Is Disney expecting high hopes for the live-action version of The Little Mermaid?

[PolymerSkywalker]

Now they are saying this movie may struggle to make any profit. Overseas markets seem to especially not like this live action remake. It was a really expensive movie $250M and around $150M in marketing. Which means total box office will likely need to be $800 million+ total to break even. Remember Disney only gets around 50% of total ticket sales coming back to the Mouse.

The competition with the new spider verse movie and transformers movie, this may prove to be a tough situation for the Little Mermaid to make a profit.

Disney really needs some box office winners, because other than Avatar they have released stinker after stinker lately.

 

[BrianL]

Now they are saying this movie may struggle to make any profit. Overseas markets seem to especially not like this live action remake. It was a really expensive movie $250M and around $150M in marketing. Which means total box office will likely need to be $800 million+ total to break even. Remember Disney only gets around 50% of total ticket sales coming back to the Mouse.

The competition with the new spider verse movie and transformers movie, this may prove to be a tough situation for the Little Mermaid to make a profit.

Disney really needs some box office winners, because other than Avatar they have released stinker after stinker lately.

Yeah, it's borderline. I think it will probably break even, but that's about it. The biggest problem with movies today though is how much they spend on them. If you get that budget under control, then it's a big hit as is!

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I agree, they have to get those budgets under control. The insane amounts they are spending on CGI lately seems to be a big driver in running up the cost.

Universal just absolutely killed it with the Mario movie, and it's budget was much lower.

 

[Smugpugmug]

I agree, they have to get those budgets under control. The insane amounts they are spending on CGI lately seems to be a big driver in running up the cost.

Universal just absolutely killed it with the Mario movie, and it's budget was much lower.

I agree as well. The Mario movie and now Spiderman Across the Spiderverse have significantly lower budgets than Disney's animated films and can still look fantastic and make a profit. I was blown away that Spiderverse only had a budget of $100 million. In contrast Elemental cost $200 million to make.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I read that Mario cost $100 Million and even if they spent another $100 Million on marketing, that's still a $200M total cost. Last I checked the box office run for Mario is at $1.3 Billion! So that's at least a $450-$500 Million profit on the Mario movie. Disney has not had an animated financial success like that in years!

 

[BrianL]

I agree as well. The Mario movie and now Spiderman Across the Spiderverse have significantly lower budgets than Disney's animated films and can still look fantastic and make a profit. I was blown away that Spiderverse only had a budget of $100 million. In contrast Elemental cost $200 million to make.

Well, I mean, that Spider-Verse animation is cheap.

Seriously, I get that people like the look, (well I don't "get" it but I accept it, but when you are literally redering half the frames, that is going to be cheaper.

Runtimes can also be an issue. A lot of movies are bloated. Even recent Disney animated movies have been on the longer side. There's a reason animation used to clock in at 90 minutes or below - it's intensive to make!

 

[Smugpugmug]

Well, I mean, that Spider-Verse animation is cheap.

Seriously, I get that people like the look, (well I don't "get" it but I accept it, but when you are literally redering half the frames, that is going to be cheaper.

Runtimes can also be an issue. A lot of movies are bloated. Even recent Disney animated movies have been on the longer side. There's a reason animation used to clock in at 90 minutes or below - it's intensive to make!

Cheap doesn't necessarily mean bad. Puss in Boots The Last Wish had a budget around $100 million and made more than both Strange World + Lightyear combined. IMO I enjoyed Spiderverse and Last Wish WAY more than anything Disney has put out in years, maybe since Coco.

 

[BrianL]

Cheap doesn't necessarily mean bad. Puss in Boots The Last Wish had a budget around $100 million and made more than both Strange World + Lightyear combined. IMO I enjoyed Spiderverse and Last Wish WAY more than anything Disney has put out in years, maybe since Coco.

No, I understand it's not *necessarily* bad, but using fewer frames per second will absolutley make the rendering process less expensive. The thing about animation is that literally every shot is a VFX shot - 100%. That's why it costs so much.

 

[Smugpugmug]

No, I understand it's not *necessarily* bad, but using fewer frames per second will absolutley make the rendering process less expensive. The thing about animation is that literally every shot is a VFX shot - 100%. That's why it costs so much.

Gotcha. I understand you now. I just think Disney could trim down these animated film budgets a little bit.

I also saw on Twitter from an animator that Spiderverse 1 and 2 were mainly animated in Canada which can definitely contribute to that lower budget.

 

[BrianL]

Gotcha. I understand you now. I just think Disney could trim down these animated film budgets a little bit.

I also saw on Twitter from an animator that Spiderverse 1 and 2 were mainly animated in Canada which can definitely contribute to that lower budget.

Oh, they absolutely could. I wouldn't necessarily want them to reduce the rendering quality - they are still at the top of that game - but if you reduce runtimes, it can save you money in that regard.

They rendered Spiderverse on a 1998 IBM Thinkpad, so....

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Disney needs to focus on good storytelling first and foremost. If you tell a great and inspiring story, no one cares if the animation is not visually stunning. If you tell a bad and uninteresting story, no one cares if your visuals breathtaking. Tell great stories, like the original Toy Story / Lion King / Aladin / Beauty and the Beast / Little Mermaid / Etc........simple as that.

Mario is a good story and stuff the fans of Nintendo wanted to see. That's why they are owning Disney in the theatrical box office right now. The Mario merchandizing piece will be huge also. Name the last Disney movie where their merchandising was sold at a high volume with great profits.

