DVDizzy Forum

Disney's Divinity wrote: ↑Wed Aug 02, 2023 4:53 pm With TLM, it's pretty clear decisions to be unfaithful with that film are what hampered its ability to do as well as past remakes that were more faithful than it was what with both Mario and Barbie ending up in billion status on either side of it. Hopefully Hercules, L&S, Moana, etc. will be a return to more faithful remakes like Aladdin/B&TB/TLK/TJB in part because of Mulan's, TLM's as well as (more than likely) SW's failure. Elemental, on the other hand, I simply see that as a miscalculation on the company's part. They assumed going back to the formula would bring success and I'm personally glad it didn't--more incentive to embrace the new.

I don't know ... the designs for, say, the Enchanted Objects in BatB are quite different from the animated film. Emma Watson's hair color is about as close to the shade of brown for animated Belle as Halle Bailey's is to the shade of red for animated Ariel. I'd even go as far as saying that the screenplay for LM's remake actually stuck to the animated film more than either Batb or Aladdin. Still not nearly as much as TLK, but you still had whole segments where they just lifted the dialogue onto the new film. Ursula's opening monologue was almost word for word here.

The reason for Mermaid's underperformance that makes most sense to me is still the introduction of Disney+, and its continued mismanagement.

The fact that the internet has REALLY turned on the remakes as a concept in the last few years I think also factors in. Like, the idea was never fully embraced, but I still feel like this movie walked into a firing squad in a way that Beauty and the Beast never had to, in a way that has overlap with but also feels partially separate from the uproar over race-swapping Ariel.

I remember after backlash over the infamous Genie trailer for Aladdin, that was the first time I thought that maybe the internet was finally done with the remakes. Disney ended up turning that one around just fine, in part because the Aladdin remake was one of the rare good remakes, but I do feel like that kind of opened the floodgates for the widespread derision of the remakes train.

Then came the Mulan fiasco, and I think that was the first time that almost everyone agreed that a specific remake was bad. It didn't help Disney fans had to wade through a whole swamp of atrocious Disney+ remakes, which just added to the stink. (I know Cruella came out somewhere in this window, and was very well received from what I observed, but that wasn't one of their tentpole remakes, and it behaves more like a spin-off anyways, so it's kinda graded on a different curve.) By the time we get to "Mermaid," audiences are not only expecting this film to be part of the Disney+ package in a few very short months, but they have also become very well-trained in the rhetoric of "Disney remakes will rob you on the street! Do not engage!"

If the movie also underperforms on Disney+, I'll reevaluate my thesis. Either way, it is a shame that Mermaid is the one taking the heat for the sins of remakes past since this was one of the rare remakes that truly complemented its source material.

I don't know ... the designs for, say, the Enchanted Objects in BatB are quite different from the animated film. Emma Watson's hair color is about as close to the shade of brown for animated Belle as Halle Bailey's is to the shade of red for animated Ariel. I'd even go as far as saying that the screenplay for LM's remake actually stuck to the animated film more than either Batb or Aladdin. Still not nearly as much as TLK, but you still had whole segments where they just lifted the dialogue onto the new film. Ursula's opening monologue was almost word for word here.

Nah, there's a difference between a main character and side characters. Most people know reddish brown isn't the same color as red. But I think TLM probably would've skated if Mulan and PP&W hadn't already come before and been terrible for being unlike the originals already, it was sort of a one-two punch. That uproar you're speaking of began with Mulan and how it gave her superpowers, cut the romance, half the cast of characters, the soundtrack, etc. By the time TLM came around, the audience had stopped giving any benefit of the doubt to changes and song cuts--and those were the two biggest headlines around TLM, whether or not the finished film turned out to be fairly faithful in the end.

After all, the widespread derision already began back with B&tB as far as critics, but the audience (ie, the box office) didn't turn on them until Mulan. The critics could hate Aladdin and TLK all day long, but they still raked in the dough. When you lose the audience, on the other hand, might as well not even make the movie.

According to a Fandango survey, these are the most anticipated fall films of 2023.

Most Anticipated Fall 2023 Movies

01. The Marvels
02. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
03. The Equalizer 3
04. A Haunting in Venice
05. Killers of the Flower Moon
06. My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
07. The Expendables 4
08. The Exorcist: Believer
09. Saw X
10. Five Nights at Freddy's

Source: https://twitter.com/Fandango/status/1699059929699762187

They forgot to survey the Swifties, because Taylor’s concert film will absolutely obliterate all of these films.

The Hunger Games movie is anticipated? There are multiple sources claiming that the movie will flop, thanks to the ever-so-lovely Rachel Zegler. Of course, I have no idea if that is true or not, but still, I'm surprised to see it's so high on the list.

