Originally Posted By leemac BVPD have indicated to LP that Cars will post approximately $62m for its opening weekend in theater when final numbers are released later today. Lee
Originally Posted By trekkeruss As I mentioned in another thread, regardless of box office receipts, Cars will be a home run with the merchandising it has going for it.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ Well that revenue doesn't hit the Studios income statement and they desperately need a successful movie after a year of losses. I'd suggest that Cars' opening weekend BO is going to be below what Disney expected from the movie.
Originally Posted By CTXRover ^^I imagine its definetely on the lower range of what Disney was hoping for the film, but I doubt its below the range of what they were expecting. 62.8 million is a strong opening weekend and the third largest opening for a Pixar film behind the out-right amazing openings for Nemo and Incredibles, and more in line with Monsters' Inc opening weekend. There are a number of factors from theater numbers, to price increases, to length of the film, to even the number of people willing to go to the theaters anymore over the past few years, but Cars opening is very good. Not record breaking or really overly news-worthy, but very good.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Cars opening is very good>> I don't doubt that but this is still a $100m+ movie that Disney have dumped $50m-worth of advertising/print costs on. It will need to have legs over the next month to recoup back its costs.
Originally Posted By Santa Monica I think it's very well with the general buzz going into it. Many people weren't excited to see it like The Incredibles or Finding Nemo. With the summer months, it should make around what the Incredibles made. But we'll see how it fares next week.
Originally Posted By Dlmusic Even if it has legs way below average for Pixar, the movie will make over $200 million putting in with the blockbuster animated films.
Originally Posted By kennect I love the idea that this film is under increased scrutiny due to two reasons...The first Pixar release in a while and also the recent buy by Disney of Pixar...To me it seems any amount it did on opening weekend would still lead to stories of all kinds of criticism...I can't wait to read the financial critics thoughts on it tomorrow...It does sound like the film has enough "wheels" to hang around for some time to have a very decent domestic BO...I am now curious about the international BO potential...I would think it should play very well outside the US....
Originally Posted By leemac A few interesting snippets from BVPD about Cars' opening weekend: "This is John Lasseter's biggest opening ever; we are so thrilled for John and everyone at Pixar -- which is now seven for seven at the boxoffice," said Buena Vista distribution president Chuck Viane of Pixar's seven hit films in a row. "That's an amazing record. The consistency of which they deliver at such a high level is the envy of the industry," he added. Chuck Viane, head of distribution for Disney label Buena Vista Pictures, predicted that "Cars" would go on to demonstrate "great legs" at the box office. "It's going to be fun watching how quickly the grosses add up for 'Cars' because during the summer, every day is a holiday," he said. Viane noted that 61 percent of kids are out of school this week for the summer, 81 percent next week and 94 percent the week after that, all of which raises mid-week business considerably. When asked about "Cars" debuting to a lower gross then the previous two Pixar films, Viane said, "To me, a home run is a home run. Once it goes over the fence, it doesn't matter how far it goes -- and a $60 million opening is over the fence in anybody's ball park." Demographically, "Cars" hit all four quadrants, playing 50/50 in the male/female area; 40 percent were under the age of 18, and 20 percent were in the 25-34 range, while each of the other age demographics registered solid double-digit tallies.
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>To me, a home run is a home run. Once it goes over the fence, it doesn't matter how far it goes...<< That's an interesting analysis. I am pleased and surprised they didn't cite the overall low box office that has been keeping numbers down the last few years.
Originally Posted By Dlmusic This is an interesting link to follow: <a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/showdowns/chart/?view=daily&id=vs-pixar.htm" target="_blank">http://www.boxofficemojo.com/s howdowns/chart/?view=daily&id=vs-pixar.htm</a> Basically Cars almost equaled Incredibles box office intake for Friday and Sunday, but was a lot less on Saturday. Also, it had by far the lowest drop of all the Pixar films on Sunday, which might be a good indicator of staying power.
Originally Posted By gurgitoy2 I think with good word of mouth, it will stay in the top ten too. People may not have known what to make of the film, but after the positive press and feedback, I think people will go see it.
Originally Posted By indysoarin19 An interesting note is that Disney stock went doen today, analysts saying its because of Cars' "disappointing" box office take. Personally, I doubt Cars will be a bomb and would expect "Monsters Inc."/"Toy Story 2" type numbers. Pixar Grosses/Opening (courtesy of BoxOfficeMojo.com) (figures in millions) Toy Story: 191.8/29.1 Toy Story 2: 245.85/57.3 A Bug's Life: 162.8/33.25 Monsters Inc: 255.87/62.57 Finding Nemo: 339.7/70.25 Incredibles: 261.4/70.46 Cars: ?/60.1
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Nascar is one of the biggest sports in the country. Anyone that doesn't think CARS will make for Disney as much or more in merchandise than it will in ticket sales is on crack.
Originally Posted By leemac This afternoon Disney conceded that their weekend estimate for Cars was off-the-mark and it looks like the final numbers will settle around $60.1m. That is an almost 5% decline on the estimates in part due to lower attendance on Sunday than predicted.
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>Nascar is one of the biggest sports in the country. Anyone that doesn't think CARS will make for Disney as much or more in merchandise than it will in ticket sales is on crack.<< You're 100% right. In fact, Cars will be one of those movies that will keep brinking in the bucks for years to come for just that reason. You gotta just chuckle at how some folks seem a little eager to declare that the Pixar magic touch is history, or at least moving into decline.
Originally Posted By seanyoda According to <a href="http://www.boxofficemojo.com/" target="_blank">http://www.boxofficemojo.com/</a> the actual weekend figure for Cars was $60,119,509
Originally Posted By TheRedhead The only thing America loves more than a success story is a failure story. Look at Jim Carrey: when he hit his first huge payday, it was all anyone talked about. It was a great American success story. But after a while, you could tell the country was hungry to watch him fall. Enter Cable Guy, and people went nuts following his "downward spiral." It was like people were revelling in his failure. People are crazy. Bored and boring and crazy.
Originally Posted By FoxHound Yeah, I don't see this as a failure at all. In the long run, with the merchandise, this will probably be Disney's biggest cash cow (the toy cars are flying off the shelves everywhere I've been----the Target and Publix near my house are sold out). This could be the boys answer to the Disney Princesses (Disney seems to be banking on the Pirates, but I think "Cars" will have more appeal for little boys). And think of how many cars, trains and planes there were in the movie that could be made into toys.
