Wednesday, July 03, 2013

Big Start

Universal seems to have a box office monster in its wheelhouse.

... Illumination Entertainment’s and Universal’s Despicable Me 2 grossed $4.7 million Tuesday night in 2,563 theaters with late shows beginning at 7 PM and continuing through Wednesday midnight. As a comparison, the recently released Monsters University grossed $3 million at late shows which began at 8 PM the Thursday before it opened. ...

[A]s of 7 AM Despicable Me 2 is scooping up 71% of Wednesday morning’s ticket sales and Lone Ranger only 12% ... which doesn’t bode well. ...

For Johnny Depp. ...

The Mainstream thinking that too many animated features cannibalize each other is a wee bit off.

The public will flock to movies it wants to see. Period. Animated features are a widely diverse group of theatrical motion pictures. They're not "Westerns," or "Action Blockbusters," or buddy comedies, road pictures or super hero movies. They are all of those genres, and others besides.

The only quality today's animated features have in common is they are animated. To act like they are a narrow subset of entertainment is misguided. We're way past the era of Disney-style hand-drawn animated musicals.

9 comments:

Mark Mayerson said...

I disagree, Steve. All the animated features are comic fantasies suitable for children. They go to great lengths to make sure that adults can tolerate them, but there's nothing that can't be watched by a five year old.

Unknown said...

THe hardest kind of film to make is a good FAMILY film. I happen to think Disney made a few, and even Pixar. Not so much any other companies, really. I mean a film that doesn't talk down to children...OR adults, with mature, adult themes far beyond what some teenage fan of Japanese cartoons could imagine. Pinocchio, Bambi, Finding Nemo, and Up come to mind.

That said, Dispicable Me 2 is pretty dreary, aiming straight for the lowest common denominator. And it's terribly directed---confusing gag setups and payoffs that don't read, and have little to do with the very thin plot. The animation is the usual stuff from India.

Unknown said...

^ have you ever watched Japanese anime like Akira or Grave of the Fireflies? As far as adult themes go, they kick the pants out of Pinocchio, Bambi, Nemo, and Up.

Steve Hulett said...

DM 2 was animated, I believe, in Paris France. With a budget of $74 million.

Unknown said...

I saw Grave of the Fireflies. Nice, but it didn't make any money. And that Akira cartoon was just obtuse. Juvenile and bland--with a profound disrespect for the audience.

Unknown said...

"DM 2 was animated, I believe, in Paris France. With a budget of $74 million."

Well the budget explains some of it, but not all of it. The chasing scenes were fun, but the "character animation" was lacking. Nothing specific about the characters or how they move. Lacking in individuality. They should put together a good school there to teach character animation.

Steve Hulett said...

Dispicable Me 2 is pretty dreary, aiming straight for the lowest common denominator. And it's terribly directed---confusing gag setups and payoffs that don't read, and have little to do with the very thin plot.

Might be dreary (I haven't seen it, but America votes otherwise:

Despicable 2 opened to a mammoth $34.3 million on Wednesday from 3,956 theaters -- including $4.7 million in Tuesday night runs -- putting the 3D animated sequel on course for a five-day debut in the $125 million to $130 million range

Also has an "A" Cinemascore. But what does the freaking public know?

Celshader said...

THe hardest kind of film to make is a good FAMILY film. I happen to think Disney made a few, and even Pixar. Not so much any other companies, really. I mean a film that doesn't talk down to children...OR adults, with mature, adult themes far beyond what some teenage fan of Japanese cartoons could imagine. Pinocchio, Bambi, Finding Nemo, and Up come to mind.

F. Kousac, you owe it to yourself to watch more films by Studio Ghibli, specifically those directed by Hayao Miyazaki. John Lasseter's a fan of Hayao Miyazaki's films for a reason.

Unknown said...

I've seen most of ghibli's cartoons. Some are better than others (mononkoe is terrible). But only one comes close to being worth watching again--Totoro.

And most bombed here in the U.S. and Europe.

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