2008 Disney Box Office Discussion

[kbehm29]

Final predictions for Bolt? Anyone, anyone?

Too bad it's up against Twilight. Hopefully it'll still bring in strong numbers. I'm there opening night with my kids (they're too young for Twilight yet, oldest one is borderline but he hasn't read the books yet).

[Flanger-Hanger]

I think Bolt will have longer term appeal than Twilight in the end. It may do better in than that vampire movie in it's second or third week of release.

And am I the only one surprised that HSM3 STILL hasn't made $100 million yet after being in theatres for 4 + weeks?

[kbehm29]

OK - so the estimate for the first weekend of Bolt is $27,000,000. I believe next weekend will be very strong so I'm not putting much stock into this figure.

Meet the Robinsons made 25.1 on it's opening weekend and went on to make 97.8.
Chicken Little made 40 on it's opening weekend and went on to make 135.3.
I really feel this movie will lean more toward Chicken Little's numbers.

For the record, I liked the movie a little more than Chicken Little and a little less than Meet the Robinsons.

[yukitora]

It's almost as if good movies and good sales are negatively correlated

[bruno_wbt]

Aren't 2007 and 2008 the best years for Disney in the box-office?

Box office number-one films of 2008
Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
WALL-E
Beverly Hills Chihuahua
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Bolt (#2)


Box office number-one films of 2007
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Ratatouille
The Game Plan
Enchanted


And I'm sure that's the reason for this CD:

<a href="http://s95.photobucket.com/albums/l139/ ... Office.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l139/ ... Office.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

[kbehm29]

I know the year is not over yet, but at the beginning of the year - how many of you would have thought Beverly Hills Chihuahua would of outgrossed High School Musical 3 domestically????!?

[kbehm29]

Some difficult observations (by difficult I mean I don't like the result of the observation, not that the observation is hard to come by):

Cars was left to run in theaters for 19 weeks. They have left Wall-E in theaters for a VERY long time now - 24+ weeks now and counting. They left Ratatouille in theaters for 24 weeks as well. Obviously, since the movies aren't profiting as much as Pixar is used to, they are trying to milk out every dollar possible by leaving them in theaters longer.

Also - I am very upset by Disney's inability to capture theater audience as well as Dreamworks. Madagascar 2 is only rated 63% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 85% fresh for Bolt, yet they have $170 Mil in the palm of their hand like that, and Bolt will be lucky to cross $100 Mil. Is the general public that down on Disney's name? I go to see Disney/Pixar movies (almost every single one) in theaters because I know I will see a quality movie. What is going on here? It never even crossed my mind to go see Madagascar 2 in theaters. Will I buy it? Probably. But not see it in theaters. I don't get it.

[Luke]

Also - I am very upset by Disney's inability to capture theater audience as well as Dreamworks. Madagascar 2 is only rated 63% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes compared to 85% fresh for Bolt, yet they have $170 Mil in the palm of their hand like that, and Bolt will be lucky to cross $100 Mil. Is the general public that down on Disney's name? I go to see Disney/Pixar movies (almost every single one) in theaters because I know I will see a quality movie. What is going on here? It never even crossed my mind to go see Madagascar 2 in theaters. Will I buy it? Probably. But not see it in theaters. I don't get it.

That's not a fair comparison on account of the "2." The first <i>Madagascar</i> was a hit and that's nearly all that's needed to bring an audience back. Neither of the films really grabbed me in their ads, although I'm more interested in seeing <i>Bolt</i>. But I'm not surprised <i>Madagascar 2</i> is making more money.

<i>Bolt</i>'s performance is unique this year. We got four CGI films making $150-$225 M domestically and ranking among 2008's top grossers (<i>Horton</i>, <i>Kung Fu</i>, <i>WALL-E</i>, <i>Madagascar 2</i>). We got a number of CGI films that simply didn't do much business (<i>Space Chimps</i>, <i>Fly Me to the Moon</i>, <i>Clone Wars</i>, <i>Igor</i>, <i>Pirates Who Don't Do Anything</i>, and the impressively futile <i>Delgo</i>). And then there's <i>Bolt</i> practically right in between those classes.

