New York Post: 'MONSTERS' BATTLE

[Mop]

The New York Post, on Sunday, explored Monsters, Inc.'s box office potential. The part I liked best is when they quoted my boy Alex's estimate that Monsters, Inc. will "destroy Shrek's current box-office total [and] easily walk away with the first Best Animated Feature Oscar." The article is here and Alex's review (for those who missed it the first time) is here.

Thanks,
Mop

 

[johare]

Good article...my favorite quotes are:

"Others believe that Monsters may take in $200 million, but that 'Shrek' will ultimately triumph at the box office and the Oscars. "

and

"We see it as a slightly paler version of 'Shrek,'"

 

[YoHo]

I have a sneaking suspicion that Monster's Inc.'s More traditional, feel good story may play very well in the wake of Sept 11. I still am not going to be so bold as to say it will blast past Shrek (expect Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and Star Wars Ep2 to do that.) But I wouldn't be surpirsed if it does well.

 

[johare]

You might be right...people could really use a diversion right now and I think Monsters will provide that. We are still planning on seeing it on Friday...the same day I pick up Shrek on DVD! btw: I wonder if the release date for the Shrek video had something to do with Monsters opening on the same day? Seems a little odd to me since videos normally come out on Tuesdays.

 

[SPAGo 98]

johare, that's what I was wondering, too. When I heard that Shrek was being released on Friday, I immediately figured that Dreamworks was trying to dilute Monsters' opening. I can't think of any recent movies that have been released to video/DVD on a Friday.

 

[YoHo]

If that were true, it certainly leaves a poor taste in my mouth. Of course I could be just reacting to 911 stress and sensetivity, but for all the money it made I wouldn't be worried about such petty things.

 

[johare]

It's all business. If the Shrek release date leaves a bad taste in your mouth, then this should make you really sick if it turns out Disney/Pixar was behind it.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/bpihw/20011028/en/_monster_play_thx_pulls_shrek_1.html

 

[DisneyFanGuy]

I always find the whole battle between Disney and Dreamworks to be very entertaining. Disney is certainly known for it's "strongarm tactics". Jeffery K at Dreamworks takes every possible pot shot that he can. (Rushing Antz to be released before Bug's Life, Shrek before Monstor's Inc., etc) Watching him and Mikey Eisner is like watching two kids stomping up and down and throwing tantrums. We win because we get better movies, and everybody watching knows what is going on.

My bet is that OF COURSE they worked the THX folks behind the scenes!

Hollywood never plays very nice together.

The only part that upsets me is that Disney must waste a tremendous amount of money in the game. Look at what they ended up paying JK in that silly lawsuit.

Now on the plus side. Maybe Luscasfilm appeasing Disney means that they are again on friendlier terms. That may finally lead to Star Tours 2.0. One can hope!

 

[YoHo]

I have a strong suspiscion that Disney was not involved in any meaningful way in this.

Check out the thread on the Star Wars trailer being attached to monsters Inc. George is looking out for himself AND he has made it quite clear that he is on PIXAR's (not Disney's) side. Remember that George Lucas Founded Pixar. It used to be a division of Lucasfilm. I will lay odds that the minute the THX guys found out they could be hurting their former co-workers and possibly causeing issues with Ep2 they did the about face.

Right now, everything points to George and Mike not getting along.

What's really surprising is that you would think The George/Steven angle might play better. Of course its entirely possible that George doesn't like Katzenberg. I doubt he cares who Steven associates when they aren't working together.

 

[Another Voice]

Well, at least one person believes me about the relationship between Lucas and Eisner…

It should also be noted that ‘Shrek’ was made by an animation company called Pacific Data Imaging (PDI), and based on the their work for Dreamworks PDI could become a substantial competitor to Pixar. I get the feeling that certain Pixar people used Disney’s lawyers for their own ends.

Some of the market tracking I’ve heard about indicates that ‘Monsters’ may end up well below the estimates that are being quoted here. The film seems to have been stuck with a ‘kiddie movie’ image that’s going to destroy its chances at the box office. An animated film needs to pull in the young adult (e.g., “the date audience”) in addition to the families (e.g., the parent and two kids under 10).

I doubt there’s anything to the release of ‘Shrek’ on video and ‘Monsters’ in theaters on the same day. Tuesday release dates are a holdover from the days when record stores were the primary outlets for home video. Hollywood is trending to market home video in the same way a theatrical releases now to capture the weekend audience. And there’s absolutely no evidence that a home video release has ever made a difference at the box office.

And it could have been worse. There was a rumor flying around that Dreamworks had planned a Director’s Cut edition of ‘Shrek’ for a re-release of the movie around the holidays. And that really would have taken a bite out of ‘Monsters’. Dreamworks decided against it because of competition from ‘Harry Potter’ and to capture the huge holiday sales that the DVD will rack up.

