Saturday, July 16, 2011

Hot Summer Derby

Now with tasty Add On.

The good news is, there are two animated features in the Top Ten!

The bad news is, they're in the middle of the pack and could be making more money! The Nikkster, as per usual, has early tallies ...

1. Harry Potter/Hallows, Pt 2 - 3D (Warner Bros) NEW [4,375 Theaters] Friday $95m, Estimated Weekend $180M

2. Transformers 3 - 3D (Paramount) Week 3 [3,917 Theaters] Friday $6.8M, Estimated Weekend $21M, Estimated Cume $303M

3. Horrible Bosses (New Line/Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,134 Theaters] Friday $5M (-49%), Estimated Weekend $15M, Estimated Cume $57.4M

4. Zookeeper (Sony) Week 2 [3,482 Theaters] Friday $3.6M (-51%), Estimated Weekend $11M, Estimated Cume $41M

5. Cars 2 - 3D (Disney) Week 4 [3,249 Theaters] Friday $2.7M, Estimated Weekend $8.5M, Estimated Cume $165.5M

6. Winnie The Pooh (Disney) NEW [2,405 Theaters] Friday $2.6M, Estimated Weekend $8M

7. Bad Teacher (Sony) Week 4 [2,659 Theaters] Friday $1.5M, Estimated Weekend $4.5M, Estimated Cume $87.8M

8. Larry Crowne (Vendome/Universal) Week 3 [2,287 Theaters] Friday $825K, Estimated Weekend $2.5M, Estimated Cume $31.6M

9. Super 8 (Paramount) Week 6 [1,459 Theaters] Friday $550K, Estimated Cume $1.7M, Estimated Cume $122M

10. Midnight In Paris (Sony Classics) Week 10 [819 Theaters] Friday 450K, Estimated Weekend $1.5M, Estimated Cume $41.4M

Add On: I note, sadly, that the cartoons have now shifted, and have lower estimates on Ms. Finke's site than they did when I first posted them. Not good.

Add On: B.O. Mojo tells us that that the Milne bear ended up with $8 million, while John Lasseter's return to the director's chair fetched $8,344,000. (On a per-theater average, Winnie the Pooh had the edge, but the talking cars had lots more screens.)

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not a good sign for Pooh when it can't even beat the quickly plummeting Cars2.

At least the reviews were good.

Anonymous said...

2D is DEAD.

91% on Rotten Tomatoes for Winnie the Pooh so it must be good, but only $8m opening weekend.

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.

Anonymous said...

2D isnt dead. Pooh was INTENDED to be an inexpensive production that would make some money at theaters and kill in home movie sales. It keeps 2D animators at Disney employed while other 2D films are in development.

Im so tired of you ignorant fools on this blog.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 10:52

I don't buy into "the myth that Disney will "save" 2D." 2D is dead.

Anonymous 11:12 am

You may be sick of "ignorant fools" but the DVD market is dying (read the trades). 2D is dead.

Anonymous said...

I read the trades. You're over-exaggerating.

Now go somewhere else to spread your end of the world nonsense, Harold Camping.

Steve Hulett said...

Companies (Disney included) will make hand-drawn animated films until they don't.

The Disney animators who do hand-drawn stuff inform me that another "traditional" animated feature is in early development, but management hasn't yet decided whether to green-light another one or not.

(Snow Queen was originally in development as a hand-drawn feature, but no more.)

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 1:11

The big budget, blockbuster, big family experience 2D animated feature is DEAD. You can kick and scream all you want but they will be no more. There will continue to be 2D animated features but they will be small productions and probably not hand drawn in the traditional sense of the word. They will cost little and make little. Hopefully they will be great. 2D will continue to be innovative and exciting, but mainly in short films and especially on TV.

The main reason that I say 2D animated features are dead is that Disney made a great movie, TANGLED. TANGLED is a traditionally "Disney" animated movie, that would years ago have been a 2D feature, but which was produced in CGI. It did very well financially. A couple of years ago they released THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG - also a great movie, in traditional hand-drawn style. It was not a financial success. Even if you argue that it was a success (and some will) it was nowhere near as successful as TANGLED.

It's all business.

If anyone disagrees, fine, but please tell me where the next big 2D animated feature is coming from so I can mark my calendar.

Anonymous said...

I didnt say that 2D features will once again be hueg block-busting money makers. I said it isnt DEAD. There's a difference.

I'm glad you clarified your statement, because your blanket proclamation of "2D is DEAD" is wrong.

But Im glad you liked Tangled. I worked on it.

Anonymous said...

Welp, guess we'll have to depend on the eastern hemisphere for our 2D fix now.

Anonymous said...

2d is very much alive. Animation is a circle, not a line. For 30 years it seemed like limited animation had taken over all full animaiton and no one cared. However when quality animation came back limited animation went on life support. Same will happen with CGI. Animaiton industry's a cycle, not a life and death matter.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 2:57

Congrats, TANGLED was terrific. I was sad to read quotes from Disney (before the release) that they wouldn't be making any more fairy tales or princess movies. I hope they learned a lesson and changed their minds when TANGLED was so well received.

Anonymous 3:13

I think the difference between the time when limited animation took over and now, is that limited animation was a cheap alternative to classic "Disney style" full animation, and you could tell. Even though it could be artistic and brilliant, the differences between the best UPA short and BAMBI were very apparent. The difference these days is that CGI features aren't a cheaper alternative - and the average Jane and Joe thinks they look better than the hand drawn features. There's no reason to go back. Also there were never really any HUGE limited animation 2D features to threaten the traditional "Disney style" features. The CGI features of today have superseded the 2D features of yesterday financially, and some would say (not me) creatively.

