Disney’s “Strange World” bombed at the box office over Thanksgiving, leaving the studio to ditch oceans, mountains, and red-ink terrain.
The animated feature debuted significantly behind expectations with $11.9 million from 4,174 theaters in North America over the weekend and $18.6 million over the five-day holiday period. Before projections were revised down, the film was expected to earn anywhere between $30 million to $40 million – and even those numbers were hard to begin with.
Opening ticket sales for “Strange World” have gone on record as one of Disney’s worst opening weekends in modern times, trailing slightly ahead of its pandemic-era release “West Side Story” ($10.5 million) and significantly behind other family films like ” Encanto” ($27.2 million over the traditional weekend and $40 million over the extended Thanksgiving holiday period) and “Lightyear” ($51 million).
“Usually around this time of year, the Disney family movie is the big draw,” says Paul Dergarabedian, comScore senior analyst. “It shows that we are still recovering and adjusting to the restrictions of the pandemic.”
Unless its business rebounds significantly in the next few weeks (which seems unlikely given the film’s mediocre reviews, lackluster audience reception and minimal fanfare), sources estimate Strange World will lose at least $100 million in its theatrical run. Even with proper interest in Disney+ and its home entertainment platforms, box office experts point out that it will be difficult to turn the big-budget movie into black. With Strange World costing $180 million to produce and tens of millions in worldwide marketing and distribution fees, the movie needs roughly $360 million to break even, sources say.
And remember: Those levels were out of reach for Lightyear (which ended its theatrical run with $226 million worldwide) and Encanto (which ended its theatrical run with $256 million worldwide), though those films had bigger openings in recent years. weekends. Rival studios believe Weird World will be lucky to hit $45 million by the end of its domestic run. In comparison, “Encanto” grossed $96 million in North America while “Lightyear” grossed $118 million in the United States.
“This is a poor opening by Disney animation standards,” says David A. Gross, who runs film consultancy Franchise Entertainment Research. “At a cost of $180 million, plus marketing expenses, the movie would end up in the red, even with good extra income.”
Overseas aggregates may not provide much of a lifeline. Strange World similarly underwhelmed at the international box office with $9.2 million from 43 markets. Like most Hollywood films, it will not be shown in China or Russia, two major international markets, due to geopolitical tensions. Beyond that, Disney chose not to offer “Strange World” to several smaller markets, including the entire Middle East, Malaysia and Indonesia, because the film features a gay character. Films with LGBTQ references were regularly targeted by censors in those territories, and Disney was unwilling to cut portions of the film to comply with their guidelines.
Strange World continues a grim streak of Disney animated shows, which have always been considered the gold standard in this type of entertainment. However, the studio, which bucked tradition by putting Pixar films like “Soul” and “Turning Red” directly on Disney+ during the pandemic, hasn’t been able to properly reacquaint those audiences with theatrical releases. Some analysts believe the studio has inadvertently set families up for watching new movies on the popular streaming service. In any case, Disney fumbled pandemic-era offerings like “Lightyear,” one of the few Pixar films to lose money in its theatrical run, as well as “Encanto,” which didn’t become a TikTok sensation until the musical tale landed on Disney+. It’s a particularly important demographic for Disney because it feeds into the company’s consumer production business, as well as streaming and theme parks.
It’s not just Disney that has struggled to find success in the animation business during times of the pandemic. Even as coronavirus cases wane and normal life picks up, families have remained frustratingly selective about what they’re willing to leave home to see. As a result, “Minions: The Rise of Gru” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” — both hailing from popular franchises — were the only kid-friendly movies to resonate with audiences in the past year. This is a problem because films aimed at younger audiences, particularly the animated group, used to account for a large portion of the year’s total box office returns. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, a sequel set in the “Shrek” universe, will be the next big test for the medium as Universal and DreamWorks open the film on Dec. 21.
Strange World was directed by Don Hall, which features the voice actors of Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Jaboukie Young-White and Gabrielle Union as a family of legendary explorers who embark on a treacherous voyage to save a mysterious land from the loss of a vital energy source. .
Perhaps surprisingly, audiences were harsher on the film than critics were. Strange World has received a tepid “B” on CinemaScore from polls, as well as an average of 73% from reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes. miscellaneous Chief critic Peter Debruge praised the film’s visuals, writing, “It is the characters as much as the environment that make this vibrant, ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ colorful and diverse in every way.” But he wasn’t sold on the adventure in question, adding that “the people and places they explore may be fascinating, however, the relatively unimaginative story puts this remarkable guy second-rate… rather than breaking the ensemble of Disney classics.”
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