 

[BrianL]

Disney needs to focus on good storytelling first and foremost. If you tell a great and inspiring story, no one cares if the animation is not visually stunning. If you tell a bad and uninteresting story, no one cares if your visuals breathtaking. Tell great stories, like the original Toy Story / Lion King / Aladin / Beauty and the Beast / Little Mermaid / Etc........simple as that.

Mario is a good story and stuff the fans of Nintendo wanted to see. That's why they are owning Disney in the theatrical box office right now. The Mario merchandizing piece will be huge also. Name the last Disney movie where their merchandising was sold at a high volume with great profits.

Yeah, but they can be both too. They were really hitting that for a while. All the great examplse you menation also have stunning visuals. I agree that story is foremost.

One thing the Mario movie did right was that it didn't try to be anything more. By all accounts the story is routine, but it was told with such love and they didn't try overcomplicate matters - it's 92 minutes long which is right on the money!

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Well now I am reading this movie will struggle to even make a profit, based on the first two weeks box office numbers.

$250 million production budget + $140 million in marketing = $390 million. Assuming a 50% box office haul coming back to Disney, this movie would need a box office run of at least $780 million to break even.

What went wrong, and can Disney continue to have release after release that don't really make any money for the company?

How does Disney fix this, as I am sure the shareholders are not pleased with their recent theatrical performance?

 

[BrianL]

Well now I am reading this movie will struggle to even make a profit, based on the first two weeks box office numbers.

$250 million production budget + $140 million in marketing = $390 million. Assuming a 50% box office haul coming back to Disney, this movie would need a box office run of at least $780 million to break even.

What went wrong, and can Disney continue to have release after release that don't really make any money for the company?

How does Disney fix this, as I am sure the shareholders are not pleased with their recent theatrical performance?

One of the biggest issues plaguing all Hollywood studios is out of control budgets. TLM cost $390 Million? That sets such a high bar to recoup. You make that movie for $150 and it's a hit all day. Where is this money going?

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

I 100% agree with you on this. I also believe Disney waded into the race thing when they didn't need to here. Why not simply say Halle Bailey was the best person for the role, and choose not to get into the race related junk. I just feel like Disney engaging into the racial divisiveness' on this one was unnecessary.

The Spider verse seems like it will have a similar box office run to TLM, but with like 1/3rd the budget. It will make Sony some bank. Disney has to get these budgets under control.

 

[BrianL]

I 100% agree with you on this. I also believe Disney waded into the race thing when they didn't need to here. Why not simply say Halle Bailey was the best person for the role, and choose not to get into the race related junk. I just feel like Disney engaging into the racial divisiveness' on this one was unnecessary.

The Spider verse seems like it will have a similar box office run to TLM, but with like 1/3rd the budget. It will make Sony some bank. Disney has to get these budgets under control.

Well, that IS exactly what they said. I don't recall them really "getting into it" in any way other than saying that it doesn't matter.

I like to bag on Spider-Verse because I hate the animation, but rendering 1/2 the frames will indeed keep that budget down!

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

So does this circle back to the "tell good stories" narrative, first and foremost? Well that and also, you have to control the ballooning production budgets on these movies.

 

[Disneychick13]

I 100% agree with you on this. I also believe Disney waded into the race thing when they didn't need to here. Why not simply say Halle Bailey was the best person for the role, and choose not to get into the race related junk. I just feel like Disney engaging into the racial divisiveness' on this one was unnecessary.

The Spider verse seems like it will have a similar box office run to TLM, but with like 1/3rd the budget. It will make Sony some bank. Disney has to get these budgets under control.

I agree with what you said except that across the spider verse will make way more money than TLM. And combine that with the lower budget and Sony will do very well indeed.

 

[maverik85]

One of the biggest issues plaguing all Hollywood studios is out of control budgets. TLM cost $390 Million? That sets such a high bar to recoup. You make that movie for $150 and it's a hit all day. Where is this money going?

Budgets are getting a bit high, but I think the one for TLM is a little more understandable. Their live action remakes have usually done well at the box office, TLM is a beloved classic, and underwater scenes are not easy nor cheap to do.
Honestly, if not for the racial "controversy" this probably would have done well. Reviews have overall been great for it for people that actually saw it. If not for the politics of the casting this probably would have made plenty of money to turn a profit for them.

 

[PolymerSkywalker]

Budgets are getting a bit high, but I think the one for TLM is a little more understandable. Their live action remakes have usually done well at the box office, TLM is a beloved classic, and underwater scenes are not easy nor cheap to do.
Honestly, if not for the racial "controversy" this probably would have done well. Reviews have overall been great for it for people that actually saw it. If not for the politics of the casting this probably would have made plenty of money to turn a profit for them.

Seems like even more of a reason that Disney should be trying to stay out of this racial divisiveness territory in the future. I think the actress is uber talented, but why cast her if you think it has the chance to cause any racial divisiveness?

Same with Snow White coming up, why wade in the race junk if you can avoid it? If the character is described as "having skin as white as snow", I think you likely need a gal with some pretty light skin in the role. I don't care about her nationality really, but she likely needs some really light skin on film because that is to the intent of the original story. I also think making the seven dwarves magical creatures instead of little people is foolish. There are some incredibly talented little people in the world, I would love to see them get this great opportunity.

In the same vein I would not even consider making a Black Panther or a Blade movie with a white actor. I read the comics, and both of these characters were of African decent. I consider their appearance as a significant part of who they were as characters, really great and complex comic book characters by the way!