Anonymous said...

Notice how forcefully and eagerly commenters on this blog want to assert that 2D is dead.

That's probably a hopeful sign since animation executives seem to pay little heed to animator opinions.

Anonymous said...

I wonder if Snow Queen is still a musical now that's been CG-fied. I know that they haven't asked Alan Menken to come on board (at least not yet).

Anonymous said...

I was sad to read quotes from Disney (before the release) that they wouldn't be making any more fairy tales or princess movies.

That report was erroneous and taken out of context. Ed Catmull himself released a statement immediately afterward contradicting it. Fairy tales are still in development at disney as we speak

Alison said...

I wonder if Snow Queen is still a musical now that's been CG-fied. I know that they haven't asked Alan Menken to come on board (at least not yet).

If I remember correctly (please don't jump on my comment if I'm wrong), but wasn't The Snow Queen adapted from the un-produced musical of the same name that Menken and Slater wrote for DisneySea Tokyo?

Anonymous said...

Enough about Pooh and 2D.

WHY AREN'T YOU REPORTING THE BOXOFFICE TOTALS OF SARAH PALIN'S NEW DOCUMENTARY "Undefeated"???!!!

It's tearing up at the boxoffice!!!

Anonymous said...

I always though it WAS an odd decision to release this film on the same day as HARRY POTTER. However, even if this film "fails", I doubt WDAS will give up 2D animation for good, especialy with John Lasseter being a fan of the artform.

Steve Hulett said...

WHY AREN'T YOU REPORTING THE BOXOFFICE TOTALS OF SARAH PALIN'S NEW DOCUMENTARY "Undefeated"???!!!


Sorry about that. The LA TIMES reports that the documentary has rolled out on a limited basis, grossing $5 per screen.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2011/07/sarah-palin-documentary-the-undefeated-opens-will-roll-out-to-other-cities.html

(Not to be confused with the John Wayne-Rock Hudson flick of the same name.

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1022315-undefeated/)

Anonymous said...

It might as well have been $5 per screen, but the article says $5,000 per screen. I'm sure she's busy trying to figure out how much she gets from that 5k

Steve Hulett said...

Gawd. I should PROOF-READ. Meant $5000.

Sorry.

why?!? said...

Releasing the Pooh movie the same weekend the very last Harry Potter movie opens is a sign of absolute incompetence. Heads should roll!!!
Hell, if anybody in any other proffesion makes a mistake of this magnitude would be looking for his next job in the service industry....

rufus

Anonymous said...

Funny thing is, the opening weekend of this Pooh movie is better than that of the last two. That's despite minimal advertising. Maybe someone in marketing is a genius.

Anonymous said...

I'm bummed that 2D is dead. I guess I should stop working on the 2d feature I have in development...

Anonymous said...

I'm bummed that 2D is dead. I guess I should stop working on the 2d feature I have in development...

Yeah, you should. Because it will never see the day of production. Especially at Disney...

Death to Trolls said...

Hmmmmm ... what to believe:

"2D is dead" trolls posting anoymously or someone like Steve Hulett who posted this regarding the Winnie the Pooh movie:

"Mr. Mattinson, who pitched it and helped develop it, told me that the company was interested in a new title that would sell well in DVD and Blu Ray.

Apparently the original theatrical featurettes sell like gangbusters, but the tv-produced stuff does not. So Diz Co. wanted a new theatrical feature to put on the little silver disks."


If 2D animated movies like the original Pooh theatrical featurettes are still "selling like gangbusters" then why should we believe the "2D is dead" trolls that lurk here ?

A bigger problem is that if those films truly are still selling like gangbusters, then Disney Corp. is making a lot of money from 2D films and shouldn't be allowed to treat the traditional animation artists like unskilled migrant workers and also should not be sending any of the hand-drawn work out of the country.

HopelessPessimist said...

DreamWorks seems to believe that The Snow Queen is past development stages and is currently in production with another "princess" film in the works as well.

Also rumor mill says the Mickey Mouse feature is in development. Last I heard it was still being pitched.

Anonymous said...

If I remember correctly (please don't jump on my comment if I'm wrong), but wasn't The Snow Queen adapted from the un-produced musical of the same name that Menken and Slater wrote for DisneySea Tokyo?

Yes, I believe Menken said that it was indeed based on the stage production he wrote for DisneySea Tokyo. It was passed due to budget costs for the extravagancy of the effects.

Disney later purchased the musical in hopes of making it into an animated feature after The Princess and the Frog. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem converting the story from the stage to film, so it was shelved.

After Tangled's success, the studio then decided to reconsider the project. The film is now being directed by Chris Buck and it will be done in CGI, but it is unknown at this stage if the film will still be a musical.

Valonie said...

It's true DONKEY SKIN the 2D Musker & Clemets project?

Would prefer BLUE BEARD.

Promises be interesting the future of Disney:

2012: BRAVE and WRECK-IT RALPH
2013: KING OF THE ELVES
2014: film by Pete Docter (dinosaur?) and SNOW QUEEN
2015: Firenze/Florence period film by Pixar, and DONKEY SKIN (?) by Musker and Clements.

A film set in Florence would be really wonderful.

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