Current Events > Little Mermaid isn't a box office bomb anymore

(+) Yeah! (+)

They will barely break even if they do.

Anarchy_Juiblex posted...

$250 production + $140 marketing
$504 global box office
$114m isn't enough for them given the opportunity cost.

Arguments about the definition of "bombing" aside, this was a failure in the eyes of Disney's bean counters.

Oppurtunity cost is some shitty ass business bullshit.

"We only made 9.7 billion in profits not the 9.9 billion projected. Time to lay off half our staff."

A movie generally doesn't break even until it has doubled its budget. SMB, for example, made 10 times its budget back. Across the Spiderverse tripled its budget. The Little Mermaid may or may not have doubled its budget.

Serious_Cat posted... .

The Little Mermaid may or may not have doubled its budget.

Well, it just did.

Solo_Wing posted...

It warms my heart that hollywoke/hollytrash is flopping left and right. Make better products or expect million dollar losses. Haven't been in theaters in nearly a decade but I'll try to support MI7 because Tom Cruise

RISEofCHRISTIAN posted...

Its still a moral flop.

And here, folks, we have encountered a couple of fiddles in the wild

Ricemills posted...

.

Well, it just did.

Possibly and even probably, but even so only barely broke even.

"a movie needs to double it's budget"
"It did"
"Well it still needs to make more than that"
"How much"
"An amount more...some amount more...that's more than it made"

But yes I agree that budgets are too high and it wasn't a huge success; it being not a huge failure but underperforming still was part of the premise of the topic. That and movies needing to make way too much money not to underpreform thanks to ballooning budgets.

I don't think this film would have fared much better if the protagonist had been White. It's a musical. It's a live action remake of an animated movie made for girls. And the animal allies have an uncanny valley quality to them. Also, Disney remakes have been hit or miss -- mostly misses.

Racism is surely a factor, but it's not the only one.

...and I believe Disney announced the next live action remake will be Bambi.

Pretty sure that's going to flop harder.

Next up

Snow White 2024
Mufasa 2024
Moana 2025

Bambi has no release date

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jun/13/sarah-polley-disney-live-action-bambi-remake

Oh, ok, thanks for the schedule.
I guess Bambi's going to take a while to come out.

Are they really going to go through with Snow White?
I heard there was an issue with the term used for the seven (apparently there's groups who consider that term to be discriminatory).

Tenaku posted...

Thanks.
So in terms of actual profit, it's still up in the air.

It will be grey area from theatres alone but disney run a streaming service as well which needs content and little mermaid is content that has at least made its production back. Netflix makes nothing directly from anything they make

I think for a company that runs a streamer, making budget back brings the movie to "fine" status

Hurts more if you dont have your own streaming service

Requiem posted...

...and I believe Disney announced the next live action remake will be Bambi.

Pretty sure that's going to flop harder.

Bambi is a strange movie. There's a tonal shift from cutesy and whimsical to serious as Bambi grows from child to adult. The second half is far better than the first half, but most people only remember the first half. It's not the kind of film that people are likely to revisit as adults and kids mentally and emotionally check out when....

Is it even a spoiler to say where the movie stops cold for most kids?

FortuneCookie posted...

I don't think this film would have fared much better if the protagonist had been White. It's a musical. It's a live action remake of an animated movie made for girls. And the animal allies have an uncanny valley quality to them. Also, Disney remakes have been hit or miss -- mostly misses.

Racism is surely a factor, but it's not the only one.

to be kinda fair(?, idk what word to use), TLK 2019 was a musical full of uncanny valley animals with 0 expressions and somehow became like the 5th highest grossing film of all time

Requiem posted...

Are they really going to go through with Snow White?
I heard there was an issue with the term used for the seven (apparently there's groups who consider that term to be discriminatory).

Peter Dinklage went off about it, and I haven't heard anything about it since then.

I don't believe Disney has said if they were going the Huntsman route.

creativerealms posted...

The movie isn't even woke. It's more conservative then the original as it removed much of the liberal sexual references of the original.

the naked Halle Bailey scene was pretty great

DnDer posted...

Explain what a moral flop is, and then explain why it was a moral flop.

I think a moral flop is when you make a bet to give people money when your cult leader wins a presidential election and then flaking out on said bet when he doesn't.

mehmeh1 posted...

to be kinda fair(?, idk what word to use), TLK 2019 was a musical full of uncanny valley animals with 0 expressions and somehow became like the 5th highest grossing film of all time

And it had an all-Black cast. (Except for the White guy who played the bird.) I don't think it's as simple as it underperforming because the protagonist is Black.

