BIG HERO 6 | 435.3 M overseas | 657.8 M worldwide

[yjs]

It will get released in Japan. Disney usually releases their November animated films in March (cf. Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen's epic run)

HTTYD2 didn't get a Japanese release because Fox has largely skipped on theatrical releases for their recent animated stuff. (I am hoping they don't do this with Peanuts, because Snoopy is HUGE in Japan.)

It being released in Japan has been guaranteed especially given it's Japan-themed kind of, but in China is what we're a little worried about. 

[Melvin Frohike]

It will get released in Japan. Disney usually releases their November animated films in March (cf. Wreck-It Ralph, Frozen's epic run)

If you mean Big Hero 6, it will be released in Japan on December 20, which is generally a good time for major releases.

 

HTTYD2 didn't get a Japanese release because Fox has largely skipped on theatrical releases for their recent animated stuff. (I am hoping they don't do this with Peanuts, because Snoopy is HUGE in Japan.)

Historically, Japan has generally not been a friendly market for non-Japanese, non-Pixar, or non-WDAS animated features, and DreamWorks Animation's have been doing consistently poorly over the past several years, including the original HTTYD. I'm pretty sure that Peanuts will get consideration, though, because there's a decent chance that it'll gross enough to be worth the trouble and cost.

The only question is whether Big Hero 6 will be released in China, which remains to be determined (it's at the Chinese government's discretion), but I don't see why it wouldn't.

It being released in Japan has been guaranteed especially given it's Japan-themed kind of,

It's a major Disney animated feature so it's going to be released in Japan.

but in China is what we're a little worried about.

It's not an absolute certainty at this point, but it is highly probable to say the least.

Edited November 25, 2014 by Melvin Frohike

[Fullbuster]

Well, if BH6 is a success in Japan and South Korea its success in China is quite likely, particularly thanks to its great numbers in the Philippines and Indonesia.

[Tower]

Well, if BH6 is a success in Japan and South Korea its success in China is quite likely, particularly thanks to its great numbers in the Philippines and Indonesia.

Why is that? Frozen had huge record breaking runs in Japan and SK, but its Chinese performance was average. Those markets are all very different.

[Fullbuster]

Why is that? Frozen had huge record breaking runs in Japan and SK, but its Chinese performance was average. Those markets are all very different.

 

Frozen got a limited release and a poor marketing, a great WOM saved it.

 

And Chinese love superheroes, very different from princesses

Edited November 29, 2014 by Fullbuster

[Tower]

Frozen got a limited release and a poor marketing, a great WOM saved it.

 

And Chinese love superheroes, very different from princesses

 

I'm not saying that BH6 won't do well, I don't know. But I don't see any connection between the Chinese and Japanese or Korean gross. As far as I can tell, the Chinese taste isn't any closer to those countries than it is to NA or Europe.

Edited December 2, 2014 by Tower

[Dingdong123]

Big Hero 6 is smashing in Southeast asia and it's not even surprising. Now it is europe we need to keep an eye on, since it seems that they are more into fairytales than action-adventures based on past WDAS films reception.

[Fullbuster]

I'm not saying that BH6 won't do well, I don't know. But I don't see any connection between the Chinese and Japanese or Korean gross. As far as I can tell, the Chinese tate isn't any closer to those countries than it is to NA or Europe.

 

They're different but they're still close from a cultural point of view, for example all of them love giant robots and mangas.

[Fullbuster]

Big Hero 6 is smashing in Southeast asia and it's not even surprising. Now it is europe we need to keep an eye on, since it seems that they are more into fairytales than action-adventures based on past WDAS films reception.

 

Given its good reception in Russia it should be fine in East Europe, in France and the UK as well, same thing for Scandinavia...Germany, Italy and Spain are the big unknown...

[Hernan Gonzalez]

Given its good reception in Russia it should be fine in East Europe, in France and the UK as well, same thing for Scandinavia...Germany, Italy and Spain are the big unknown...

Disney animated movies are always successful here in Spain. I see BH6 doing easily $15m-$20m

[Fullbuster]

Disney animated movies are always successful here in Spain. I see BH6 doing easily $15m-$20m

 

I hope you're right

[Tower]

They're different but they're still close from a cultural point of view, for example all of them love giant robots and mangas.

 

We are talking about box office potential, so we need to look at how other films perform relative to each other in these markets first. Doing that shows that they are nothing alike, Look at Interstellar right now for a perfect example. In fact looking at Japan and China, I'd say they have closer to a negative correlation than a positive one.

[Fullbuster]

We are talking about box office potential, so we need to look at how other films perform relative to each other in these markets first. Doing that shows that they are nothing alike, Look at Interstellar right now for a perfect example. In fact looking at Japan and China, I'd say they have closer to a negative correlation than a positive one.

 

Pfff you're not funny, you're always here to criticize me

[Tower]

Pfff you're not funny, you're always here to criticize me

 

I tell the truth. 

[Fullbuster]

I tell the truth. 

 

Sometimes

[Hernan Gonzalez]

Big Hero 6 added $4.8m from 25 territories for an early $56.9m and stands at $20.2m in Russia, $12.5m in Mexico, $4.4m in Malaysia, $4.2m in the Philippines and $3m in Singapore.

The film ranks as the biggest Disney or Pixar animation of all time in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. It ranks as the second biggest Disney or Pixar film ever in Russia behind Frozen.

