More Turbulence At Disney

[blackcauldron85]

I wonder who decided on the release date. At least they moved up the film from its original Christmas opening release date, since it'd be even more in competition with the Chimpunks.

Maybe the real test will be Rapunzel- if it does a lot better than TP&tF, Disney will probably say, "See, people only want CGI films". Which is a shame.

And since obviously merchandise counts for so much (didn't Cars not meet ticket sales goals, but the merchandise sold through the roof?), that should make Disney think of the film as less of a "failure"...ugh, but it's not a failure at all! I wish that Disney wasn't a public company, that they could do what they want without public interference.

[leuchtmuschel]

In Germany I noticed a lot of attention in public to "The Frog Princess" dt. "Küss den Frosch".

Disney has had made a new start with 2-D animation. I could'nt imagine they will stop it again.

The development of stories and characters don't depend on 3-D or 2-D. I think Disney will handle this flexible in future. At a certain point in production, they will decide if 3-D or 2-D fits better to sell the film to the audience.

[estefan]

I think another reason that Princess and the Frog might be "under-performing" is that while families and Disney fans might be going to see it, serious filmgoers aren't choosing this as their film of choice over the more Oscar fare.

On another smaller film-related forum I go to, I'm the only person who has actually seen The Princess and the Frog, yet everybody else saw Up on its first or second weekend. So, it seems that while Pixar has become a hallmark of terrific quality for serious film-goers who aren't embarassed about going to see a family film, Disney started to losing that respect around the time of Treasure Planet. The Princess and the Frog really is an excellent film, but they should have marketed it more to a serious audience. Disney should also spend a little bit more on their Oscar campaign.

[SpringHeelJack]

No, what I'm saying is that it's not just the word "princess" is a deterrent. Whatever the name of it was doesn't change the fact that it's basically the story of a princess. Call it "Tiana and the Frog" all you want, it's still a story about a princess. A simple name change isn't going to cause a flood of young boys clamoring to see the movie.

Maybe a name change won't cause a flood of young boys rushing to go see it, but with "Princess" in the title it sure is preventing alot more of them.
I'd guarantee you'd get atleast some more boys to see the movie if it didn't have the word 'princess' in the title.

I sincerely doubt it would make much difference. Were boys rushing to see "Pocahontas" because it wasn't called like "Pocahontas the Native American Chief's Daughter"?

[Babaloo]

What would PatF have to make so its not considered a box office flop? And would that include international profit or just domestic?

[pap64]

What would PatF have to make so its not considered a box office flop? And would that include international profit or just domestic?

Well, if it passes 100 million then it could be considered a hit. A small one, but a hit.

The problem is that for both Disney and fans this movie is an event. This isn't a typical release for them. Its the return to hand drawn animation, its the return of the Disney fairy tale music and the introduction of a new Princess character. If you put that into consideration then the film, regardless of how much it makes, might be seen as a failure.

Let me put it this way... How would YOU feel if a movie you worked hard on that was created to capture the fun, creativity and magic of previous films is beaten by a quick sequel to a film that was widely panned by everyone but was still a GREAT hit? A lot of egos will definitely be crushed.

As for the title issue, I both agree and disagree. I disagree because films like Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast had named that invoked love, femininity, fairy tales and the like, stuff boys find "yucky". And yet they were extremely popular and beloved by everyone.

But then there's The Lion King, Disney's biggest hit. It wasn't a fairy tale, it was set in Africa, and featured heavy tones of death, loyalty, responsibility, betrayal and love. Yet, both boys AND girls couldn't get enough of it. It was a very universal film that everyone enjoyed equally.

So there's both merit and absurdity to Princess and the Frog flopping due to its title...

[DisneyJedi]

I know I shouldn't be, but..... I'm REALLY worried now.

The last thing I want Disney to do is give up on hand-drawn animation and for Princess and the Frog- which may be their last shot at 2D animation, besides a surprise movie from Ron Clements and John Musker and The Snow Queen- to flop big time.

[DisneyJedi]

Okay, I'm not sure if BoxOfficeMojo is being lazy or unreliable when it comes to foreign grosses, but according to this site, TPatF's gross in foreign countries so far, at an estimation, are about $15,800,000, totaling the gross to about...... I think a little above $69 million.

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2009/FROGP.php

[robster16]

Okay, I'm not sure if BoxOfficeMojo is being lazy or unreliable when it comes to foreign grosses, but according to this site, TPatF's gross in foreign countries so far, at an estimation, are about $15,800,000, totaling the gross to about...... I think a little above $69 million.

http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2009/FROGP.php

European territories aren't added untill january and february. You can't say much about the international success untill then... Let's be a little more patient and wait and see what happens!

[rj.disney]

Do you think an Oprah special would have helped the movie?

Some countries won't be seeing this until March so I think we still have to wait. Although I was hoping that it makes at least $120M there in the US.

[estefan]

Well, when I went to see Up in the Air yesterday, the 3:00 screening of The Princess and the Frog was sold out. Albeit, so was the 3:00 screening for Alvin and the Chipmunks, but it's still fantastic that word-of-mouth has led more people to go and check it out to the point where it's getting sold-out screenings the last two times I've been to the cinema.

