Thanksgiving 5-days Weekend thread | BOSS: 42.2m, Napoleon: 32.75m, Wish: 31.6m, Trolls: 25.6m, Thanksgiving: 10.9m

[filmlover]

Must say, speaking of studios celebrating their 100th anniversaries in 2023 in unspectacular fashion, WB should be really thankful that Barbie was the epic smash it was otherwise they had just as little to be happy about as Disney this year aside from relatively inexpensive horror titles Evil Dead and Nun 2 (Meg 2 also did well overseas but fizzled in the US) that sort of cancelled out the bad news from the DC movies and other titles that didn't launch like Magic Mike 3 (you'd be forgiven for having already forgotten there was a Magic Mike 3), though we'll see how their final three releases of the year do next month (even if Aquaman 2 is looking more and more like an inevitable major underperformer in the Flash/Marvels mode).

Edited November 24, 2023 by filmlover

[AMC Theaters Enjoyer]

2024 looks like a better lineup for Disney but even then they’re going to have to deliver on quality. The only sure hits next year for them are Inside Out 2 and Deadpool 3 (and I’m admittedly more pessimistic on the latter than most). 20th Century is looking to have another bad year save for Planet of the Apes (and I guess The First Omen but only because it’ll likely be cheap and horror is almost completely Teflon). They gotta rethink some of those release dates too, like for Alien, Amateur and possibly even whatever next year’s WDAS movie is.

[YM!]

On the bright side, THG looks strong but what a horrid November. THG seems like the only 100m grossing hit next month. Thankfully, December looks much healthier as I think the trio of Aquaman, Wonka and Migration should get to 100m as should The Color Purple. Disney has had such a shitty year, maybe even their worst ever at the box office. Though I don’t believe culture wars are the cause mainly due to the fact that boycotts don’t work and the fact that Barbie which is fundamentally more “woke” than anything Disney would ever try, I do believe mediocre product for the older audiences (apart from TLM, Elemental and Guardians, WOM for movies this year from the Mouse House have been mediocre (Wish) to shitty (The Marvels, Haunted Mansion, Indy, Quantumania, etc) and streaming is hurting it the most particularly in the family genre because unless something is known to be “good” it’ll die.

 

I do think the marketing guy is another primary suspect because dude can’t sell an original or something not guaranteed to be a hit to save his life. The mega sequels both animated and live action will be fine but I do think Disney has lost its hold as the big powerhouse this year. On the bright side, at least theaters likely won’t have to deal with their demands and can get more of a fair share now after how bad this year has been.

[M37]

20 minutes ago, grim22 said:

Disney is also in a weird place politically where both sides of the spectrum view them with suspicion. The right because culture wars and the Florida idiots, the left because of corporate cynicism and their hamfisted attempts at inclusion (the "first ever gay character" is a meme at this point).

 

Definitely not enough to sink movies on its own, but combine it with movies which play into that and don't look appealing and it's a recipe for disaster.

 

Like a lot of people on the right say Strange World bombed because the lead was gay, but there was never a universe where Strange World would have been anything but a bomb because it just looked unappealing and "template Disney" from the get go.

I've been saying for a while now that Disney has a "Middle America" problem that is limiting the box office of their family product in particular. There should be no expectation moving forward that a WDAS or even Pixar release is going to "surprise" for OW, because by necessity that would mean a GA over-performance that they just can't tap into right now

 

Same probably applies to MCU to some degree, though GOTG3 clearly overcame it, while Marvels obviously did not

[ThomasNicole]

Kinda funny how Disney deliberately downplay Pixar in pandemic while tries to boost Disney Animation, and in the end Pixar seems in the better position if you think about it.
 

They put Soul / Luca / Turning Red for free on streaming only, all 3 ended up being huge at streaming data. In the same period they did release Raya in day and date, but with a big theatrical release + charging a lot to watch it on streaming, and it flopped hard on both sides.
 

Lightyear flopped hard only to Strange World bomb even harder. 
 

Now this year both Pixar and Disney had a normal theatrical original movie, and while Elemental avoid it’s historical bomb fate and turn out being one of the only projects from Disney this year to succeed, Wish seems to be entering a disaster territory. 
 

I feel only Encanto really stick for Disney Animation since the pandemic. And even so, the box office was similar to Lightyear and the real success came from the streaming prospects, not super different from Soul / Luca / Red.

 

I’m sure Pete Docter must be laughing quiet in his office at this point.

Edited November 24, 2023 by ThomasNicole

[Hatebox]

18 minutes ago, filmlover said:

This isn't just limited to Disney tbh. The right hate all of Hollywood for being progressive, while maybe not all, but a decent portion of the left side-eyes the industry for not being progressive enough. 

off topic but it’s funny how “Hollywood is hyper liberal” came about. As someone else noted, if you’ve ever seen the cops win in a show or movie, there’s a 95% chance it’s conservative entertainment. 

[M37]

Also, sure looks like HG:BOSS became the default GA film for the holiday week, and for families not into animation, following BPWF and Ghostbuters

 

I still say something is going to the do the same over the Christmas holidays, though if you ask me now I'd lean towards Wonka over Aquaman 2 filling that void, though the latter should still benefit

[scytheavatar]

1 hour ago, Arlborn said:

Huh, I think you misunderstood me, I like the Wish songs. No big hit like Let It Go or Bruno, but they’re overall pretty good when compared to the rest of their modern songs, in my opinion that is.