[Fullbuster]

Big Hero 6 added $4.8m from 25 territories for an early $56.9m and stands at $20.2m in Russia, $12.5m in Mexico, $4.4m in Malaysia, $4.2m in the Philippines and $3m in Singapore.

The film ranks as the biggest Disney or Pixar animation of all time in Malaysia, the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. It ranks as the second biggest Disney or Pixar film ever in Russia behind Frozen.

 

I'm relieved to see these good numbers in Malaysia, Singapore,Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines, I'm hopeful and optimistic about its potential in South Korea, Japan and China

Edited November 30, 2014 by Fullbuster

[kayumanggi]

BH6 fans!

 

This film, with its Japanese elements, is playing particularly well in Asia. It has surpassed Frozen to become the largest Disney/Pixar release of all time in Malaysia($4.4M), the Philippines ($4.2M), Indonesia and Vietnam. In Russia($20.2M), its biggest ex-U.S. market, it is the No. 2 release ever for Disney/Pixar, with Frozen still tops.

[Melvin Frohike]

Why is that? Frozen had huge record breaking runs in Japan and SK, but its Chinese performance was average. Those markets are all very different.

Correct, all three markets have their own major idiosyncracies relative to one another. This is, of course, because they have very distinct cultures, despite all being in Asia and having genetically rather similar populations (almost the same race, if you will)--I hope that nobody here had thought that there was one general "Asian" (as in the less politically-correct "Oriental") culture.

Frozen is not the kind of movie that the Chinese generally go for in large numbers, but considering this and the heavy competition and the lack of promotion, it nevertheless managed to develop strong legs and grossed about as much as we could have expected under the circumstances. In contrast, Frozen is exactly the kind of movie--and I'm not talking about fairy tales and princesses and that stuff (although in Japan this doesn't hurt), but something deeper--that the Japanese go for, on several counts, and boy did they ever go for it!

I'm not saying that BH6 won't do well, I don't know. But I don't see any connection between the Chinese and Japanese or Korean gross. As far as I can tell, the Chinese tate isn't any closer to those countries than it is to NA or Europe.

Yes, but Big Hero 6 has elements that may allow it to appeal to all of these markets. Like Frozen (albeit probably not as much), it's the kind of movie that the Japanese tend to go for, but it is also an action movie that the Chinese tend to go for. South Korea is different still, as animated features generally have a very hard time being successful there (Pixar's best gross is only $12M), but aside from the Frozen phenomenon, the other really successful movies there are the Kung Fu Panda movies (especially the sequel), and I'm hoping that the roughly similar combination of Asian trappings and superhero-type action will allow Big Hero 6 to likewise break out in this normally tough market (for animation).

 

 

We are talking about box office potential, so we need to look at how other films perform relative to each other in these markets first. Doing that shows that they are nothing alike, Look at Interstellar right now for a perfect example. In fact looking at Japan and China, I'd say they have closer to a negative correlation than a positive one.

You speak the general truth here, but I made the same argument last year (on other forums) with regard to Frozen and Japan versus South Korea, predicting up to $175M for Japan (people thought I was crazy, but it still blew away my prediction ) and a measly $10M for South Korea (which the movie obviously destroyed). I didn't expect it to break out or even succeed in both markets because up to that point, as far as I'm aware, NO animated feature had--that's right, the few that had performed well in South Korea all flopped in Japan, while the biggest animated blockbusters in Japan all flopped in South Korea. Frozen broke this pattern, authoritatively (and I would never bet against this movie again ).

Now, we could go with the odds blindly like I did (and some things are simply impossible to predict), or we could examine each movie more closely to see whether there is significant crossover appeal (with different elements if necessary) for these three normally very distinct markets. Most are in agreement that Big Hero 6's Asian theming is going to be an advantage in all three markets; there is only any doubt over this with Japan because they might potentially be put off, since the mashed-up theming is specifically Japanese (and American), but so far they seem to be digging it. Personally, at this point I think that this movie is set up about as well as it can be in terms of appeal to all of the major (and they are big) Asian markets, despite their differences.

[yjs]

well I've been thinking about it lately and the "Asian" theme BH6 has could actually work against the Korean market since there has been a strong accusation some of the artworks were influenced by the Rising Sun flag (it's like the Japanese empire's equivalent to the Nazi's swastika flag) and because of the complicated historical backgrounds of the colonial past, it has created some negative responds around some Koreans online. Even the fact that it is manga/Japanese culture based can have some bad influences over the GA of Korea. Manga and Japanese culture are only considered popular as sub-culture stuff and anything Japanese in the Korean mainstream culture is not free from being stigmatized by the public. One of the common reactions I could find online was going all like "How dare could Disney insensitively make such a movie about Japan after we Koreans all loved Frozen so much", which, doesn't seem to make sense cause Frozen was like twice more popular in Japan, but still. 

 

However, its main target audience is kids and once it opens such accusations would be cleared I'm pretty sure. 

Besides, the fact that the Korean-American actor Daniel Henney did the voice work would be helpful in a way to generate some buzz among the adult crowds (mostly among the straight couples in their 20s and 30s - aka the core audience)

And lastly it doesn't seem to have that many competitions in late January when it opens. 

Hopefully it does at least over $15M, and possibly $20M.