It's too bad Wish isn't on there...c'mon and market the film, Disney!

I agree. Less than three months and most people aren't even aware of the film.

Farerb wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 10:07 pmI agree. Less than three months and most people aren't even aware of the film.

Patience. Destination D23 is this weekend. And the newest trailer is prepared. Hopefully, over the next 2.5 months, they’ll heavily and strongly/appealingly market this movie hard and hopefully also secure a interim waiver agreement deal w/ SAG to let Wish be marketed properly and not unorthodoxily.

blackcauldron85 wrote: ↑Wed Sep 06, 2023 9:12 pmIt's too bad Wish isn't on there...c'mon and market the film, Disney!

Erik Davis did say this list only goes up to the week before Thanksgiving.

So, maybe Wish will show up on Holiday Movie Lists rather than fall lists.

According to a Fandango survey, these are the most anticipated winter films of 2023.

Most Anticipated 2023 Holiday Releases

01. The Marvels
02. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
03. Wonka
04. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
05. Napoleon
06. Wish
07. The Color Purple
08. Ferrari
09. Poor Things
10. Godzilla Minus One

Source: https://twitter.com/Fandango/status/1719384258907640190

This year was mostly disappointing than outright terrible. My ranking of the Disney releases would be:

1. Once Upon a Studio
2. Elemental
3. Guardians of the Galaxy vol 3
4. The Little Mermaid
5. Wish
6. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Haven't watched and don't intend to:

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Peter Pan & Wendy
Haunted Mansion
The Marvels

I never thought I'd rank a Disney remake above a Disney animated movie.

It's been a weird year for all of us. My ranking would be very similar to yours, except I haven't seen Indiana Jones, but I did see Haunted Mansion and Peter Pan + Wendy, but they'd be at the bottom of this particular list anyways.

Here I am just hoping that the new Percy Jackson series does record-breaking numbers for D+, and deserves them, so that they can have at least one proper win this year.

Mine too is quite similar to yours:

1. Once Upon a Studio
2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
3. Elemental
4. The Little Mermaid
5. Wish
6. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
7. A Haunting in Venice
8. The Marvels
9. Haunted Mansion
10. LEGO Disney Princess: The Castle Quest
11. Peter Pan & Wendy
12. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
13. The Boogeyman

Wish
Elemental
Live action little mermaid
Peter Pan and Wendy
Indiana Jones and the dial of destiny
The haunted mansion

Haven’t yet seen anything else that’s not mentioned here. I have seen once upon a studio (twice , and of course dug days Carl’s date, the former I would rank higher, and probably put It right above wish, and Carl’s date right below elemental

1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3- Disney's one certifiable smash hit for a reason. A terrific send-off to possibly Marvel's best series.
2. Elemental- Like most, I was skeptical when the marketing rolled out, but this is a cute film, more of a romance than a return to the tired buddy comedy formula. I'm glad it eventually became a hit!
3. The Haunted Mansion- A decent, if hugely predictable kid-friendly horror comedy and a better take on the classic ride than the Eddie Murphy vehicle from 20 years ago. I don't see myself coming back to this often, but I'm glad it exists, we need more of this kind of movie for kids.
4. The Marvels- Not very good, but neither was the first Captain Marvel, although this is probably a little better. Still, I really like Iman Vellani as Kamala and I liked the Bollywood-inspired sequence a lot. I'm expecting to see more than a couple of attempts at Carol's dress from that scene at next year's D23.
5. The Little Mermaid- Like most live-action remakes, I wasn't especially impressed, but this is a little better than most. Halle Bailey is quite good as Ariel and I like the movie's attempt to expand Eric's character, but aside from him, I can't think of anything it does better than the original.
6. Wish- Disappointing. The art style doesn't land, the songs are poorly conceived and the characters largely forgettable aside from maybe Magnifico. A wash of a centennial celebration.
7. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny- An underwhelming final entry that tries to reclaim the supposed sins of the previous film while justifying its existence that largely fails. I saved this from ranking last solely because of the last scene, which was nice enough.
8. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania- An annoying mess that helped me to move on from my MCU admiration. You could easily make a drinking game out of every time Kathryn Newton says "dad". I think she even threw a "daddy" in at one point, make that a double if I'm not wrong.

I've really only seen all of this year's movies due to my recent reliance on going to the theaters, it's been nice to distract myself from recent issues by movies. I only paid for about half of these, as I'm currently working at a theater, and I even made it to a free D23 screening for Indiana Jones. I'm also not counting Fox titles like The Creator.

If I was to add Once Upon a Studio, it'd probably be second.