 

You misunderstood me too, like how the fuck can Disney expect Wish to sell if there is no Let It Go or Bruno from the movie? The Wish songs are a bunch of generic pop songs, not having a musical specialist like Lin-Manuel Miranda in charge of the music is a mind bogging decision.

[grim22]

18 minutes ago, The Panda said:

So Disney’s only real successes this year are likely TLM and GOTG3?

TLM is break even at best due to very bad OS performances. Guardians 3 is the one unquestionable success.

 

If we expand to the Fox movies, I think Haunting in Venice is a success for what it is.

[Torontofan]

I think people are not upset at disney for being woke.

I think they find their attempts cringe and very corporate. 

 

barbie and Spiderverse were well made movies and liked. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Torontofan

[YM!]

13 minutes ago, M37 said:

I've been saying for a while now that Disney has a "Middle America" problem that is limiting the box office of their family product in particular. There should be no expectation moving forward that a WDAS or even Pixar release is going to "surprise" for OW, because by necessity that would mean a GA over-performance that they just can't tap into right now

 

Same probably applies to MCU to some degree, though GOTG3 clearly overcame it, while Marvels obviously did not

In fairness I’m not sure it’s 100% Middle America that can save those films (that said it’s clear there’s a problem based on the ticket sales of TLM, Elemental and Wish relying on MTC1 the most) but even then I don’t think Elemental or Wish could’ve been saved from a last ditch movement in MTC2. The latter had mixed WOM for being pretty generic and Elemental had not only to fight mixed Cannes reviews but bad marketing and a swarm of competition OW. Apart from Elemental and Mermaid, the rest of Disney’s family lineups has been mediocre to garbage (Wish, Lightyear and Strange World are just mediocre to garbage to begin with and no amount of help could’ve saved them). I’m quite curious to see how Turning Red, Luca and Soul could’ve play with theatrical releases or Encanto in a more favorable habitat.
 

As for Guardians and Marvels, think the mixed reception of Marvel is to be blamed moreso than culture wars. I do think an appealing enough project can circumvent this, like a big enough sequel to a project with decent quality. Inside Out 2 is a big test for this as their is demand.

Edited November 24, 2023 by YM!

[AMC Theaters Enjoyer]

12 minutes ago, filmlover said:

Must say, speaking of studios celebrating their 100th anniversaries in 2023 in unspectacular fashion, WB should be really thankful that Barbie was the epic smash it was otherwise they had just as little to be happy about as Disney this year aside from relatively inexpensive horror titles Evil Dead and Nun 2 (Meg 2 also did well overseas but fizzled in the US) that sort of cancelled out the bad news from the DC movies and other titles that didn't launch like Magic Mike 3 (you'd be forgiven for having already forgotten there was a Magic Mike 3), though we'll see how their final three releases of the year do next month (even if Aquaman 2 is looking more and more like an inevitable major underperformer in the Flash/Marvels mode).

Yeah as far as 100 year anniversaries for studios go, WB’s wasn’t great but not awful. DC definitely has to get things together and Aquaman 2 is looking to add to those problems, but Wonka and Color Purple look like they might bring some good news.

 

I am curious how their slate for next year will go since it seems like it could go either way.

[scytheavatar]

8 minutes ago, YM! said:

On the bright side, THG looks strong but what a horrid November. 

 

Strong is relative cause it's still not certain if THG can break 250M WW...... even if it gets to 300M WW it's not some great result for a movie with a 100M budget. I suspect the Hollywood strikes has damaged theaters to such a degree that ultimately it's a pyrrhic victory in the end for the guides and the studios. Everyone is going to be screwed if theaters die because of the strikes.

[grim22]

11 minutes ago, AMC Theaters Enjoyer said:

WB’s wasn’t great but not awful. 

 

[Sckathian]

Good to see Hunger Games doing well. This is how a new IP or relaunched IP should work especially with young adults as a primary market (constantly having to refresh who you are targetting) - decent launch, build on it with good WoM and good week on week drops.

 

It'll help that everything else is a mess as well ofc.

[WorkingonaName]

I have seen a lot of sigma edits of the hunger games guy in the past week. 

[JonathanMB]

Also kinda nuts that, Searchlight aside, Disney/20th do not have a single new movie scheduled for theatrical release after this weekend until The First Omen in April, and Disney proper doesn't have a single thing until Inside Out 2. Wonder if they'll be doing in the meantime.

[Noctis]

2 minutes ago, WorkingonaName said:

I have seen a lot of sigma edits of the hunger games guy in the past week. 

 

Huh?

[interiorgatordecorator]

7 minutes ago, WorkingonaName said:

I have seen a lot of sigma edits of the hunger games guy in the past week. 

 

the skirt rocks 

[filmlover]

I thought the movie was only okay but Hunger Games is probably benefitting from the fact it's giving its paying audience exactly what they expect from it, which can't really be said for the overwhelming majority of the "we only made this just for the sake of it" franchise underperformers this year.