Plus, I saw an old high school friend there who said he was going to see The Princess and the Frog with his girlfriend, so it seems to be getting the attention of non-families and college-age folks, too. And considering, there's also Avatar and Sherlock Holmes both out there aiming for that market, that's pretty good.

[DisneyJedi]

So..... do you suppose this movie will break even domestically? Because I am honest to God hoping it does so, and not get overshadowed by other movies released around this time.

[PatrickvD]

So..... do you suppose this movie will break even domestically? Because I am honest to God hoping it does so, and not get overshadowed by other movies released around this time.

After friday's numbers: no.

It's time to face the facts. It bombed in the US. There's no hope for recovery. All depends on the overseas Box Office now.

I'd love to hear Lasseter explain his "story is king" logic again. Now that the chipmunks pretty much murdered his film.

[carolinakid]

As a big fan in general of the princess/fairy tale films, I had no desire to rush out and see this film in the theatres after reading the reviews and seeing the trailers and watching the "sneak" preview on the Snow White DVD and hearing the songs....I wish the film had done better as I LOVE 2D animation, but I'm perfectly happy to wait for the DVD to experience The Princess and the Frog....maybe TPTB should have left her name as Maddy?

[pap64]

So..... do you suppose this movie will break even domestically? Because I am honest to God hoping it does so, and not get overshadowed by other movies released around this time.

After friday's numbers: no.

It's time to face the facts. It bombed in the US. There's no hope for recovery. All depends on the overseas Box Office now.

I'd love to hear Lasseter explain his "story is king" logic again. Now that the chipmunks pretty much murdered his film.

I just saw those numbers and YIKES! I've never seen a film drop so quickly on its third week of release.

Though, I suspect that Sherlock Holmes killed everyone. There were a ton of releases on Christmas.

This definitely puts 2D animation's future in question. I mean...A Christmas Carol broke 100 million, so did some of the lesser CG films.

I think at this point what needs to be done is release a film like Toy Story: in a new medium that gets people excited to see it and have a great story as well. Truly shake things up...

[WDWLocal]

Can we PLEASE stop worrying about how TPatF is doing in the theatres? It IS doing VERY well anyway and will probably do even better overseas.

Besides, Lassetter, et al promised us that 2D is NOT dead, no matter what.

They already have several new 2D films scheduled for release already.

[DisneyJedi]

After friday's numbers: no.

It's time to face the facts. It bombed in the US. There's no hope for recovery. All depends on the overseas Box Office now.

I'd love to hear Lasseter explain his "story is king" logic again. Now that the chipmunks pretty much murdered his film.

I just saw those numbers and YIKES! I've never seen a film drop so quickly on its third week of release.

Though, I suspect that Sherlock Holmes killed everyone. There were a ton of releases on Christmas.

This definitely puts 2D animation's future in question. I mean...A Christmas Carol broke 100 million, so did some of the lesser CG films.

I think at this point what needs to be done is release a film like Toy Story: in a new medium that gets people excited to see it and have a great story as well. Truly shake things up...

I'm sorry, but this is not fair! The one time Disney hand-drawn animation makes a comeback, it's already getting hammered, and it's all Twilight, Avatar, Alvin and Sherlock Holmes' faults!

[pvdfan]

This might have something to do with how PATF performed this weekend:

Avatar performed very well at the box office over the week. The film earned $16.3 million on Monday (the third biggest non-opening Monday gross ever - The Dark Knight is #1 with $24.4 million), $16 million on Tuesday (the second biggest non-opening Tuesday gross ever - The Dark Knight is #1 with 20.8 million), and $16.4 million on Wednesday (the third biggest non-opening Wednesday gross ever - Transformers is #1 with 29 million). It also earned $11.3 million on Thursday, setting a new record
for biggest non-opening Christmas Eve gross ever. The film then earned $23.5 million on Friday, slighting behind Sherlock Holmes which brought in $24.8 million.

The film has now grossed $160.7 million domestically and $255.6 million overseas for a total of $416.4 million in less than a week.

You really have to question how much the release date played a part in the domestic numbers. I seems the film would have been better off with a mid November or post-Oscars date.

[SpringHeelJack]

I'd love to hear Lasseter explain his "story is king" logic again. Now that the chipmunks pretty much murdered his film.

That's not entirely fair. While I know it basically comes down to business, I don't think anyone would argue that "Alvin" is a better film than "The Princess and the Frog". In the end, though I know the suits at Disney would disagree, I'd rather have them make something that's a good story and didn't make back it's costs than create some piece of crap starring CGI creatures spouting years-old catchphrases.

[Just.A.Friend]

You really have to question how much the release date played a part in the domestic numbers. I seems the film would have been better off with a mid November or post-Oscars date.

Mid-november would have its own problems - New Moon and 2012 (and Planet 51/ Fantastic Mr. Fox for family) would have blasted PatF out of the water.