Still from Disney and Pixar’s animated film “Elio”.
Disney
Disney Pixar Animation Studios made its worst inauguration over the weekend – and its problems are not unique.
“Elio,” the story of a young boy, who is accidentally identified as the ambassador of the earth in the universe, was given just $ 21 million in the sales of tickets during its first three days in theaters, a record low for the studio.
A recent pattern fits a recent pattern between the release of the heavy performance pixa. While franchise films have lured filmmakers, the original fare of the studio has got very little success in recent years.
According to comscore data, look at the “Elemenal” of 2023, which was brought to $ 154.2 million, the second highest opener in the studio “the studio” studio with “Inside Out 2” of 2024 with “Inside Out 2”.
However, it is not just a pixa that has seen its original story flat. Other Disney Animation Arms, Walt Disney Animation and even rival animation studio Universal And of great qualityI have seen getting out of the sequel from new stories like “Elio” which are not bound by previous tasks. The incident has also organized live-action films and also organized all over the board.
A survey after an animated film performance suggests that the gap between the origin [intellectual property] And the performance of the sequel film has become very widespread, which is a possible problem for studios to develop its IP portfolio, “TD Cowen analyst Dag Cretz wrote in a note to investors published on Monday.
In view of the epidemic, the studio has demanded to distribute films that are already familiar with the audience, including sequel and stories based on books or comics. It has contributed to one Franchise From a large -scale studios with media libraries.
Out of about 30 animated wide releases since 2022, less than one -third can be classified as original, comscore data shows.
A collected history
Disney has long been an animated feature empire, as its first title in 1937 is “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs”. It has been a dominant strength in the industry for decades, the way with only a few hiccups.
A part of that strength came from the acquisition of the pixa in 2006.
At that time, Walt Disney Animation was missing many years – “Treasure Planet,” “Brother Beer,” “Home on the Range” and “Chicken Little” – while the pixar gave a hit after a hit with titles such as “Monster Inc.,” “Finding Nemo” and “The Incredibles”.
In the next decade, the two animation engines churned popular original films such as “Frozen,” “Wrak-It Ralph,” “Zutopia,” Inside Out “and” Coco “. At the same time, Disney started tapping back into successful, famous stories.
Still from the “turning red” of the pixar.
Disney
However, in view of the epidemic, its animation arm, especially the pixa, struggled. With the ongoing sanctions and concerns about the emerging covid variants, the parents put their children at home, and Disney sent the “soul,” “hide” and “turning red” directly to their new mint streaming service Disney+.
For some time, industry experts inability to woo the audience to watch nonfrencies in theaters for Disney’s inability to see this strategy. There were some who realized that the company became very conscious with its storytelling and has separated a segment of potential filmmakers.
However, at the same time, competition in the animation industry was growing from Universal, Sony, Warner Brothers. And paramount. Families had more material to choose, not only on the big screen, but also at home with streaming services. Therefore, the parents became a picier about which title they would take their children and who would wait for people to enter the house market.
“Lilo and Stitch” of “Elio” Disney and Universal’s “How to Train Your Dragon” was opened a few weeks after the live-action remake on June 20. Those films were still attracting the audience, until the new Pixer film entered the ground.
A comprehensive trend
This increased competition and change in consumer habits have inspired Hollywood to further rely on existing stories with the built -in fans’ bases.
“For the audience, the sequel is comfortable,” said the president of the creative media Peter CSATHY. “This is the anti-‘Fourst Gump’ effect, you always know what you are going to get.”
The film industry has long been rely on franchise films to run revenue at the box office, but that trend has expanded rapidly in recent years. Since 2016, more than five films have not been the original title in the top 20 highest -grossing domestic release each year.
In fact, in 2024, none of the top 20 films were the original storylines.
“For Disney and other major traditional studios, the animation sequel is a safe bet in the world full of rising existence, as they forever change the changing streaming economics, the new Big Tech Hollywood Mogals, and now the great unknown of liberal AI,” Sisaath said. “The media scenario has never been a mercury. Wall Street is never demanding too much. So sequel for the animation success stories is one remaining safe shelter. A very indefinite betting bets.”
Savings grace for original fare like “Elio” is the capacity for another air.
Films may still have long run run in theaters, collect tickets in weeks and months of weekends, and can thrive platforms under the line on streaming. Bellected Fandum then opens forward opportunities for future installments, tie-in or merchandising.
Look at “Encanto”, which kills theaters during the epidemic. The dramatic success in the film was limited as it reached theaters at the time of great uncertainty around public health safety, but became popular in the house market. That is why Disney is involving the film to update its animal kingdom theme park in Florida.
Disclosure: COMCAST is the original company of CNBC and NBCUNIVERSAL.
