Tuesday, February 25, 2020
Film Industry Blog 5, Question 1 (March 3rd)
Compare the top box office hits from last weekend, last year (2019), and
the previous year (2018). Describe two trends that you see in the data. Which
studios/companies were most successful in capitalizing on these trends? And do
you see these trends continuing in the next 3 – 5 years? Limit: 8 responses
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Katerina Bressette
ReplyDeleteThe increase in streaming platforms available to the public is pushing people to other entertainment options rather than the traditional movie theater setting. Based on the box office hits from last weekend, February 21-23, the film in the lead for the highest gross sales throughout the weekend is Sonic the Hedgehog with The Call of The Wild as a close second (Domestic 2020 Weekend 8). Both movies have only been released for 1-2 weeks, which explains the high weekend sales. Surprisingly, the box office sales from last weekend are distributed by a variety of studios, including Sony Pictures, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios and Universal Pictures. Compared to the top box office hits of 2019 and 2018, there is little variety in studio distributors. In 2019, the top hit was Avengers: Endgame with The Lion King coming in second place. Both of these movies were produced by Walt Disney Studios as well as claiming seven out of the top ten hits (Domestic Box Office For 2019). Walt Disney Studios continued its reign in 2018, with five out of the top ten hits being produced by the studio, as well as claiming the top three spots. The top box office hits of 2018 were Black Panther followed by Avengers: Infinity Wars in second place (Domestic Box Office For 2018). Based on these results, there are a number of trends that can be seen over the last couple of years. One clear trend that is seen in both 2018 and 2019 is that the number one film is an action movie produced by Walt Disney Studios, in this case, both being a Marvel film. Both movies are owned and produced by Walt Disney Studios which also holds the number one spot for 2020 so far with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This trend is due to the large fan base and widespread popularity of the Marvel and Star Wars films over the years. Based on the box office results of last weekend, Walt Disney Studios continues to capitalize on the success even with so many other studios constantly producing films. It appears that Disney is not going anywhere in the near future. Another trend is that a children’s film is always within the top five hits each year, including 2020 so far. Currently, Frozen II holds second place for 2020, The Lion King and Toy Story 4 held third and fourth place in 2019 and Incredibles 2 held third place in 2018. All of these films were produced by Walt Disney Studios, further illustrating their current success.
Katerina Bressette Part 2
ReplyDeleteOver the next three to five years, I believe Walt Disney Studios will continue to remain on top in terms of box office hits. The films that are being produced and coming in first and second place each year are family-oriented films. While the Marvel and Lucas films may be designed for family’s with older children, they are movies that can be enjoyed by the whole family. I think these trends will continue over the next couple of years due to Walt Disney’s family-oriented content. Although I believe the trends will remain the same, it is not definite in a world where our media shifts and changes so quickly. According to one source, “streaming and other leisure-time enticements appeared to take a bit out of movie ticket sales in 2019, with total admissions declining nearly 5%” (Hayes). Overall, I think that the number of moviegoers will diminish due to the influx of streaming services available. This decrease in overall sales could tip the scales for smaller studios creating more and more original content.
Works Cited
“Domestic Box Office For 2018.” Box Office Mojo, 2018, www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2018/?grossesOption=calendarGrosses.
“Domestic Box Office For 2019.” Box Office Mojo, 2019, www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2019/?ref_=bo_yl_table_2.
“Domestic 2020 Weekend 8.” Box Office Mojo, 2020, www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2020W08/?ref_=bo_wey_table_1.
Hayes, Dade. “U.S. Movie Ticket Sales Dip Nearly 5% In 2019, Reflecting Competition.” Deadline, 18 Jan. 2020, deadline.com/2020/01/movie-ticket-sales-2019-decline-domestic-box-office-1202834469/.
