From time to time the trades like to moan that the reason animated features are under-performing is that there's a "glut of cartoons" in the marketplace.
Uh, no.
The reason that some animated features don't do well at the box office is, few people want to see this one or that one. I mean, did The Good Dinosaur do badly because of some "glut"? I would submit that it was a picture that didn't grab the public's imagination. (Nobody argues that a given live-action movie does badly because of a "glut" of live-action movies. It's because the given movie is shitty, and nobody wants to see it.)
By most measures, we are now wading through a glut of animated features. (Norm of the North. Kung Fu Panda. Etc.) And if that is true, how do you explain this?
‘Zootopia’ $70M-$74M Opening Sets Record For Original Disney Toon ...
This weekend belongs to Walt Disney’s Zootopia, which is headed for a record opening of $70M-$74M, the best ever for an original Disney/non-Pixar animated film. That figure kicks aside Frozen’s $67.4M wide release debut. Inclusive of $1.7M in Thursday previews, Zootopia‘s opening stands at $19.5M, which beats Frozen’s first wide day of ZOOTOPIA$15.2M (the Wednesday before Thanksgiving). ...
DOMESTIC ZWEEKEND BOX OFFICE
1). Zootopia (DIS), 3,827 theaters/ $19.5M Fri./ 3-day cume: $70M-$74M/ Wk 1
2). London Has Fallen (FOC), 3,490 theaters/ $7.5M-$7.8M Fri. / 3-day cume: $21.4M-$21.8M / Wk 1
3). Deadpool (FOX), 3,624 theaters (-232) / $4.7M Fri. (-47%) / 3-day cume: $16.8M (-46%) / Total Cume: $311.4M / Wk 4
4). Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (PAR), 2,374 theaters/ $2.4M Fri. / 3-day cume: $7.2M / Wk 1
5). Gods of Egypt (LG), 3,117 theaters (0)/ $1.3M Fri. (-72%) / 3-day cume: $4.7M (-66%) /Total cume: $22.6M/ Wk 2
6). Risen (SONY), 2,507 theaters (-408) / $1.07M Fri. (-45%) / 3-day cume: $3.8M (-44%) / Total cume: $28.6M / Wk 3
7). The Revenant (FOX), 1,488 theaters (-157) / $888K Fri. (-8%) / 3-day cume: $3.6M (-10%) / Total cume: $176.2M / Wk 11
8). Kung Fu Panda 3 (DWA/FOX), 2,700 theaters (-596) / $774K Fri. (-60%) / 3-day cume: $3.5M (-61%) / Total cume: $133.8M / Wk 6
9). Eddie the Eagle (Fox), 2,044 theaters (+2) / $883K Fri. (-54%) / 3-day cume: $3.3M (-46%)/Total cume: $11.1M/ Wk 2
10). The Witch (A24), 1,715 theaters (-489) / $692K Fri. (-54%) / 3-day cume: $2.4M (-53%) / Total cume: $20.8M / Wk 3
Kindly note that there are two (count 'em) animated features riding in the Top Ten. But not unexpectedly, KFP3, which had been holding well through five weeks of release, has dropped 61% due to a second animal picture coming into release. (That's the blow-back from a "glut", defined as similar pictures in the market at the same time.)
Add On: Zootopia isn't just scoring at the box office; it's bowling over critics as well:
The Disney animated film has a perfect 100 percent score on more than 75 reviews
Disney’s newest animated film, “Zootopia,” currently holds a score of 100 percent on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. A perfect score may not sound extraordinary, but when it is based on more than 75 reviews, that’s actually “pretty rare.”
“[More than 75] reviews at 100 percent is very unusual,” Rotten Tomatoes Editor-in-Chief Matt Atchity told TheWrap. “‘Zootopia’ could be on that road to breaking records.” ...
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2 comments:
No. Good Dinosaur bombed because it was a badly produced cartoon, with out of the box effects, and cheesy technical merits. But the real problem was the shift in tone and lack of strong characters. And the lousy name. Why do I imagine Disney taking a good hard look at the management of Pixar these days?
I'd argue 'Good Dinosaur' bombed because the marketing was almost non-existent and it made the movie look like a skip-it, when it was arguably good. (Certainly a divisive pic, for sure) Had it not cost anywhere near $200m to make, I guess that $315m worldwide take wouldn't be too, too bad. Ah well...
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