walt Disney Animation - November 2023)

[brb1006]

According to a few Japanese posts online, there's a mall near Tokyo Station that has a huge Christmas tree with Wish Characters on it. Can't find photos as of now. But the song "This Wish" is everywhere over there.

 

[Miss Rori]

If the kid wants to look at it as doing well comparatively now that some of the larger international markets are starting to open for Wish, let him.

With Australia, Brazil, and a few other major markets left to open there is potential for more gains in the coming weeks. It likely won't bridge the gap, but it could make the sting not as bad.

The main issue is that Wonka has already opened in most of those markets and is doing well. And Wish has all those bad critical reviews - and the disaster of the U.S. run - preceding it, which can't be good for the hype train.

 

[Disney Irish]

The main issue is that Wonka has already opened in most of those markets and is doing well. And Wish has all those bad critical reviews - and the disaster of the U.S. run - preceding it, which can't be good for the hype train.

And South Korea ended up being a huge market for Elemental even though it stalled here in the US.

You never know until all the box office results come in.

 

[brb1006]

 

[brb1006]

Found the Wish Christmas Tree near Tokyo Station (Skip to Slide 4)

 

[celluloid]

Found the Wish Christmas Tree near Tokyo Station

LoL. The slide was default made this post funny.

 

[brb1006]

Compared to the United States, the marketing and advertisements for Wish is much better in Japan with some of it marketing towards Japan's Idol Culture with Asha being voiced by a J-Pop singer.

 

[TP2000]

If the kid wants to look at it as doing well comparatively now that some of the larger international markets are starting to open for Wish, let him.

With Australia, Brazil, and a few other major markets left to open there is potential for more gains in the coming weeks. It likely won't bridge the gap, but it could make the sting not as bad.

The projection that Wish will lose more than $200 Million for Disney is based on the assumption that there is still $25 Million or so left in the last few major foreign markets, namely Brazil, Australia & New Zealand, and South Korea. It will be a tough slog to get there for Wish, but those last few foreign countries should get it closer to $100 Million total global box office.

Wish's foreign box office currently stands at $71 Million as of Sunday, December 17th. That includes Estonia, for the record.

With $100 Million-ish overseas, and $70 Million-ish domestically, Wish will lose over $200 Million for Disney in its theatrical run.

 

[brideck]

I'm sure this will differ from viewer to viewer, but I think it would have been more effective if they could have more dramatically demonstrated to Asha and then the population just how profound a part of themselves they were giving up and had that be the big reveal. Showing wishes like flying, singing, or mountain climbing and then suggesting the lives of the people of Rosas were ultimately empty because they weren't doing those things suggests most people in this world who aren't eccentric billionaires are also living empty, unfulfilled lives out in the suburbs and cooped up in their workplaces.

Yeah, I find that concept rather insulting myself. I have a lot of things I'd like to be working on but I need to make sure I have a roof over my head, food on the table, etc., and obtaining those things tends to get in the way of just running off to follow my dreams. (If anything, given how people in Rosas live the life of Riley they really should have no problems having it both ways - they're only giving up one wish!) Not to mention a lot of stories are specifically about how people can have fulfilling lives for themselves and others by being a functioning part of their communities and appreciating the little things (It's a Wonderful Life, Soul, etc.) rather than just moping about the big things that Life often gets in the way of doing.

Just back from a quick (slightly wet) weekend in WDW, so sorry for letting this part of the conversation die for a bit.

I suspect that we aren't supposed to just view the example wishes as simply mountain climbing, flying, and singing. That would indeed be a bit silly. I think they're representations of the broader human striving that Rosas is lacking, e.g. mountain climbing = exploration, flying = innovation, singing = art/inspiration for future generations. This reading is reinforced by the epilogue where the woman who wants to fly isn't hung up on getting to magically levitate through the air, but is instead going to work on creating a flying machine. Does everyone in our society get to do this boundary-stretching work? Of course not, but I definitely think that someone has to be doing that work in order to create a successful civilization.

 

[BuddyThomas]

For perspective, “Wish” is opening to about 30% less in Japan than the box office disappointment “Ralph Breaks the Internet”, adjusted for inflation.

We’ll see where it ends up, but it is not a great start for a tentpole Disney animated musical in that market (already 80% below Frozen 2).

Thanks for the continuous blow by blow updates.

 

[Ghost93]

Thanks for the continuous blow by blow updates.

I just don't know what the point of the constant updates are. Wish flopped. Whether it deserved to or not is up for debate (I thought it was mediocre, but have no hatred for it). I feel the daily box office updates are beating a dead horse. There's no rebound coming at the box office for Wish.

Maybe it will do well on streaming, but I still hope Disney stands firm and doesn't release the film on Disney Plus for Christmas. They need to untrain audiences from expecting Christmas day streaming releases for Thanksgiving animated movies.

 

[TsWade2]

I just don't know what the point of the constant updates are. Wish flopped. Whether it deserved to or not is up for debate (I thought it was mediocre, but have no hatred for it). I feel the daily box office updates are beating a dead horse. There's no rebound coming at the box office for Wish.

Maybe it will do well on streaming, but I still hope Disney stands firm and doesn't release the film on Disney Plus for Christmas. They need to untrain audiences from expecting Christmas day streaming releases for Thanksgiving animated movies.

Most likely it will do well on streaming.

 

[Miss Rori]

I just don't know what the point of the constant updates are. Wish flopped. Whether it deserved to or not is up for debate (I thought it was mediocre, but have no hatred for it). I feel the daily box office updates are beating a dead horse. There's no rebound coming at the box office for Wish.