Quinn Frankel (Part 1)
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend Sonic the Hedgehog topped the box office charts with a gross income of $26,192,294 (Box Office Mojo). The paramount pictures film has been out of two weeks. The Call of the Wild came in at number two at the box offices with a gross income of $24,791,624. Rounding out the top five in this past weekend’s box offices numbers was Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn ($6,802,003 gross income), Bad Boys for Life ($5,843,978 gross income), and Brahms: The Boy II ($5,823,006 gross income). Last year at this time, How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World ($55,022,245) topped the box office charts. Rounding out the top five from last year at this time was Alita: Battle Angel ($12,342,291 gross income), The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part ($9,683,481 gross income), Fighting with My Family ($7,813,113 gross income), and Isn’t It Romantic ($7,121,121 gross income). One major difference between the two different box office numbers, is how dominant the top movie grossed in comparison to each other and the rest of the top five. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World grossed $28,829,951 more than Sonic the Hedgehog during the week. How to Train Your Dragon was far ahead of the rest of the rest of the box office’s top five, while Sonic the Hedgehog barley beat out Call of the Wild for the top spot in the box office. With the rise of streaming services, and other forms for audience members to watch movies outside of theaters, you can see the clear impact that has on the box office’s numbers. The film industry is trying to adapt to the constantly growing streaming service by introducing their own subscription plans. Regal Cinemas announced “an unlimited movie ticket subscription plan, where customers will pay $18 to $23.50 a month (Feldman).” Offering a subscription for movie-goers if an extremely tactical move that more theaters will start using to keep people coming to the theatres. In 2019, the average cost of a movie ticket “rose to $9.26, up from $9.01 (Hollywood Reporter).”
Quinn Frankel (Part 2)
DeleteIf theaters want to fill the seats, they’ll need to start introducing more subscription based plans, so that movie goers can get the best bang for their buck.
In 2019, Walt Disney absolutely dominated all other movie distributing companies. Walt Disney had all five of the top grossing movies of top 2019 (Box Office Mojo), and that trend is more than likely to continue in 2020. Walt Disney caters to a wide audience of movie-goers and constantly distributes the top family friendly movies each year. Walt Disney will continue to have the success they have when they produce original content like they’ve been doing.
Sources:
“Domestic Box Office For 2019.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2019/?ref_=bo_yl_table_2.
“Domestic 2019 Weekend 8.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2019W08/?ref_=bo_we_nav.
Feldman, Dana. “How Netflix Is Changing The Future Of Movie Theaters.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 29 July 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/danafeldman/2019/07/28/how-netflix-is-changing-the-future-of-movie-theaters/#3d43899c5f46.
McClintock, Pamela. “Average Movie Ticket Rises to $9.26 in Second Quarter.” The Hollywood Reporter, 18 July 2019, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/average-movie-ticket-rises-926-second-quarter-1225385.
This past weekend, the top box office hits were Sonic the Hedgehog, distributed by Paramount Pictures, and The Call of the Wild, from Twentieth Century Fox (Box Office Mojo). In 2019, the top films were Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King, which are both from Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures (Box Office Mojo). The top movies from 2018, Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, were also distributed by Walt Disney (Box Office Mojo). At first glance, these three years of films don’t have too much in common. However, Twentieth Century Fox is owned by Walt Disney Studios. This means that five out of the six mentioned films were all distributed by Walt Disney Studios or one of their subsidiaries. Another trend is that three of the films were produced by Marvel Studios. This means that the public is still interested in the Marvel universe, and Disney is capitalizing on this love for superhero action movies.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Disney will continue to find success in distributing Marvel movies throughout the next 3-5 years because superhero movies are the perfect middle ground between familiar storylines and original films. In the past year or so, film fans have begun to get tired of the mass number of remakes being produced. Marvel’s huge universe allows the studio to reuse characters but put them in new plots. This satisfies the public’s desire for original storylines, but also lets Marvel and Disney capitalize on characters and worlds that they already know to be successful.