Lastly, George isn’t the only one that doesn’t want to play in Mr. Eisner’s Neighborhood these days. Jerry Bruckheimer took his sure-to-be-mega-hit ‘Black Hawk Down’ to another studio after his experience with ‘Pearl Harbor’ and rumors are that he won’t be back anytime soon. Now Disney is rumored to resorting at throwing obscene amounts of money at Ron Howard to direct ‘The Alamo’ (yes, that Alamo) with only minimal results.

 

[YoHo]

Has Ron ever worked with a company outside of Universal?
As a Director?

 

[d-r]

Originally posted by johare
Good article...my favorite quotes are:

"Others believe that Monsters may take in $200 million, but that 'Shrek' will ultimately triumph at the box office and the Oscars. "

and

"We see it as a slightly paler version of 'Shrek,'"

I haven't seen either of the two movies, so I wondered why these two "quotes" were you favorites?

DR

 

[MikeS]

I think MONSTERS INC release date had nothing to do with Shrek but a lot to do with Harry Potter. Disney can get a couple of weekends in before Harry takes over the BO. I think Potter will be big especially around Thanksgiving weekend a weekend traditionally Disney owned for many years.

 

[johare]

I think MONSTERS INC release date had nothing to do with Shrek but a lot to do with Harry Potter

Nobody said that Monsters Inc's release date has anything to do with another film...Shrek or Harry Potter. Monster's is opening on a Friday just like every other film. Shrek on the other hand is being released on VHS/DVD on the same Friday which is a bit unusual since videos are normally released on a Tuesday.

 

[SPAGo 98]

You mean

Videos are normally released on a TUESDAY.

 

[Planogirl]

I say let them squabble. I think that it works to our advantage because they'll keep trying to outdo each other. Personally, I intend to buy Shrek and see Monsters on Friday so I guess that's a draw.

Monsters Inc does seem like it's marketing itself to young kids. At least the commercials give me that feeling. I hope that others don't see it that way too much.

Does anyone know what the expectations are for Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings? I am a Star Wars nut but I am so looking forward to Lord of the Rings! Even my husband who normally shows no interest in movies got quite a gleam in his eye when he heard about Lord of the Rings and I'm sure that there are bound to be others like him. So Monsters Inc, make your money fast because some more heavyweights may be on the way.

 

[YoHo]

The Lord of the Rings fanboys have every intention of seeing the movie as many times as it takes to beat Star Wars episode 1. As Long as that movie is reasonably accurate (which aside from giving Liv Tyler's character way more screen time then the book gives her, it is) It will blow everything else away.
Harry potter will do well too, but I don't think it will affect LotR. Monster Inc? Yes, it will have a fight.

LotR could go strong up until May when everybody heads back to the Galaxy Far Far away.

 

[DanG]

Subject to the same qualification as Yoho that the movie approximate the storyline of the book, I would expect Harry Potter to have the drawing power to bring back families, parents, teenagers and young adults and parents several times. This movie could have box office like The Lion King and Titanic.

I thought the book was OK, but there are more people waiting for the release of Harry Potter than any movie in recent memory (maybe Star Wars Episode 1).

I liked Lord of the Rings far better as a book, but most kids and teenagers today have never read or even heard of the story. The demographics on LOTR aren't as good as Harry Potter.

We shall see, but this seems to be shaping up to be one of the best movie seasons in several years. I plan to see both of these, Monsters and several others.

DanG

 

[YoHo]

Depends on how you define the Demographics. There are certainly more younger people and parents aware of and ready to see Harry Potter, BUT there are Millions of people across the globe ready to spend thousands of Dollars to see LotR Ten times, 20 times, 50 times, whatever it takes. Harry Potter will do well, but Lord of the Rings will bury it.

Trust me, the geeks have taken over on this one. PLUS, LotR has an appeal akin to Star Wars (I think)

 

[Another Voice]

The expectations for ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘The Lord of The Rings’: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

‘Harry’ is expected to open very big and hang around for a while. The question is if the film will have any appeal to the young adult (17+) crowd and to adults not dragged there by kids. I tend to doubt that and I expect ‘Harry’ to open with one of the biggest weekends ever, and then to fall steeply after that (the same trend we saw this summer). Everyone who wants to see the movie will see it within the first two weeks.

‘Rings’, however, will be very different. I recently watched as a roomful of Hollywood-types literally push and shove their way into a room to watch the twenty-minute preview reel. I’ve seen a paying movie audience applaud the preview trailer in the theater. And I’ve heard rumors that even George Lucas is nervous about his film being eclipsed by this one.

Once every generation, a movie comes along and exactly captures the mood of the public: ‘Casablanca’, ‘The Graduate’, ‘Star Wars’. These days a movie about “little people” struggling against immense and mysterious forces of evil, yet having the faith that good will prevail in the end…. I think that ‘Rings’ will be able to articulate the emotions that many, many people have but cannot express.

And my advice having seen the twenty-minute preview reel – GET IN LINE NOW!!!!