Saturday, September 17, 2011

Lion King Over Performance

Now with Charterrific Add On.

From El Mojo.

... The Lion King (in 3D) earned its $8.8 million from 2,330 locations, nearly all of which were playing the movie in 3D. That's more than twice as much as the Toy Story/Toy Story 2 (3D) double-feature re-release grossed on its first day two years ago ($3.3 million), and it's also slightly better than September 2009's animated hit Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs ($8.1 million). ...

So now we'll get a scramble of executives saying: "Wait a minute. What was the gross again?! And it wasn't CGI? Or new? We gotta categorize this as a Non-recurring Phenomenon, right gang?".

Add On: So how many seventeen-year-old movies open at the top of the movie charts a second time? Not many.

"The Lion King" reigned supreme at the box office this weekend, nearly two decades after the classic animated movie was first released in theaters.

[LK 3D] began its limited, two-week engagement this weekend and collected a surprisingly strong $29.3 million domestically, according to an estimate from Walt Disney Pictures.

Lastly, the Animation Charts:

1) Lion King -- $29.3 million

9) Rise of the ... Apes -- $2.6 million ($171.6 million total)

15) The Smurfs -- $1.2 million ($137.5 million total)

Add On Too: The perspective from TIME:

... The Lion King's numinous numbers — which registered the best weekend haul since Rise of the Planet of the Apes opened six weeks ago — underline the enormous, enduring power of the Disney brand's top-of-the-line items. Five of Box Office Mojo's 25 all-time top moneymakers, in real dollars, are Mouse House movies: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at No. 10, 101 Dalmatians at 11, Fantasia at 21, The Lion King at 22 and the live-action-plus-animation Mary Poppins at 25. Since The Lion King was released, only three films (Titanic, Avatar and Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) have earned more at the domestic box office, again in real dollars. ...

Seventeen years ago at Disney Feature Animation was an amazing era. The staff was cloud-walking and energized, at the crest of an incredible wave of animated features. Morale was high, Jeffrey and the division were invincible, and people thought it would go on and on ...

This weekend's grosses were a reminder of how things were in 1994. ...

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

While Disney fans are hoping that this unexpected financial success of "The Lion King" will lead to the production of new hand-drawn features from Disney, it will only result in the 3D-fication of other 'classic' Disney movies.

Anonymous said...

I can't WAIT for Atlantis in 3D.

Anonymous said...

But... wait, 3-D is dead. It says so here on the Internets.

http://www.slate.com/id/2303814/

Anonymous said...

3D is dead - but not good filmmaking. Lion King is a solidly told story with excellent elements of courage, humor, music and drama. That will equal success in any genre.

Anonymous said...

I think Ron and johns new film might surprise everyone, in a good way.

Under the Hat said...

^ Yes. While Pixar is slowly starting to sink a little, Disney is emerging anew.

First with "Tangled," and now with R&J's "Rumpelstiltskin," we're going to see a very interesting shift.

Anonymous said...

"First with "Tangled," and now with R&J's "Rumpelstiltskin," we're going to see a very interesting shift."

No we won't.

Anonymous said...

Everyone knows Ron and John's next film is a musical version of the life of Jack the Ripper, called "Saucy Jack."

Steve Hulett said...

Wha-at?

I was told it was "Jack's Secret Sauce."

Chris Sobieniak said...

I kinda said this elsewhere, but now I kinda think they need to stop releasing these classics on video and simply go with pattern again of having people wait a good number of years until it finally shows up again in the cinemas so it would make it all that much more thrilling to see it again! Of course that will never happen but I kinda miss what that felt like growing up.

el diablo said...

Yes. While Pixar is slowly starting to sink a little, Disney is emerging anew.

First with "Tangled," and now with R&J's "Rumpelstiltskin," we're going to see a very interesting shift.


LOL! Thanks for the laughs, I needed that....

"Tangled" hardly changed anything, but it's nice to see some people still believe in Santa Claus, and live in a land of rainbows and pink bunny rabbits....

d.

Nigel said...

Everybody sing!

"Saucy Jack, you're a naughty one, Saucy Jack..."

Anonymous said...

"Tangled" hardly changed anything

You're kidding, right? Tangled was by far the best looking CG animated film ever, as far as animated human performance goes.

No film tops it. None.

And it put Disney Animation back on the map.

Within the Hat said...

Tangled definitely put Disney back on the map.

And when "Rumpelstiltskin" is released, I doubt anybody will be nay-saying Disney anymore.

Anonymous said...

I thought "Rumplestiltskin" was a character in "Shrek Forever After". Is Disney ripping off the Shrek films now?

rr said...

"Is Disney ripping off the Shrek films now?"

Well, it's payback time, after all, Dreamworks stole Pinoccho, Captain Hook, Peter Pan, the Princesses, and several other characters for the Shrek movies. All that Disney can do is steal Rumpelstiltskin from them.

el diablo said...

'No film tops it. None.

That's your opinion. And, unfortunately for you, opinions are not facts.

My opinion was that the main characters looked very generic. I did like the vikings at the bar. Far more interesting designs than the main characters. The plot was dumb and predictable. The jokes were not funny, the music was forgetable. The animation was not 'all that', in fact, the acting was generic and un-interesting.

That's just my opinion.

d

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