I'm honestly wondering when the corporate "reckoning" will come for Wish doing so poorly. I find it so bizarre, given how much from-the-top meddling is done on Disney's films in general these days (retools, reshoots, reschedulings, etc.) that apparently no one looked at Wish at any point in production and raised questions about its clumsy world-building and stakes, the look of the animation, the songs, etc. (I think back to the huge overhauls Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Frozen, etc. had.)

 

[TsWade2]

I give up! You people are so miserable!

 

[MoonRakerSCM]

Wish fading fast in the key foreign markets that are in their fourth weekend:

UK: $745K, $8.4M total
Spain: $485K, $4.8M total
Mexico: $217K, $4.7M total
China: $102K, $5.8M total

These four key markets look to end at only about $25M combined.

As a comp, previous recent Thanksgiving Disney release grosses for those markets (not adjusted for inflation):

Frozen 2: $247M
Ralph Breaks the Internet: $95M

Mario, as a non-Disney comp, did over $200M in those same markets earlier this year at half the production cost.

Darn those pesky clickbait youtubers for influencing the UK, Spain, Mexico, and China markets...

Or maybe I give the youtubers too much credit... it must be those negative message board posters!!!!

 

[TP2000]

Most likely it will do well on streaming.

What does that even mean? Disney+ loses them hundreds of millions of dollars every 90 days.

Does a mega-budget movie that bombed "doing well on streaming" equate to only losing $280 Million instead of $287 Million?

 

[TP2000]

I'm honestly wondering when the corporate "reckoning" will come for Wish doing so poorly. I find it so bizarre, given how much from-the-top meddling is done on Disney's films in general these days (retools, reshoots, reschedulings, etc.) that apparently no one looked at Wish at any point in production and raised questions about its clumsy world-building and stakes, the look of the animation, the songs, etc. (I think back to the huge overhauls Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Frozen, etc. had.)

This is an excellent point.

But it is one I've brought up repeatedly for previous mega-budget flops in the past year. And no one has a good answer for it. Apparently, Disney's flagship movie studios get to keep setting fire to giant piles of cash and lose hundreds of millions of dollars per film, and no one is held accountable for that.

Instead, there is a short list of excuses that are to blame for the massive global audience shunning Disney's recent movies. And it's all due to toxic fandom, Internet service now being available across most of the globe, the various ists and phobes that are only discussed in faculty lounges, and also the Disney+ service. With a fading shout out to Bob Chapek, as a charmless hack.

Meanwhile, there's no night parade in either WDW or Disneyland Resort, no new ride is currently under construsction on either coast even though all six parks are woefully short of ride capacity, and nothing new has been announced to begin construction any time soon in any of the parks in either California or Florida.

 

[LittleBuford]

I'm honestly wondering when the corporate "reckoning" will come for Wish doing so poorly. I find it so bizarre, given how much from-the-top meddling is done on Disney's films in general these days (retools, reshoots, reschedulings, etc.) that apparently no one looked at Wish at any point in production and raised questions about its clumsy world-building and stakes, the look of the animation, the songs, etc. (I think back to the huge overhauls Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Frozen, etc. had.)

I don't think its failure was as predictable as you suggest, or even predictable at all. While recognising its faults, I liked it quite a bit and found it a more enjoyable watch than, say, Frozen 2, which made a lot of money. It's a much better movie than its box-office performance would suggest.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Just back from a quick (slightly wet) weekend in WDW, so sorry for letting this part of the conversation die for a bit.

I suspect that we aren't supposed to just view the example wishes as simply mountain climbing, flying, and singing. That would indeed be a bit silly. I think they're representations of the broader human striving that Rosas is lacking, e.g. mountain climbing = exploration, flying = innovation, singing = art/inspiration for future generations. This reading is reinforced by the epilogue where the woman who wants to fly isn't hung up on getting to magically levitate through the air, but is instead going to work on creating a flying machine. Does everyone in our society get to do this boundary-stretching work? Of course not, but I definitely think that someone has to be doing that work in order to create a successful civilization.

Sure, the message of the film is essentially that of The Road to Serfdom (to the extent that the road to tyranny is paved with the incremental sacrifice of individual freedom for the supposed collective good) and the degree of your sympathy to that philosophy will probably influence your response to the film. If you take the maximalist position that individual freedom is the most important thing in the world and that any negative impacts of dismantling the social and political order of Rosas will be compensated by the increased innovation and entrepreneurship in society, then the film's outcome is wholly unproblematic.

There are elements of that world view with which I am sympathetic, but I find the film just embraces it too unconditionally to essentially argue that it doesn't matter whatever else the citizens of Rosas are giving up as they now have the only truely important thing. To me, though, that's a little too close to the notion that there is no such thing as society, only individuals and there's no real effort by the filmmakers to nuance it at all.

 

[Ghost93]

I'm honestly wondering when the corporate "reckoning" will come for Wish doing so poorly. I find it so bizarre, given how much from-the-top meddling is done on Disney's films in general these days (retools, reshoots, reschedulings, etc.) that apparently no one looked at Wish at any point in production and raised questions about its clumsy world-building and stakes, the look of the animation, the songs, etc. (I think back to the huge overhauls Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story, Frozen, etc. had.)

One issue is that in the past few years Disney has largely only done internal test screenings for their movies. Maybe it's to avoid spoilers leaking, but I think it's clear that this approach isn't working as there is a disconnect between what's resonating with Disney staff and their families and the general public.