Quezovercoatl posted...

"a movie needs to double it's budget"
"It did"
"Well it still needs to make more than that"
"How much"
"An amount more...some amount more...that's more than it made"

But yes I agree that budgets are too high and it wasn't a huge success; it being not a huge failure but underperforming still was part of the premise of the topic. That and movies needing to make way too much money not to underpreform thanks to ballooning budgets.

Double of $390 million isn't $507 million, it's $780 million.

Heres a good range for box office status

Less than budget=mega flop, terrible

More than budget but less than 2x budget=bad but may be salvageable if the movie catches on streaming. Overall bad

2-2.5x budget=grey area. Not a flop but not good. Will need to take other factors into account at that point

More than 2.5x budget=great success

creativerealms posted...

The movie isn't even woke. It's more conservative then the original as it removed much of the liberal sexual references of the original.

I know this is a cheeky post but it is genuinely weird how it's actually the case currently that sex = conservative and no sex = progressive

tehzeldafanboy posted...

I know this is a cheeky post but it is genuinely weird how it's actually the case currently that sex = conservative and no sex = progressive

no. The church is anti sex. LGBTQ+ is all sex all the time. Polyamory, unicorns, etc. the left gets laid a lot. Its the right that has incels.

tehzeldafanboy posted...

I know this is a cheeky post but it is genuinely weird how it's actually the case currently that sex = conservative and no sex = progressive

Someone on the left gets mad about unrealistic beauty standards, so someone in the media does something about having more modest appearances in their next entry. Then someone on the right gets mad about it. Then a lot of people on the left hop on the bandwagon to spite people on the right.

VRX3000 posted...

no. The church is anti sex. LGBTQ+ is all sex all the time. Polyamory, unicorns, etc. the left gets laid a lot. Its the right that has incels.

And they want people who can't get laid to not be able to enjoy sexy media either. It's not about progress, it's about spite.

And where are people on the left hooking up with unicorns?

Is it true that you can only find one if you actively look and believe in earnest? Is it true that right-wingers will only see a common ordinary mare if they look upon a unicorn?

VRX3000 posted...

no. The church is anti sex. LGBTQ+ is all sex all the time. Polyamory, unicorns, etc. the left gets laid a lot. Its the right that has incels.

The church isn't the right and lgbtq isn't the left

tehzeldafanboy posted...

The church isn't the right and lgbtq isn't the left

The church is propped up to virtue signal at you with by the right...

LGBTQ are a thing the left tries to defend...

Nice try though. A for effort.

Is it a coping thing? Pretend the right isn't shit by your made up notion that " sex = conservative and no sex = progressive "

Blue_Popo posted...

Heres a good range for box office status

Less than budget=mega flop, terrible

More than budget but less than 2x budget=bad but may be salvageable if the movie catches on streaming. Overall bad

2-2.5x budget=grey area. Not a flop but not good. Will need to take other factors into account at that point

More than 2.5x budget=great success

The rule of thumb I always heard was <1.5x is a bomb, >1.5x is a success.

Obviously that's just with a generic movie and doesn't count if you have something that's supposed to be "free" money. Things intended to be blockbusters also tend to have more marketing costs than usual, so that can definitely move the target.

tehzeldafanboy is right though. (I mean, they're correct.)

It's not like everyone on the left is Star Trek and everyone on the right is A Handmaiden's Tale. You don't have to be a socialist atheist vegan, or a fear-mongering terrorist who opposes free, will with no in-between. It's a whole spectrum.

Biden himself is Catholic and he had an LGBTQ flag flown between and slightly above two US flags.

it will probably end up breaking even

live action remakes of iconic animated disney films are never as good as the original. aladdin wasn't bad but it definitely wasn't better than the og animated version. i will watch little mermaid when it is free on disney plus

Anteaterking posted...

The rule of thumb I always heard was <1.5x is a bomb, >1.5x is a success.

Obviously that's just with a generic movie and doesn't count if you have something that's supposed to be "free" money. Things intended to be blockbusters also tend to have more marketing costs than usual, so that can definitely move the target.

The ratio is kind of messy from my understanding, but generally 50% of profits are taken by the theater hence the need to double their money. Though that isn't the case for all regions such as China, where they take 75% from what I've heard.

