Originally Posted By leemac THR reckon it could open to $45-50m which would be pretty big for a family movie on a non-holiday weekend: <a href="http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-report-east-coast-386039" target="_blank">http://www.hollywoodreporter.c...t-386039</a> It has a clear run until DWA's poorly reviewed Rise of the Guardians opens November 21. It will be interesting to see if this Pixar film under the WDAS banner will get up to Tangled territory (i.e. $200m plus).
Originally Posted By mawnck >>It has a clear run until DWA's poorly reviewed Rise of the Guardians opens November 21.<< Do you think poor reviews are going to stop RotG? They sure didn't derail Hotel Transylvania. And RotG has some way-cool trailers. (BTW, I saw RotG in a test screening several months ago. It *was* kind of a mess - visually spectacular, but ooh, dose plot holes. I would hope they've managed to iron some of the bugs out since then.)
Originally Posted By Manfried Saw the movie today. Fabulous. Has something for everyone. Go see this movie!
Originally Posted By leemac <<Do you think poor reviews are going to stop RotG? They sure didn't derail Hotel Transylvania. And RotG has some way-cool trailers.>> Sadly not. It will do business over the holiday. I'm surprised at the tone of the marketing though - DWA don't seem to be bothered by the darker elements of the story. It is just a blatant attempt to set up a franchise for DWA - with Shrek (temporarily I'm sure) retired, Monsters Versus Aliens failed and question marks over how many Madagascars and Kung Fu Pandas they can churn out - they feel they need another brand. <<(BTW, I saw RotG in a test screening several months ago. It *was* kind of a mess - visually spectacular, but ooh, dose plot holes. I would hope they've managed to iron some of the bugs out since then.)>> William Joyce seems to be the kiss of death for animation - after both Robots and Meet The Robinsons - and I think he has another CGI feature set up at Blue Sky. It seems everyone loves him. The stuff I've seen over the years was equally muddled - I would have thought the idea of bringing in a Pulitzer prize-winning playright would have been to fix the story! Katz loves David Lindsay-Abaire too - even after Shrek The Musical!
Originally Posted By leemac <<Saw the movie today. Fabulous. Has something for everyone. Go see this movie!>> As I said - it is a great Pixar movie. I'd like to know when we might see another WDAS movie from Disney though.
Originally Posted By Malin Lee can you further explain why Wreck it Ralph is a Pixar movie under the WDAS banner?
Originally Posted By leemac Oh it is just me lamenting the passing of WDAS - I think the coffin has been firmly nailed down over that corpse. Wreck-it Ralph is a perfectly charming feature - but it is a Pixar movie in WDAS clothes. The themes, storytelling and even animation are all reminiscent of Pixar. Ultimately the vast majority of guests won't care as they will just appreciate the movie for the fun adventure that it is. However to me it is nothing more than Toy Story in another pop culture world (the short Small Fry in particular). I just miss the old Disney - not just the Disney that could create specific visions based on fairy tales like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast but also the one that took huge gambles on unusual stories like Lilo & Stitch. Lasseter and Catmull have effectively Pixarized WDAS. I appreciate that is probably the right approach from a commercial POV but I just wish they would have kept WDAS's identity.
Originally Posted By DlandDug Is there really a sense of "identity" for any studio in 2012? And... should there be?
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>William Joyce seems to be the kiss of death for animation...<< So odd, that, too. It seems he is just so totally visually oriented (his story sense is not... strong), and yet, aside from Rolie Polie Olie, his work has just not translated well into successful animation.
Originally Posted By ni_teach I'm not shocked at the amount of money this film is making. The showing before the one I saw was sold out and my showing was packed.
Originally Posted By andyll <<Do you think poor reviews are going to stop RotG?>> Internet reviews have become very unreliable. The comments to the review and having other websites link to your review are more valuable then the review itself. <<I just miss the old Disney - not just the Disney that could create specific visions based on fairy tales like The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast but also the one that took huge gambles on unusual stories like Lilo & Stitch.>> Wreck it Ralph, Winnie the Pooh, Tangled, The Princess and the Frog... all outstanding movies that show that Disney has returned to making quality movies again. Quite honesty they are doing a better job at it then Pixar has lately. Lilo & Stitch which you claim 'was a huge gamble' with an 'unusual stories' was just the typical 'family bonds overcome everything' story with aliens... the same thing you complain that Wreck it Ralph did.
Originally Posted By choco choco <<Lasseter and Catmull have effectively Pixarized WDAS. I appreciate that is probably the right approach from a commercial POV but I just wish they would have kept WDAS's identity.>> How is "Frozen" looking? Fairy-tale musical, if I remember correctly, but there's been almost nothing out there about it. And wasn't Paperman supposed to be a proof of concept for the future of animation that married hand-drawn with CGI?
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I think Frozen got put on hold (again) a year or two again. Not sure if/when we'll eventually see it completed
Originally Posted By DDMAN26 Looks like estimates have it at 49 million <a href="http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/" target="_blank">http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/</a>
Originally Posted By mawnck >>Quite honesty they are doing a better job at it then Pixar has lately.<< I'll go further than that. Disney did the Pixar movie this year, and vice versa. I'll reiterate what I said in the other topic ... GO SEE WRECK-IT RALPH if you have not done so already. It's the first (and probably only) animated feature this year that I can give an unqualified thumbs up to. Unfortunately, there will be no Mawnckscars this year. Due to one thing and another, I can't spare the time to schlep up to LA on a more-or-less weekly basis to catch the weird titles. I know my billions of fans will be heartbroken, but sometimes life bees that way.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 I'll go further than that. Disney did the Pixar movie this year, and vice versa.<< You bring up a great point, I was underwhelmed by Brave and felt it was Brother Bear meets Mulan. Wreck it Ralph on the other hand felt fresh, even though it borrowed it's idea from other movies, it still felt unique to me.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Bummer! I always enjoyed getting to read reviews of the films from someone who'd actually seen all of them. That said, your quick review may have convinced me that Wreck It Ralph will be in my future
Originally Posted By plpeters70 Saw this tonight! Really enjoyed the film. As a guy who grew up in the 80's playing all those games, I LOVED all the game references, but was also really happy to find they did such a great job with the stories. Loved all the characters and game worlds! So clever! And paired with Paperman (amazing!), what a great night at the movies!
Originally Posted By DlandDug >>How is "Frozen" looking?<< There was an extensive look at this film in August at the D23 celebration of 75 years of Disney feature animation. They stated it was scheduled for release during the holidays in 2013. LP coverage is here (scroll down to "INSIDE WALT DISNEY ANIMATION STUDIOS TODAY": <a href="http://www.laughingplace.com/News-PID10051530-10051531.asp" target="_blank">http://www.laughingplace.com/N...1531.asp</a>
Originally Posted By leemac <<Is there really a sense of "identity" for any studio in 2012? And... should there be?>> Artistically it would be preferable but the sheer volume of CGI movies in the marketplace now means that no-one seems to care what product comes from what studio. Hotel Transylvania has somehow done $138m domestically. Worth adding that the budget for that feature was half that of Wreck-it Ralph. Beyond the sequels/prequels it will be interesting to see if that Pixar difference does reach consumers with the next new feature.
