Alas, a warm time progressing through the Thanksgiving season comes with its turkey and seasoning, along with our return to the movie theaters to enjoy more warm (and cold) treats. Sony Pictures is raking in some serious cash flow, while Disney continues to wallow away into an unknown state of purgatory. It’s ironic, but it didn’t have to be like this for the Mouse of the House foundation.
So right off the bat, Disney’s Wish feature fell short of expectations this weekend with $19.5 million over the traditional weekend domestically and $31.7 million over the first five days. Yes, it’s not as catastrophic as Strange World ($12 million 3-day, $18 million 5-day). Still, it’s another sign indicative of Disney slowly dismantling what was once one of its most promising sub-IPs in Pixar. Six years ago, Coco took in a respectable $71 million in its opening, with even follow-ups before the pandemic making over $80 million in their debuts. Much like how we’ve discussed repeatedly since COVID, Disney has taught audiences to wait until Disney+ comes with the new Pixar release instead of playing it out at the multiplex. Remember, the kids-friendly toon got out-opened by an R-rated historical epic over Thanksgiving, which has never occurred before in the past thirty years for another newcomer to displace Disney’s hierarchy. Ouch.
In other news, newcomer Napoleon, starring Joaquin Phoenix, earned $32.5 million over its first five days and $78.8 million globally. While this would be stellar news for the R-rated drama, the $200 million budget does rattle its chances for ultimate success. We’d be looking at this with more grace if it opened much higher. The Hunger Games prequel pulled a stronghold in its second weekend, remaining atop the box office with $28.82 million (35% drop). These numbers remind one of Phantom Menace, where the underwhelming weekend was combated with a strong holdover in the following weekends. It’ll pass $200 million worldwide by the end of this sentence and has a chance to capture $150 million domestically, a notable win.
Trolls Band Together took in $17.52 million in its second weekend; the latest sequel will pace $150 million worldwide later this week and will jump over $200 million. Subconsciously, yours indeed thinks this one cut into the success of Wish. Sony Pictures’ Thanksgiving feature grabbed $7.15 million in its second weekend and will pass $30 million globally, a worthwhile number for the $15-million budgeted R-rated feature. And Five Nights at Freddy’s will pass $300 million worldwide later this week (let’s hope the sequel is a slightly better film if nothing else).
The Marvels keeps tumbling so much that it hasn’t even broken $200 million worldwide and may not even touch the opening domestic numbers of its predecessor. I retract my previous statement that this is only going to be a disappointment: this sequel will become a box-office bomb and will be the lowest-earning feature in the MCU’s history. Another IP that Disney tampered with, only this time the oversaturation of superheroes has fatigued audiences dearly. It seems more apparent than ever that unless you’re a superhero folks know (or an Avengers film), you’re not going to have immediate success on your hands anymore—Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 remains the only win of Disney’s 2023 calendar year (not counting the second season of Loki on Disney+). Yes, the strikes crept through before its release, meaning the marketing had no success. Still, the practicality is folks seem to be burnt out of “decent” Marvel products and will only turn up if the product is objectively “good” or if a superhero like Spider-Man or Deadpool is at the forefront. All eyes are on Deadpool 3 next year, which has one thing working for it with the return of beloved Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.
Next weekend sees the release of Silent Night, Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce, Candy Cane Lane, Eileen, and The Shift.
