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Universal now the undisputed king of Animation

posted 2 years ago by QueenFanUSA (3379)
16 replies | jump to latest

I've been saying it for years that Universal's Animation units, DreamWorks and Illumination, were the most commercially successful in the business and now it cannot be argued. It was a steady build until the past 2 years where the dam burst for Disney/Pixar while at the same time DreamWorks/Illumination went from one smashing success to another. Puss n Boots this Christmas looks to thrash Disney once again in comparison to the jaw-dropping failure of Strange World which cost 180 million to produce(before P & A) and will not even gross 100 million worldwide! *gasp*

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[–] furiousstyles (4391) 2 years ago

Your hate for disney is unhealthy, did you get fired from pixar or something? How come you dont discuss other bombs from universal or wb, say black adam, batgirl or ww 2? Hmmm odd behaviour how longs it been now having this hardon for animation box office? 10 years?

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[–] [deleted] 2 years ago

Strange World ISN'T Pixar. I'm still willing to give Pixar a chance.

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[–] Furienna (3345) 2 years ago

But you seem to forget that "Encanto" is only a year old and became a big hit for Disney.

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[–] CoachGainz (453) 2 years ago

I wouldn't say Encanto was a "big hit". It grossed 250M on a 130M budget at best it's a mild success after all the bills are counted and the addition to their stream library is taken into account.

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[–] Furienna (3345) 2 years ago

Admittedly, economy has never been my area of expertise.
So maybe I just don't get it since seeing figures of that size just makes me dizzy.
Really though, that seems to be a very good profit to me even if some bills have to be paid.
But perhaps I'm just stupid and missing something.
But can we at least assume that "Encanto" did better than "Strange World" will do?

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[–] CoachGainz (453) 2 years ago

Sure. The rule of thumb with movie accounting is that the movie typically has to double its production budget in box-office just to break even overall.

With a movie like Encanto the budget is 130M plus another 100m or so for marketing. Then the studio only gets about half the gross. So after theater run Encato was probably about 100M in the red.

However, movies make money forever in the form of rentals, bluray buying, streaming rights, merchandising, ect. Also Disney has to fill their streaming platform with new content. So a movie with theater grade production that's only in the red by 100M is a healthy add. All in all i would say disney views ENcato as a modest success.

They would view Frozen as a big hit.

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[–] QueenFanUSA (3379) 2 years ago

Well said, Coach Gaenz. Actually, you are being a bit generous.

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[–] Furienna (3345) 2 years ago

What I read is that "Encanto" was more successful on Disney + than as a theatrical release.
But its box office success would also have been better if there still hadn’t been restrictions due to the pandemic.
Even so, it got a new chance with a second theatrical run.
And I'm sorry if I harp on this, but it's my new favorite Disney movie and clearly more than a "modest success".

And yeah, ETA:
It is now clear that "Strange World" is getting a new life at Disney + as well:
https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/disney-flop-dominating-streaming.html
So it's clear that a theatrical flop still can do well enough on the streaming market.

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[–] CoachGainz (453) 2 years ago

How often does Disney release a new movie on Disney plus?

Jurassic Park was number 1 on netflix last time it was steamed there and it's not even a new movie. Being in the top 10 on a streaming platform typically just means it was just added and is the only new material for subscribers to watch.

It's not like Disney+ grew a million more subscribers because Strange World was added to it. And it's not like disney is making per view money on it like they would in the theater.

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[–] Furienna (3345) 2 years ago

Still, it is clear that theatrical releases isn't the only way to reach an audience these days.

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[–] CoachGainz (453) 2 years ago

Sure. But the argument is whether strange world and encanto are financially successful.

On their own no they're not. However, if disney's plan for them was to simply be added to their streaming library then possibly. They were not straight to streaming movies they were intended for the big screen and were given big screen budgets and marketing campaigns.

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[–] Furienna (3345) 2 years ago

But even though I've read that "Encanto" was a disappointment at the box office, it has never been described as a flop.
It is not the same thing.

Anyway, I found a really interesting article about "Strange World" and the future of animation:
https://screenrant.com/strange-world-disney-streaming-success-animation-bad/#strange-world-39-s-box-office-failure-amp-streaming-success-explained

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[–] CoachGainz (453) 2 years ago

Never said it was a flop.

"All in all i would say disney views ENcato as a modest success.

They would view Frozen as a big hit."

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[–] Kowalski (75537) 2 years ago

"Sure. But the argument is whether strange world and encanto are financially successful.

On their own no they're not. "

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[–] CoachGainz (453) 2 years ago

It's not a success on it's OWN! Encanto is only a modest success at best because of Disney's streaming service that they need content for.

If Encanto were made by Sony or another studio that doesn't have it's own streaming service it would absolutely be viewed as a loss that could possibly break even after every penny is counted for the next decade.

While Strange World would be near Waterworld flop. 180M theater release that grossed 75M world wide.

Strange World Listed With Biggest Box Office Bombs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_biggest_box-office_bombs

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[–] Kowalski (75537) 2 years ago

EDIT...EDIT...EDIT.

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