The Little Mermaid | Disney | May 26, 2023 | Queen Halle will rule the summer!

[Royce]

Aside from the abysmal first Genie reveal trailer with the wonky CGI that ruined Aladdin's hype, Aladdin was always gonna be a tougher sell than Beauty and the Beast because all of the characters are Middle Eastern (except for Genie who is black and that one white prince which was a minor role) and it's set in a completely Middle Eastern location.

 

Which is why the generalizations that Asian or East Asian countries are racist or against POC leads are so unfair when it's the Asian or East Asian countries that embraced Aladdin way more than Beauty and the Beast, Maleficent, Alice in Wonderland, etc.

Even China embraced Bollywood movies like Dangal which Western audiences wouldn't even check out.

 

The Little Mermaid has a white prince, a white dad, a white villain and it's filmed and set in Italy (Sardinia)

If anything, it's the lack of star power that could be a weakness. There's no Emma Watson/Hermione = Belle parallels, no global stars like Will Smith. The Lion King had the "photorealistic CGI" gimmick. This Little Mermaid remake is solely relying on the brand and nostalgia and the classic songs.

[joselowe]

1 hour ago, grey ghost said:

 

Or black actors outside of Will Smith have limited appeal overseas.

What about:

Michael B Jordan

Denzel Washington

Zendaya (half black/ half white)

Dwayne Johnson (half black/ half Samoan)

Zoe Saldana 

Idris Elba

Eddie Murphy

Sam Jackson (his films as lead actually gross more overseas than in the US)

[joselowe]

I think the subject matter of films are also important. For example The Little Mermaid as someone else mentioned is a universal film where race isn’t important. 
 

The new Color Purple film will likely do well in the USA as the original did but will likely flop overseas for the fact that people in Asia for example can’t relate to themes of post slavery African American life. It doesn’t mean they are racist but the film is geared toward a specific audience about a subject matter that impacted the USA. 

[PlatnumRoyce]

 

 

Re: Race & INT box office, those USC-Annendale reports attempted to tackle this immediately pre-pandemic

 

Quote

The major predictors of international revenue were: international P&A (.39), the number of international territories in which a film was released (.33), production costs (.22), story strength (.12), whether a film was released in China (.12), sequel status (.09), the percentage of female characters (.05), and the percentage of underrepresented characters (-.07). Second tier predictors included MPAA rating (.04) and animation (.04). The presence of a female or underrepresented lead/co lead did not significantly predict revenue. This result counters the longstanding beliefs that women and people of color do not sell internationally. Instead, gender and race/ethnicity of leads/co leads was not associated with earnings.

 - https://assets.uscannenberg.org/docs/aii-2020-02-05-ticket-to-inclusion.pdf

Basically, they think that raw correlation is negative to an un stat significant manner but after controlling for "relevant production, distribution, and exhibition factors" it's a positive. 

 

 

[Krissykins]

12 hours ago, joselowe said:

At the Disneyland special today 

 

Wow, that was amazing. Seems that American Idol arranged this and it was shown on that too. Filmed during the night at 3am. 

2 hours ago, Valonqar said:

 

Because it's From the Director of Movies We Didn't Care About First 2 Times Around? That was pushed in all promos. Lets not pretend that "From the director of Hereditary and Midsomer" sells tickets either in US or OS. 

 

I'm a big fan of Us but had no interest in Nope as soon as they released that comic trailer. Teaser seemed ominuous but trrailer revealed it was another comedy or sci fi comedy. 

Tell me you haven’t seen Nope without telling me you haven’t seen Nope. 
 

None of Peele’s horror films are comedies. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by Krissykins

[Valonqar]

22 minutes ago, Krissykins said:

Wow, that was amazing. Seems that American Idol arranged this and it was shown on that too. Filmed during the night at 3am. 

Tell me you haven’t seen Nope without telling me you haven’t seen Nope. 
 

None of Peele’s horror films are comedies. 

 

Yes they are. They are more funny than scary and intentionally so. Us has more levity than horror, for example. Nope trailer was cut to emphasize comedy. 

[DAJK]

My aunt and uncle were watching American Idol last night while I was marking assignments. Bailey was a guest performer, and I'm kind of ashamed to say this but this was the first time I had heard her perform a song in its entirety (I think it was Part of Your World).

