Big Hero 6 | November 7, 2014 | Now available on home video

[wileECoyote]

Yeah, Wreck-It Ralph numbers would be a big win. These 250M+ predictions are quite hefty.

I think WiR numbers will be ok. But since its superhero movie vs a nostalgic video game movie and that WDAS is on a bit of a roll, I think it'll do higher. 250 is not too far fetched IMO

[MovieMan89]

I dunno, I kinda have an uneasy feeling about this movie's success for some reason. Unlike the great feelings I had about WIR and Frozen a year out. I just think the concept sounds a little too niche for widespread kid appeal. And before anyone says WIR's concept was niche, video games are not niche among kids whatsoever today. All kids are into them now.

[John Marston]

I dunno, I kinda have an uneasy feeling about this movie's success for some reason. Unlike the great feelings I had about WIR and Frozen a year out. I just think the concept sounds a little too niche for widespread kid appeal. And before anyone says WIR's concept was niche, video games are not niche among kids whatsoever today. All kids are into them now.

Wasn't it you that started the WIR over Finding Nemo club ? Lol

[MovieMan89]

Wasn't it you that started the WIR over Finding Nemo club ? Lol

Uh nope. I wasn't even in it.   I did say I didn't think it was impossible, but very unlikely.

[Omni]

It doesn't open in the best weekend of the year, to say an euphemism. I've never liked the first week of November, it seems it nullifies every potential breakout. No holiday until Thanksgiving, overall weak dailies, lots of competition ahead and Christmas coming when the theatre count is below 1000 and weekend number in the low single digit. Monsters Inc barely got a 4x multiplier, and every other animated film went under that.

 

That said, it's not impossible for BH6 to open to 70+ if it's very weel advertised and 'foxy' enough.

[MovieMan89]

Yeah, they really need to move it to Thanksgiving. It will at least have a decent opening then.

[BadAtGender]

I dunno, I kinda have an uneasy feeling about this movie's success for some reason. Unlike the great feelings I had about WIR and Frozen a year out. I just think the concept sounds a little too niche for widespread kid appeal. And before anyone says WIR's concept was niche, video games are not niche among kids whatsoever today. All kids are into them now.

 

I can kinda understand that, although I'd argue that this isn't really niche. It's superheros, which are pretty much the go-to blockbuster concept at the moment. In contrast, video games haven't really had a successful screen crossover, outside of perhaps the first Lara Croft.

 

However, with that said, at this point before its release, Frozen was basically a non-entity to me. There was some excitement about the casting of Bell and Menzel, but that's about it. After the advertising started, my interest in it actually went down. So I can understand being hesitant about BH6.

 

Still, there's like a lot of pros and cons that are at play here:

 

Superheros (pretty good plus, but not bulletproof)

Asian themed? (probably negative, at least domestically)

Manga influence (likely a non-entity, but possibly negative)

Marvel name (positive)

Disney name (positive, especially given their recent track record)

Release date (negative, really)

 

So, taken just as that, I'd say we'd have a film that's likely to do WiR numbers: something between 170 and 200 total.

 

The twist, really, is that this film is following Frozen. WiR followed Tangled, and basically did about the same business. It was arguably a better film, but a quirkier concept and a worse release date. We don't know the quality of BH6, but it's a quirkier concept than Frozen and has a worse release date.

 

However, even so, it gets some boost due to Frozen's popular reception. How much? I don't know, but it's a factor. I mean shitty films do well all the time when they're seen as connected to something that had popular reception.

[SpiderByte]

Isn't 'Asian influence' and 'manga influence' the same thing in this circumstance?

[Boxx93]

Remember when Monsters University opened to 84 million and World War Z to 66 milion?

 

I can see the same thing happening with Interstellar and Big Hero 6 on the same weekend.

 

 

[Dingdong123]

I doubt they will sell the manga aspect too much to cause some hindrance in the box office. They will focus on superhero action-comedy thing which will draw the audiences.And yeah, this can coincide with Interstellar like MU and WWZ did, just with Interstellar coming at the top with BH6 a solid second.

[BadAtGender]

Last night I dreamed that I saw BH6.

 

It was like a Michel Gondry film.

[MovieMan89]

The manga/Japanese aspect, and fact that the source material has a very limited following is why I call the concept potentially niche. Superhero isn't the problem, although it didn't exactly work for Megamind. The Incredibles has been the only success in animated superhero movies. Ironically I just realized that Pixar followed up their biggest hit ever with a superhero film, much like Disney is following up their biggest hit of the 2000's with a superhero film. So maybe this is in good shape.

Edited February 16, 2014 by MovieMan89

[SpiderByte]

 

 

The manga/Japanese aspect, and fact that the source material has a very limited following is why I call the concept potentially niche. 

 

By this logic you can say Frozen is niche because not many people read The Snow Queen.

 

 

 

The Incredibles has been the only success in animated superhero movies.

Well yeah, considering there are only two of them. Not counting the BTAS animated films. 

