Thursday, July 14, 2011

Gentle Bear to the Savage Blade

... called Harry Potter?

... Winnie the Pooh debuts at 2,405 locations, seemingly like a lamb to the slaughter. In Box Office Mojo's polling, though, the traditionally animated movie has logged a solid 6.3 percent "opening weekend" score, similar to Mr. Popper's Penguins and slightly better than Zookeeper. ...

The Mojo isn't overly optimistic about the silly old bear's chances, predicting $11.5 million for the weekend box office.

Not great.

On the other hand, Rotten Tomatoes gives the hour-long film an 89% score, so hey. It could be worse.

The optimistic TAG blog will predict a $16.5 million WtP opening.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well, it may not be a box office success but at least with those good reviews it has a good chance of being nominated for the 'Best Animated Feature' Oscar (especially if there will be more than three slots this year for the category).

Anonymous said...

I doubt it but wouldnt it be cool if it won for best animated feature and beat out Cars 2, KFP 2 and Rio. Really this year has not had any really good animated films. At least Pooh sticks to the stories from the books.

Anonymous said...

Half Blood Prince = $300 million domestic. Watch.

Anonymous said...

Oops, meant Deathly Hallows. Shows how much I know about the franchise.

o-meon said...

On the other hand, while opening week will in all likelihood see HP blow everything else out of the water, WtP, thanks to good reviews and positive word of mouth, is in a fairly good position to either grow an audience or at the very least hold steady for the next two to three weeks.

Anonymous said...

Pooh is at 91% Fresh. Cheers to the brilliant work of the Disney crew, from Steve and Don on down.

Anonymous said...

Pooh is not a very good film. But next to that silly travesty Nessie, it looks pretty good

King Louie said...

Why does everyone keep writing this off as something "little kids and their nostalgic parents will love." I mean. shouldn't this movie be enjoyable for everyone of all ages? Isn't that the point of a Disney or PIXAR animated film (i.e. a film everyone can enjoy)? I've actually heard teenagers mention being excited for this movie and I don't blame them. It's a long shot, but perhaps like with Tangled everyone is underestimating what Winnie the Pooh can achieve. Well, guess we'll have to wait a few weeks to see...

Anonymous said...

I agree with your sentiment, but Pooh just isn't that cartoon. It was made for small children, and comes off as such. Most people over the age of 8 will be bored after a while, even if they might be nostalgic about the animation. The film just isn't top notch.

Anonymous said...

I agree. I find it actually somewhat hilarious Pooh is getting a higher Rotten Tomatoes score than Tangled did.

Heck, Tangled barely got a higher score than Bolt did, and Bolt was half as good. Sometimes I think critics/Rotten Tomatoes scores more reflect the thoughts of a given film in that particular film season/year. If a fantastic animated film (like Dragons or TS3) comes out, then Tangled comes out the same year, critics compare it to those. But if Tangled came out THIS year, it would have been hailed as Disney super duper comeback film. (which I think it was anyway)

Anonymous said...

Big difference is that Pooh merchandise sells, unlike tangled.

Anonymous said...

Here we go again. "Tangled merch doesn't sell...."

Then why is it in the front of the Disney store when Tron and Pirates of the Carribbean crap is on the clearance shelf in the back?

Why are toy stores ordering waves of entirely new lines of Rapunzel toys for Christmas?

Tangled is a HUGE hit. Still the number one DVD of 2011. It beat harry potter no 7.

Anonymous said...

Mattel's COO:

"As I mentioned earlier for Disney Princess, our rights extend to most the world now. Tangled sales have been outstanding, and the property continues to perform very well. We're excited that Disney will be releasing an all-new Tangled animated cartoon short in 2012, featuring the wedding of Rapunzel and Flinn, which will firmly establish her in the princess family."


http://seekingalpha.com/article/279683-mattel-s-ceo-discusses-q2-2011-results-earnings-call-transcript

Anonymous said...

http://www.toynews-online.biz/news/34013/Rapunzel-to-be-crowned-at-Kensington-Palace

Here's a hint: They don't DO this kind of thing for characters that don't sell merchandise.

Anonymous said...

Good to see Disney re-energizing the Pooh franchise. Should do wonders for the toys, with only Cars 2 and Toy Story 3 selling toys for Disney.

Anonymous said...

The anti-Tangled merchandise poster is a troll. Dont feed him.

Anonymous said...

Yeah and clearly he cant read. That quote from Mattel pretty much sums it up.

Case closed

Anonymous said...

2D is DEAD!

$8 million for Winnie the Pooh this weekend.

91% on Rotten Tomatoes for Winnie the Pooh so it must be good.

THE END

Anonymous said...

Idiot.

2D "might" be dead ... AT DISNEY if they keep putting out tepid little retro movies like Pooh, but the animation universe does not revolve around Disney . Stop buying into the myth that Disney will "save" 2D.

Steve Hulett said...

Big difference is that Pooh merchandise sells, unlike tangled.

See, when you pull assertions out of your large intestine without any sourcing, you'll get shot down.

Anonymous said...

Steve, I dont know if you're aware, but we have a resident troll now. He/she likes to repeatedly and obnoxiously contradict facts and data immediately after someone posts them, just to get a rise out of other commenters.

Please, for the love of god, start using a registration-required (with a union email) anonymous format for this blog. It'll keep the crazies out and maybe we can meaningful discussions here.

Site Meter