Still, Frozen feels like it has a very strong relevance in pop culture today. Arguably more than what the first HTTYD movie had when its first sequel dropped
It's honestly pretty smart of them to go in a more "epic adventure" kind of tone in their marketing (and I assume the movie). It's basically positioning itself as the series growing up alongside the audience that saw the first movie, which helps broaden the appeal to older audiences and diminishes the 6-year gap issue.
I also love how updated the animation is. Not just because of advancing technology, but even the lighting and staging seems like a huge upgrade from the last movie.
With so much stuff out on that weekend (remember Rocketman. Don't get me started on the holdovers), I feel like the marketplace is a bit too crowded for that. This feels more like a Truth or Dare style run, at least at the moment
Putting it under spoiler tags just in case this actually happens
It'll be interesting to see the runs of these two movies. When it comes to years with the exact same calendar configuration (2008, 2013), all the new movies opened on Thursday the 14th. So we can't use stuff like Safe Haven or Beautiful Creatures or Definitely, Maybe as comparisons for these movies. This is basically uncharted territory.
Honestly makes me appreciate the design for Burton's Dumbo. Obviously a baby elephant and a magic genie are apples and oranges, but the VFX team manage to find a way to blend realism and animation-like aesthetics with Dumbo, especially in the facial expressions without making it look jarring or off.
Having seen Lego 2, I do feel that even with Dragon in two weeks legs should still be very solid. It's very much a crowdpleaser that will have its fans, so I can see it reaching $110M or so. Obviously that's not what WB would want, but it'll at least cross the century mark w/out any fudging