Disney Animated Films
Topic: Up is a box office bonanza!

#	Author	Message
71	JeffG Mon 6/29/2009 12:00p	I didn't seen post #69 until after I posted #70. One important point to keep in mind is that it is essentially impossible to do any kind of apples to apples comparisons of box-office performance between movies that aren't playing at the same time. Ticket prices change with inflation and the competitive marketplace can vary pretty dramatically as well. When you take rising ticket prices (not just the premium for 3D showings) into account, it is unlikely that "Up" has yet sold nearly as many tickets as the two "Toy Story" movies and it is very unlikely to even approach the success of "Finding Nemo". The differences in competition and available audience changes the equation as well. The "Toy Story" movies, "A Bug's Life" and "Monsters, Inc." were all November releases rather than summer. Even of the summer releases, "Finding Nemo" and "Up" were both May releases while the others were all released in late June, which is arguably a more fiercely competitive period. "Up" also had over a month without any other major animated feature to compete against, which hasn't always been the case for Pixar's releases. "Wall-E", for example, came out just 2 1/2 weeks after "Kung Fu Panda". Family-oriented live action competition has varied quite a bit as well, such as "Monsters, Inc." opening less than 2 weeks before the first "Harry Potter" movie. With all this, I don't mean to diminish the success of "Up" or anything like that. The point is just that there are a lot of factors that need to be taken into account when looking at the raw numbers. Comparisons between the different Pixar films are kind of fun, but ultimately not really all that meaningful without a huge amount of contextual information. -Jeff
72	ecdc Mon 6/29/2009 12:27p	Well said, Jeff. Inflation is a huge factor, but it's still not the only one. Movie viewing habits change rapidly and drastically over time. I used to love going to the movies; now I usually hate it. I only go on Sundays, late at night, to avoid most crowds and obnoxious people. Cell phones, rowdy teenagers, etc., have all but ruined moviegoing, IMO. People seem to think they're watching a movie in their living room. In addition to people more willing to wait for Netflix to watch a movie, movies are so front-loaded now. The days of movies sitting in the theatre for several months are long gone. I was going to post from Boxofficemojo.com the figures, adusted for inflation, for Pixar films. But they've changed access to a "Premiere Pass" that I don't really feel like paying for.
73	Kar2oonMan Mon 6/29/2009 12:29p	>>I only go on Sundays, late at night, to avoid most crowds and obnoxious people.<< So, you're that other fellow I often see across the theater from me. Next time be sure to stop by and say 'hi' to me! (But only before the credits roll, thank you.)
74	Dabob2 Mon 6/29/2009 12:58p	<So raving about $250 mil at the box when ignoring the fact that the previous Pixar films did not have the added bonus of 30% higher ticket prices for about 40% of the theaters is disingenuous.> Not necessarily. How many people decided to see Up BECAUSE it was in 3D who bypassed Rat and Wall-E and wouldn't have seen Up either had it not been released in that format? We have no way of knowing. Which means that simply lopping off the "3D differential" wouldn't be an accurate assessment either. Every movie's gross is a product of many things besides its own quality; the competition, the quality of the marketing, if it captures the zeitgeist of the moment... as someone said, comparing numbers of movies that are not released at the same time is kind of fruitless. And when something like Transformers dwarfs something like Up - both for the week and I'm sure eventually for its run - then you KNOW there's a lot more going on that just quality of the movie.
75	alexbook Mon 6/29/2009 2:01p	>>While the 3D manufacturers are making breathless public relations claims about their influence on the box office, it still comes down to the film itself to sell the tickets. Case in point is Monsters vs. Aliens. Same reported production budget ($175 million). Made with 3D in mind. An animated romp. So it is a valid comparison.<< Am I the only person who goes to a movie for the characters, the story, the jokes, and the music? "Up" could have been drawn as badly as an old "Speed Racer" cartoon and it still would have been a good movie. I can't remember the last time I went to a movie and left the theater thinking about how the movie looked. ("The Last Emperor" comes to mind, or there might have been something since then.)
76	DlandDug Mon 6/29/2009 5:28p	>>Compared to the last three Pixar films, after adjusting for the 3-D ticket premiums, UP is doing somewhat better than WALL*E and Rat, but not much better than Cars...<< Yes, and if I had two heads, I'd need to buy a second sandwhich at Subway. But I don't, so I don't.
77	TheRedhead Mon 6/29/2009 8:17p	"So raving about $250 mil at the box when ignoring the fact that the previous Pixar films did not have the added bonus of 30% higher ticket prices for about 40% of the theaters is disingenuous." Silliest comment ever. A film's box office earnings represents what the the public is willing to pay to go see a movie. And with 'Up," the public has so far paid $250 million to see it. That's a great number. No one is being 'disingenuous.' It's safe to say that 'Up' has gotten a big bump from the extra 3-D money. But people are willing to pay it (when they could opt out and not pay it and see the same movie for cheaper), so yay for 'Up.'
78	Mr X Tue 6/30/2009 2:38a	One could make the argument that claiming inflation and 3D or whatever could also be considered disingenuous. Why? Because if you're going to bring in "factors", there are a whole boatload more that could be considered. Here's a big one. What was the state of the economy when these films came out. Right now, it's in the crapper. TONS of people are skipping "luxury" items such as trips to the movies (especially these days when you can just wait a few months and rent the thing for pennies on the dollar for a family..cheaper popcorn at home too!). Nemo also came out in a recession. Impressive. Cars, on the other hand, was released at the height of the economic bubble. Tons of disposable cash to go round. People could even see it multiple times, perhaps. So, maybe Cars didn't do so great after all. <---shrugs Point is, there's no TRUE way to measure this stuff, so jumping in with a "gotcha" doesn't really fly. Personally, I find it funny that they use box office receipts as a measuring stick at all (as a fan measure for "success" anyway, obviously the studios care about the bottom line first and formost). Why don't they go with a simple head count. That would make more sense to me. BUT, most people go with the box office returns, and that works out okay as an unscientific way to look at things. I suppose one could really go all out and perform an entire socio-economic study and come up with some more definitive formula, but that someone ain't gonna be me. ;)
79	Mr X Tue 6/30/2009 2:40a	The other *big* factor, as others have mentioned, is who are you up against. I don't care how great your movie is, if it's released the same day as "Harry Potter 6" it's gonna lose.
80	Sport Goofy Tue 6/30/2009 4:27a	<< TONS of people are skipping "luxury" items such as trips to the movies (especially these days when you can just wait a few months and rent the thing for pennies on the dollar for a family..cheaper popcorn at home too!). >> Well, not exactly. Box office has actually been up this year across the board in spite of the recession. There was an article in the WSJ not to long ago that essentially described people as trading weekend getaways and more expensive diversions for a relatively cheap trip to the movie theater. Maybe recessions have a reverse effect on moviegoing habits?

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