This wouldn't be a problem though if their merchandise moved like crazy, but it doesn't, especially when even films that made a billion have trouble with the merch.

Blue_Popo posted...

More than 2.5x budget=great success

I hope when this movie reached that, the goalpost won't be moved even further.

EthanSilver posted...

The church is propped up to virtue signal at you with by the right...

LGBTQ are a thing the left tries to defend...

Nice try though. A for effort.

Is it a coping thing? Pretend the right isn't shit by your made up notion that " sex = conservative and no sex = progressive "

You seem upset. Get a grip on your emotions and then try again

Yeah now the progressive thing to do is to remove any sexual hints of female but then still have shirtless men

deoxxys posted...

Yeah now the progressive thing to do is to remove any sexual hints of female but then still have shirtless men

Is that why people are saying that The Little Mermaid is anti-woke? It puts a shirt on King Triton.

deoxxys posted...

Yeah now the progressive thing to do is to remove any sexual hints of female but then still have shirtless men

Yeah I forgot about the het female side of things. That's pretty safe too, it's really just hetero male-appealing things that they like to nerf

Ricemills posted...

I hope when this movie reached that, the goalpost won't be moved even further.

It wont reach it.

Its made 500mil and needs make 625 for it to hit 2.5x. Thats too much of an ask since its been out a bit and international has completely dried up for it

Itll be a grey area film

I really dont see why this needed to be 250 million. If it was 200 million like most big blockbusters are, it would have been considered a success. 250 mil budget is like a marvel team up movie budget.

tehzeldafanboy posted...

You seem upset. Get a grip on your emotions and then try again

Try what again

Point out how lazy it is to try and separate the right and the church? At least in the US you can't do that with Republicans and the church.

Is it coping thing on your end? Helps you feel better about how shit the right is, however wrong you are?

Blue_Popo posted...

I really dont see why this needed to be 250 million.

Probably the special effects and the fact that many scenes involved water (which tends to kick up the cost).

On a related note, in the UK, an average movie production is 1.97 million pounds, or about $2.5 million... 1/100th of the cost of the film.

Since the Little Mermaid was 2hr15min (135 min)... at $1.85 million a minute, an UK film maker wouldn't be able to make 2 minutes of the movie.

EthanSilver posted...

Try what again

Point out how lazy it is to try and separate the right and the church? At least in the US you can't do that with Republicans and the church.

Is it coping thing on your end? Helps you feel better about how shit the right is, however wrong you are?

Oh not too bad, you?

The Little Mermaid is over two hours?

The first one was around 80 minutes. Did they really need an additional 35 minutes to tell their story?

FortuneCookie posted...

And it had an all-Black cast. (Except for the White guy who played the bird.) I don't think it's as simple as it underperforming because the protagonist is Black.

Let's be honest; you can't see the black people if they're just voices so racist people don't notice it as much. If you think that's stupid yes, so are racist people.

Tropicalwood posted...

Double of $390 million isn't $507 million, it's $780 million.
The biggest issue for Disney right now probably isn't even the films under-performing, it's all the merchandise sitting on shelves and Disney World being essentially a ghost town while Universal is packed.

That's nice but the budget wasn't 390 million. It's 250 million.

Ricemills posted...

I hope when this movie reached that, the goalpost won't be moved even further.

Spoilers; it will.

Solo_Wing posted...

It warms my heart that hollywoke/hollytrash is flopping left and right. Make better products or expect million dollar losses. Haven't been in theaters in nearly a decade but I'll try to support MI7 because Tom Cruise

What was woke about The Little Mermaid?

Quezovercoatl posted...

Let's be honest; you can't see the black people if they're just voices so racist people don't notice it as much. If you think that's stupid yes, so are racist people.

But... Disney went out of its way to equate species with race. Being a lion means being Black. If the audience can no longer relate to a woman who's half-fish because she's Black, how can they still identify with lions?

My brain hurts.

They did? In the remake I assume? Because I don't recall any of that in the original animated version.

FortuneCookie posted...

Disney went out of its way to equate species with race. Being a lion means being Black.

...what.

FortuneCookie posted...

But... Disney went out of its way to equate species with race. Being a lion means being Black. If the audience can no longer relate to a woman who's half-fish because she's Black, how can they still identify with lions?

My brain hurts.

iirc, it was more because it took place in Africa