Disney has also committed to creating live action film versions of their classic animated movies. I believe this trend will phase out in the next few years because the live action remakes are not doing as well as they once did. In 2019, Aladdin placed at number eight and Dumbo fell to number 22 on the box office list (Box Office Mojo). In 2018, Mary Poppins Returns placed far down the list at number 30 (Box Office Mojo). Although these movies don’t gain as much success as other Walt Disney Studios films, it doesn’t seem like Disney has any plans to stop making them. A live action version of Mulan is set to be released later this March, and a remake of 101 Dalmatians will come out in May 2021. Disney is also working on remaking The Sword in the Stone, The Little Mermaid, and Bambi (Acuna). While these movies are likely to find a good amount of success, Disney also has plans to continue with the superhero films. If the trend continues, Marvel movies will always come out on top.
Acuna, Kirsten. “Disney Has 19 Live-Action Movies of Its Animated Classics Planned - Here
They All Are.” Insider, Insider, 22 Feb. 2020, www.insider.com/disney-live-action-remakes-2017-2.
“Domestic 2020 Weekend 8.” Box Office Mojo, IMDb.com, Inc. ,
www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2020W08/?ref_=bo_wey_table_1.
“Domestic Box Office For 2018.” Box Office Mojo, IMDb.com, Inc. , https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2018/?grossesOption=calendarGrosses.
“Domestic Box Office For 2019.” Box Office Mojo, IMDb.com, Inc. , https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2019/?ref_=bo_yl_table_2.
Michael Reilly (1/2)
ReplyDeleteThe box office’s last two years have shown that major studios are dominant and that original motion pictures are becoming more popular, even though franchise films are still wildly successful. The top 10 films in 2018 were distributed by Walt Disney Studios, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Sony, and Paramount Pictures (“Domestic Box Office for 2018”). The top 10 films in 2019 were distributed by Disney, Sony, and Warner Brothers (“Domestic Box Office for 2019”). The top ten films from February 21-23 were distributed by Paramount, Sony, Universal, Warner Brothers, and 20th Century Fox (“Domestic 2020 Weekend 8”). There were only two independent studios featured in these three lists. Essentially, out of the 30 films sampled, 28 of them were produced by a major studio. These major studios were successful largely due to franchise films. For instance, Disney has distributed several films from the Marvel and Star Wars empires. Other studios followed this trend, with Universal releasing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Warner Brothers releasing Joker, and Paramount releasing Mission: Impossible - Fallout. Yet, studios also recognized that there is a demand for original screenplays. Movies such as 1917 and Parasite have been hits, landing the seventh and eighth spots in the box office from February 21-23, respectively (“Domestic 2020 Weekend 8”). Further, films such as Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Knives Out have fared well, grossing $142 million and $164 million domestically, respectively (“Once Upon a Time;” “Knives Out”). People love established franchises, but they’re more than willing to see an original screenplay that features a compelling story and great acting.
A few studios have benefited tremendously from these trends. Walt Disney Studios was a major player over the last several years as it utilized its brand recognition and franchise films to its advantage. Consumers know that Disney has an arsenal of properties and they trust the company to produce quality films. So, they are excited to see Disney’s products. Universal Pictures also capitalized on these trends. It flexed its major studio muscles by releasing several franchise films and original films such as 1917 and The Photograph. Finally, Sony also benefited from these trends. It released popular franchise films such as two Jumanji films, Spider-Man: Far From Home (produced alongside Marvel), and Bad Boys for Life. Sony also released Fantasy Island, which is based on a novel. The company leaned into its top properties and invested in a more unique story in order to draw in consumers. Disney, Universal, and Sony coupled established works with new stories over the last two years, which has provided consumers with the variety that they crave.