 

Holy crap, she has one of the most beautiful voices I think I've ever heard. If I was on the fence about buying a ticket for this before, I'm there ASAP. Anyone giving her hate should seriously shut up. Seriously, she is going to be stunning in the role. 

[Eric the Minion]

9 hours ago, Noctis said:

Why does the title say mixed social reactions? The ones I read have been more positive. 

 

These title threads have become stupid and childish. 

Because the initial reactions were mixed? There were definitely some dissenting opinions and ones that were positive but reserved, at least last I checked. But I have now changed the title accordingly since you requested it. And if you think a title is poor or doesn't represent something accurately, please @ a moderator next time instead of this passive-aggressive nonsense.

[Eric the Minion]

7 minutes ago, DAJK said:

My aunt and uncle were watching American Idol last night while I was marking assignments. Bailey was a guest performer, and I'm kind of ashamed to say this but this was the first time I had heard her perform a song in its entirety (I think it was Part of Your World).

 

Holy crap, she has one of the most beautiful voices I think I've ever heard. If I was on the fence about buying a ticket for this before, I'm there ASAP. Anyone giving her hate should seriously shut up. Seriously, she is going to be stunning in the role. 

She performed Can You Feel the Love Tonight last year, and that was when I knew they nailed the casting perfectly. I really hope she does an album full of other Disney covers after this movie's success. Hearing her perform Once Upon a Dream or Feed the Birds would probably make me cry.

 

 

[Spidey Freak]

Even tho this franchise  👇 has been testing me lately it destroys the black-led films will have less OS appeal narrative

 

[wildphantom]

I have tried to stay away from much of the footage as I want to hear how the performances of these songs sound in the theatre with the movie. 
 

however….I’ve just seen the Disneyland Halle Bailey performance of Part of Your World and holy hell. Absolutely spine-tingling. 
 

if the film is solid, and her big songs soar, then this is going to be way bigger than I thought it would be.  I’m actually thinking this could now win the summer if it gets a good reception. 

Edited May 15, 2023 by wildphantom

[Krissykins]

2 hours ago, Eric Toretto said:

Because the initial reactions were mixed? There were definitely some dissenting opinions and ones that were positive but reserved, at least last I checked. But I have now changed the title accordingly since you requested it. And if you think a title is poor or doesn't represent something accurately, please @ a moderator next time instead of this passive-aggressive nonsense.

I find the thread titles distracting too, if it’s maybe something taking up with the mods in general? 
 

2 hours ago, Eric Toretto said:

She performed Can You Feel the Love Tonight last year, and that was when I knew they nailed the casting perfectly. I really hope she does an album full of other Disney covers after this movie's success. Hearing her perform Once Upon a Dream or Feed the Birds would probably make me cry.

 

 

Amazing. I actually got to see Halle live supporting Beyoncé a few years ago and her voice is sensational. 

[PrinceRico]

4 minutes ago, Krissykins said:

I find the thread titles distracting too, if it’s maybe something taking up with the mods in general? 
 

 

Same thing with Fast X when most of the reaction says the film gets the franchise back on track. Very confusing 

[Maggie]

The hype is palpable.  Halle is a star.

[joselowe]

UK premiere happening right now

[PrinceRico]

22 minutes ago, joselowe said:

UK premiere happening right now

Hopefully that means more reactions tonight 

[kayumanggi]

 

[Valonqar]

This is easily winning summer. I understand that most boxoffice followers here are SH fans so not that in touch with family or date movies so scepticism is understandable. But believe me the hype is real. This is going to blow up everywhere, dom and OS. 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Valonqar

[keysersoze123]

28 minutes ago, Valonqar said:

This is easily winning summer. I understand that most boxoffice followers here are SH fans so not that in touch with family or date movies so scepticism is understandable. But believe me the hype is real. This is going to blow up everywhere, dom and OS. 

I am not in this train. its doing well in few urban markets. Otherwise presales are not blockbuster level. now let us see final burst is like fan driven or like family flicks. 

[Valonqar]

6 minutes ago, keysersoze123 said:

I am not in this train. its doing well in few urban markets. Otherwise presales are not blockbuster level. now let us see final burst is like fan driven or like family flicks. 

 

I think it's going to have a strong WOM. I do respect BOT tracking which has been on point.