[MovieMan89]

Snow Queen is a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. There's absolutely nothing niche about it for a Disney movie. The Big Hero 6 manga seems like one of the most random source out there Disney could use for a superhero movie on the other hand, especially animated. Glancing over it I don't see the appeal to many kids, but hopefully Disney knows what they're doing.

[wileECoyote]

Snow Queen is a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. There's absolutely nothing niche about it for a Disney movie. The Big Hero 6 manga seems like one of the most random source out there Disney could use for a superhero movie on the other hand, especially animated. Glancing over it I don't see the appeal to many kids, but hopefully Disney knows what they're doing.

I was surprised as well that WDAS decided to use an obscure comic book series as the source. But I think we are over emphasizing the type of source, mainly being manga influenced comic book. The story is still a superhero movie about a boy with a robot and the team around him. That doesn't sound like a niche type story to me . And if its marketed well, along being a solid movie, I think it'll do just fine.

[Mojoguy]

I always thought Disney Animation Studios began to fail as a company the more and more that they tried to get away from their fairy tale musicals. Maybe they were getting sick of doing Disney Princess movies, but that was clearly their bread and butter that they should have kept doing every couple of years. Snow White, Cinderella, and Ariel are still immediately recognizable to many girls and those adults that grew up with them. Even those that haven't seen their movies recognize them.

 

We ended up getting Atlantis,Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Home on the Range during the dark year of the 2000s. Atlantis and Treasure Planet were both clearly aimed at teenage boys, and the boys ended up not caring which made the two movies flop badly. All those movies have been nearly completely forgotten by the public.

[BadAtGender]

I always thought Disney Animation Studios began to fail as a company the more and more that they tried to get away from their fairy tale musicals. Maybe they were getting sick of doing Disney Princess movies, but that was clearly their bread and butter that they should have kept doing every couple of years. Snow White, Cinderella, and Ariel are still immediately recognizable to many girls and those adults that grew up with them. Even those that haven't seen their movies recognize them.

 

We ended up getting Atlantis,Treasure Planet, Brother Bear, Home on the Range during the dark year of the 2000s. Atlantis and Treasure Planet were both clearly aimed at teenage boys, and the boys ended up not caring which made the two movies flop badly. All those movies have been nearly completely forgotten by the public.

 

Eh, I think it's fine that they stretch and try and do different things. Part of the problem with the late Renaissance (and especially with the 70s and 80s) was that they didn't show any real effort to innovate and try new things, giving a static feel to all their product. Arguably, Disney created the success of the Shrek series by not switching things up in the late 90s.

 

So the attempts to do new things in the early 00s weren't met with broad success, but they weren't creatively bankrupt, either. Empereor's New Groove is one of the best comedy films ever made. Lilo and Stitch is brilliant on many levels. Even Atlantis and Treasure Planet have things going for them. Their lack of success is more because of cold audience response to traditional animation than anything else. Shoot, when Disney made the change to CGI, they did very well with Chicken Little, even though it was a pretty terrible film.

 

So it's pretty great that Big Hero 6 is something new. Wreck-It Ralph was different, and that was great. This should be more of the same. If nothing else, Disney is showing that in this new Reformation era, they're willing to switch things up and break from expectations while still churning out quality product. I'm really enjoying that, and don't think they need to stick to princess musicals, even if I really enjoy princess musicals.

[AniNate]

I always thought Disney Animation Studios began to fail as a company the more and more that they tried to get away from their fairy tale musicals. Maybe they were getting sick of doing Disney Princess movies, but that was clearly their bread and butter that they should have kept doing every couple of years. Snow White, Cinderella, and Ariel are still immediately recognizable to many girls and those adults that grew up with them. Even those that haven't seen their movies recognize them.

 

Some of Disney's biggest and most enduring hits have been movies that weren't fairy tales. The key is having a relatable premise and memorable characters (though catchy songs certainly help, too.)

 

That being said, I have reservations about those elements being a feature of this movie. I'd very much like to be proven wrong, but this feels like something that would work better as a cartoon on the Disney Channel. 

[Spidey Freak]

The manga/Japanese aspect, and fact that the source material has a very limited following is why I call the concept potentially niche. 

 

 

Snow Queen is a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale. There's absolutely nothing niche about it for a Disney movie. The Big Hero 6 manga seems like one of the most random source out there Disney could use for a superhero movie on the other hand, especially animated. Glancing over it I don't see the appeal to many kids, but hopefully Disney knows what they're doing.

 

For the 100th time, Big Hero 6 is not manga at all! Just because a comic has Asian influences and characters does not = manga! Manga is a special type of comic that is read from the back to the front. Big Hero 6 is just a regular superhero comic which just has Asian influences. And even if it were manga, it shouldn't have any bearing on its film adaptation at all.  

Edited February 17, 2014 by Spidey Freak

[Spidey Freak]

I was surprised as well that WDAS decided to use an obscure comic book series as the source.

 

Actually it makes sense. Disney is reserving all the upper tier and more well-known Marvel properties for live action adaptations, so the obscure ones like BH6 are given to WDAS for animation treatment. Also helps that the concept lends itself perfectly to being adapted as a Disney animated film. It's got fun characters, heart, action and adventure.