TheChez.net

by ssjrem

The last few years have been utterly dominated by computer animation. Traditionally animated films have mostly gotten lost in the scramble. Even Disney, which built itself on the backs of its classic animated features, more or less abandoned traditional animation because it just didn’t seem financially viable any longer. The last big hit of that kind was Lilo and Stitch, a whole eight years ago. However, Disney decided to take a risk and step back into the world of traditional animation with a new spin on a classic tale. Thus, The Princess and the Frog is our number one film this weekend.

The Princess and the Frog

I like the idea. I like that Disney is taking this risk with a traditionally animated film and going back to their roots. I grew up with all the Disney movies from the early ninties and they hold a special place in my heart. Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast and especially The Lion King are all classic. So, it’s nice to see a return to form here for Disney. After tearing shit up for two weeks in limited release, TPATF expanded this week and the results are kind of…. mixed. It opened to a decent 25 million. This is kind of disappointing, but considering this is the first film of its kind in so long, I guess it isn’t all that bad. I suppose the legs of this film will really determine if Disney will bother trying traditional animation again. This is a prime time to release this film, though, because if it’s well received, the holiday season could carry it to a gross five or six times beyond its opening weekend. So, while this start is kind of disappointing, it’s not like TPATF is dead on arrival or anything. There’s certainly hope for it. And, besides, it doesn’t really have any direct competition. Avatar targets a completely different demographic, so that won’t be a problem next weekend. TPATF has a solid, though not spectacular 83% at Rotten Tomatoes. I still think it’ll have good legs no matter what and will at the very least find its way over 100 million, which might just be enough to inject a little more faith into the folks at Disney.

The Blind Side

The unexpected hit of the holiday season continues to kick some serious ass. The Blind Side fell only 23% down to 15.5 million. It’s gone from being over a hundred million behind New Moon to making almost twice as much as it. That’s something else. Anyway, the total’s now sitting at 150 million. I definitely still think this should hit 200 million, especially with Christmas bearing down upon us. Plus, it doesn’t really have any competition. Like I said before, Avatar’s targeting a different demographic. Though, James Cameron is banking (literally) on the fact they Avatar will appeal to all demographics. We’ll see. Anyway, yeah, The Blind Side is still raking in the dough and is only about thirteen million behind The Proposal, so it will have passed that by the end fo next weekend. I know I’ve said it before, but this is really Sandra Bullock’s year.

Opening with a disappointing total in fourth in Invictus. I was thinking this should probably hit about 15 to 30 million, but it only made 9.1 million, which is kind of weak. More than ever, this is now a film which will have to rely on strong word of mouth and possible Oscar nominations. I saw this on Friday night and I remember walking into the theatre, seeing like three other people there and thinking to myself, “Oooh, this isn’t a good sign.” Invictus has a 78% at RT, so I guess we’ll have to see if audiences have received it well enough to carry it to a decent gross.

Wow, look at this. New Moon manages to fall under 50%! With a 48% decline this weekend, New Moon has fallen all the way down to an even 8 million. With a total now of 267 million, I really, really doubt this will hit 300 million. It’s going to barely manage to double its opening weekend, which is pathetic. I really do think that New Moon will be the peak of the Twilight franchise and the last two films will see a fall off. I guess we’ll see what happens next June when Eclipse hits theatres.

You see, our next film is a perfect example of why Christmas movies should be released in late November or early October, not less than a week after Halloween. Now that Christmas is fast approaching, A Christmas Carol is holding very well, slipping just 12% to 6.9 million. Wow, it dropped 12%. Too bad it’s making less than seven million, so it doesn’t matter as much as it could. Had it been released more logically, it could be making fifteen to twenty million now. Ultimately, I really, really think these films would make more with releases closer to Christmas. Then again, I’m a blogger, not a studio executive. Anyway, the gross is up to about 125 million, still well shy of that absurd 200 million dollar budget. How a movie like this costs 200 million dollars baffles me.

Brothers falls 48% to an even five million. 17.4 million total. Still think it looks unintentionally hilarious, but I guess there are some people out there who can take it seriously.

Now in its fifth weekend, 2012 has a decent drop of 35% down to 4.4 million. The domestic total is up to a somewhat weak 155 million, but like I said last weekend, the real money for this is overseas. It’s made 519 million overseas, well over three times its domestic total.

Old Dogs: 4.4 million, 36% drop, 40 million total. That total, while pathetic, just isn’t pathetic enough. I really don’t know what’s going through the mind of anyone who goes to see this.

Armored is already on its way of fading into obscurity. A halfway decent decline of 46% down to 3.5 million gives it a total of 11.8 million. I expected it to open to that kind of total. Yeah, this will be forgotten about soon enough.

Easily the greatest movie of all time and rounding out the top ten, we have Ninja Assassin, which fell 47% to 2.7 million. The total of 34 million really isn’t that bad, considering how utterly ridiculous the movie is and how awful the reviews were. 

So, there you have it. Nothing really all that interesting this weekend. The Princess and the Frog didn’t quite usher in the triumphant return of traditional animation like I’m sure Disney was hoping, but it’s not all bad. There’s still hope there. Anyway, next weekend finally sees the release of the hotly anticipated Avatar. I’ll hopefully remember to do a blog on Thursday with my full thoughts regarding it and also provide my predictions for its opening weekend. Early reviews are very positive; it currently has a 90% at Rotten Tomatoes. So, I’m cautiously optimistic about its chances. Oh, and Did You Hear About the Morgans opens too, but does anyone really give a shit? Until we meet again.