I really hope that <i>Meet the Robinsons</i> and <i>Bolt</i>'s numbers don't lead Disney back to the <i>Chicken Little</i> style. (Like I said, I haven't seen <i>Bolt</i>, but I'm assuming it's a better movie than <i>Chicken</i>.) Frankly if <i>Chicken</i> were just being released this fall, I don't think it would have done as well as it did in 2005. Hopefully, art and integrity can stay ahead of potential profit with Lasseter calling shots. And with so many projects already in the works, we aren't likely to see an about-face anytime soon.

[kbehm29]

I really hope that <i>Meet the Robinsons</i> and <i>Bolt</i>'s numbers don't lead Disney back to the <i>Chicken Little</i> style.

This is interesting. Bolt, in my opinion, had more of the Chicken Little Style than not. Chicken Little had the whole War of the Worlds theme/scenes going on. Bolt has the James Bond-style action sequence in the beginning. Also, Rhino has similar comedic style to Runt of the Litter.

On the other hand, Meet the Robinsons had pure heart (to me). MTR is clearly the best out of the three.

They need to scrap the whole game plan and head back to the musicals-of-old era with the characters singing breathtaking instant-classic songs. Stick with what works.

[KubrickFan]

They need to scrap the whole game plan and head back to the musicals-of-old era with the characters singing breathtaking instant-classic songs. Stick with what works.

So you're suggesting that the main reason people don't go to see Disney (oh, it's light, fluffy and everybody sings) should be the only reason to make those exact movies again?
The reason Disney changed their plan in the first place was because the singing and dancing didn't work anymore for the audience. And frankly, I don't want to see only animated musicals. That would really be boring.

[kbehm29]

In which movie did the singing and dancing not work anymore? I'm not saying they should make them ALL like that, but they've pretty much used the same formula for both Chicken Little and Bolt, a little bit in Meet the Robinsons too. At the very least they should try the musicals back again. Obviously what they're doing now is not generating the box office income they used to enjoy.

[Escapay]

In which movie did the singing and dancing not work anymore?

IMO, Mulan (which really didn't feature dancing, though the "choreography" of "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" may count). The movie has great songs, but sometimes I feel it could have been better told as a straightforward action/drama-with-some-comedic-moments animated film without the singing/dancing.

At the very least they should try the musicals back again.

*cough*The Princess and the Frog?*cough*

albert

[kbehm29]

I must be WAY behind in my research on The Princess and the Frog. That's awesome they're going to make it a musical! I was excited about it before, now it's quadrupled. I feel embarassed that I didn't realize this until now. The teaser trailer didn't give me that impression at all. I loved it though - it gave me the same feel that the beginning of the POTC ride in Disneyland does. Off I go to look at the forum post topic for that.....

By the way, Mulan did work for me. It's one of my step-daughter's favorites. In fact, she hasn't watched it in a while. Christmas break would be a good time to rewatch a lot of the Disney movies!

[KubrickFan]

In which movie did the singing and dancing not work anymore? I'm not saying they should make them ALL like that, but they've pretty much used the same formula for both Chicken Little and Bolt, a little bit in Meet the Robinsons too. At the very least they should try the musicals back again. Obviously what they're doing now is not generating the box office income they used to enjoy.

I said it didn't work for the audience, not a particular movie. The audiences got tired of the fluffy Disney musicals, and that stigma is still there. If you discuss Disney with other people (outside of this forum, obviously) you very often get than reaction. And I think that's one of the reasons Disney films still don't do very well at the box office.

[kbehm29]

In which movie did the singing and dancing not work anymore? I'm not saying they should make them ALL like that, but they've pretty much used the same formula for both Chicken Little and Bolt, a little bit in Meet the Robinsons too. At the very least they should try the musicals back again. Obviously what they're doing now is not generating the box office income they used to enjoy.

I said it didn't work for the audience, not a particular movie. The audiences got tired of the fluffy Disney musicals, and that stigma is still there. If you discuss Disney with other people (outside of this forum, obviously) you very often get than reaction. And I think that's one of the reasons Disney films still don't do very well at the box office.

I have to agree with you there. My husband is not a rabid Disney fan such as I, and he makes fun of the singing in Disney movies all the time.

I guess the general consensus is that Disney needs to spread their formula around to appeal to everyone and stay fresh.

[kbehm29]

All info has been updated. Also, I plan on creating a 2009 Box Office Discussion sometime today.