Jonwo

I don't know if FB could make another £5m since it'll start shedding cinemas with big January releases like La La Land, Live by Night, Sing etc

Storks had a teaser 10 months before release as well but I think WB didn't have much faith in it hence the lack of big marketing whereas Lego Batman in comparison has had loads of trailers so far

No hope for Ferdinand then?

Storks was good but I think Warner Bros didn't put much marketing muscle compared to their tentpoles and films like Sully. The Lego Batman Movie will be a hit for WAG but they need to find a original hit film rather than rely on Lego or existing properties like Scooby Doo

I agree with this, apart from The Lorax, that wasn't a good film at all. I do think gag driven animated films have their place, I already mentioned Storks which to me did fall short story wise but made up for that with the sheer number of gags. It's not just WDAS and Pixar that are raising the bar, it's also Aardman and Laika which produce quality animation but also great storytelling, Shaun the Sheep was second only to Inside Out last year for me for best animated film and that had no dialogues but that had more heart and humour in it in 1 minute than Minions for the entire film.

Didn't you hate SLOP? I thought it was unremarkable but I didn't dislike it, just that it was wasted potential in a great premise.

DWA's biggest mistake wasn't three films a year although that played a part but going public, being an independent studio meant they had to have a hit or the shares went down, WDAS, Illumination, Pixar etc are part of a parent company so they're sort of insulated and also Katzenberg were overambitious with DWA with the expansion into theme parks, buying Classic Media etc

SLOP IMO squandered its premise and it's a film that starts really well but goes downhill, it didn't help like the main characters weren't particularly likeable, it was saved by the supporting characters. I don't think there is anything wrong with silly animated films, I enjoyed Storks and I think WAG has huge potential with their animated films but I think Illumination shouldn't rest on their laurels because we saw what happened with DWA

Illumination is on par with WB for marketing, it's a shame the final product rarely lives up to the hype with one or two exceptions. I think Melendandri run a tight ship but it doesn't seem like a place where creativity can flow, a lot of ideas seem to be from him and the focus on making films under $75m means the storytelling does suffer as was the case with SLOP and Sing, animation wise, it's not so bad but it's not as good as Pixar and WDAS. Sing seems to be the exception as Garth Jennings wrote and directed it and isn't part of the core team.

Moana has had good legs so far in the UK but Disney dropped the ball marketing wise, I saw more marketing for Sully than Moana. Sing and The Lego Batman Movie are already advertising and they're not out for ages

Despicable Me is the best Illumination film, i haven't seen Sing but I wonder if having a director and writer who isnt part of the core Illumination team has helped it be better than previous films Neither Moana or Sing are doing brilliant business OS though both are doing decently. Sing's underperforming OS is just as baffling as Moana's underperformance

No Wallace and Gromit!? That film is brilliant

Smurfs will do better OS but I think having two animated films released a week within each other means neither will do spectacular business not to mention BATB if it breaks out will likely eat into their audiences too.

Because of the weird way releases are counted, the films that open on NYD will be counted until next weekend so essentially an eight day opening. I expect because the weekend will be slightly be deflated because of NYE and also NYD falling on a Sunday but that will be more than made up since Monday will be a Bank holiday.

I think both are cannibalising each other in the market they are both released though I'm not sure why Sing is doing poorly in some places where Minions and SLOP did great

It's interesting that while Sing is doing very well domestic, it's the opposite OS where it's doing decently but not spectacular business.

I think having an outside director and writer like Garth Jennings helps Sing a lot.

The Boxing Day films haven't been good this year, everything that has done well came out before Christmas. I'm curious to see how Silence, A Monster Calls and Assassin's Creed fare on NYD.

I don't think Pirates will drop as badly as Alice but a 40-50% drop wouldn't be too surprising.

On Stranger Tides did £32m total with a £11.6m five day opening so I think £20-25m, it really depends on well it's received and the competition as Wonder Woman is a real wild card after BvS and Suicide Squad.

Pirates faces Wonder Woman a week later, Transformers AOE barely got to £20m and The Last Knight faces a load of competition

I'm expecting Lego Batman to do $75-80m minimum OW WB has done a great job promoting it so far and we've still got 1 month and a bit until it's released.

Moana has no real big competition and Sing's not out for another three weeks so it has plenty of time to make money during January. Presales have already started for Fifty Shades Darker and The Lego Batman Movie, it'll be interesting which one comes out on top, my money's on Lego Batman

Sing's underperformance OS is surprising to say the least, domestic is fine but I thought it would do a lot better.

I wonder if Sing and Moana are hurting each other, both are doing okay to good business but not to the scale that the two studios are used to.