In the next few years, I predict that major studios will continue to dominate due to their quality production. I also believe, though, that more independent studios will be successful because they are more willing to explore unconventional film ideas. Some of these studios are young, which means they are not tied down by the norms of a legacy studio. Bong Joon Ho, director of Parasite, echoed this sentiment, saying he can “feel the energy that comes with being a young company and a young distributor,” (Sperling). Independent studios want to shake things up. People will see independent films because they want variety. Further, I believe that original screenplays will become more popular because people will grow tired of franchise films. Of course, people will still see franchise films, but they will be excited to see something different. Overall, the next few years will see major studios and their franchises still maintain success but face challenges from consumers’ desire for original screenplays and films from independent studios.
Michael Reilly (2/2)
DeleteWorks Cited
“Domestic 2020 Weekend 8.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2020W08/?ref_=bo_wey_table_1.
“Domestic Box Office For 2018.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2018/?grossesOption=calendarGrosses.
“Domestic Box Office For 2019.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2019/?ref_=bo_yl_table_2.
“Knives Out.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt8946378/?ref_=bo_se_r_1.
“Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt7131622/?ref_=bo_se_r_1.
Sperling, Nicole. “'Parasite' Has Shocked the Box Office, Helped by an Upstart Studio.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 27 Nov. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/business/media/parasite-movie-studio-neon.html.
In 2019, the top box office hits were Avengers: Endgame and The Lion King, both produced by Walt Disney Studios (Box Office Mojo). The Avengers did gross a significantly higher number, but the two movies are most likely attracting different audiences. The Marvel movies have a large fan base and are highly anticipated upon their release date. However, there was a lot of hype around The Lion King after Disney announced that they would be releasing live action versions of their classic animated movies. The Lion King followed the live action remake of The Jungle Book which was released in 2016.
ReplyDeleteIn 2018, the top two box office spots went to Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War (Box Office Mojo). These movies grossed fairly similar numbers but were also released within a few months of each other. In both years, Walt Disney Studios had the top two highest earning movies. This is not surprising considering that Disney is one of the largest film production studios. There was a Quartz article written about Disney’s movie production success that said, “The Walt Disney Company just broke an all-time record for annual box office earnings, making more money by July than any movie studio has ever made in a whole year” (Livni, 2019). If you scroll down the Box Office Mojo list for both 2019 and 2018, there are more Disney films such as Frozen II or Incredibles 2 which is produced by Pixar, but ultimately owned by Disney Studios.
This past weekend, the top spots went to Sonic the Hedgehog, produced by Paramount Pictures and The Call of the Wind, produced by Twentieth Century Fox (Box Office Mojo). Sonic the Hedgehog earned $16,261,393 upon release and The Call of the Wind earned $13,362,823. Both of these movies are vastly different from each other and are fairly different from the movies in the top spots for 2018 and 2019.
Disney Studios seems to take the overall spots each year. I can definitely see this pattern continuing, but at the same time I could see them having a larger success on their streaming service Disney +. Over the next two years, Disney will be releasing more live action remakes such as Mulan and Cruella (Good Housekeeping, 2019). The movies that they have remade are all available on their streaming platform, and it could be an option for them to release them exclusively on there. This may push more people to subscribe if they are interested in watching the movies. It is not a surprise that movie theaters are struggling to stay relevant with all of the current and new streaming services. It will be interesting to see what other content Disney, as well as other movie companies are going to produce over the next five years.
References:
ReplyDeleteLivni, E. (2019, July 28). Disney just made more box office money in a year than any studio ever. Retrieved from https://qz.com/quartzy/1676849/disney-breaks-all-time-annual-studio-earnings-records-in-july/
LaScala, M. (2019, October 30). A Complete List of All the Upcoming Disney Live-Action Remakes to Get Excited About. Retrieved from https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/entertainment/g29402677/upcoming-disney-live-action-remakes/
Domestic Box Office For 2019. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2019/?ref_=bo_yl_table_2
Domestic Box Office For 2018. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/year/2018/?grossesOption=calendarGrosses
Domestic 2020 Weekend 9. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/2020W09/