This weekend the highly anticipated “A Minecraft Movie” hit theaters, and quickly did what the Evil Queen couldn’t: kill “Snow White.” While not a difficult feat, given that “Snow White” was almost DOA at launch. Minecraft is set to do double what “Snow White” has done in one weekend and at almost 1/2 the budget.
“Snow White” has been out for three weekends, and it hasn’t even hit $150 million globally yet. “A Minecraft Movie” is estimated to cross $300 million in its first weekend.
Vastly different budgets.
“Snow White” famously has an estimated budget of up to $270 million, before theatrical cuts and marketing. The film would need to bring in at least $550-$600 million to break even. Currently it is $400 – $450 million below.
Meanwhile, the estimated budget for “A Minecraft Movie” is about $150 million before marketing and theatrical cuts. Meaning, it needed around $300-$350 million to break even, and it seems like it will already hit the low estimate.
Early estimates put “A Minecraft Movie” at $65 million domestically, and it did more than double the expectation, bringing in $157 from the domestic market alone!
Disney is not the juggernaut it once was.
For years, Disney dominated the box office with live-action remakes, Star Wars, and Marvel. Now it is getting beaten by a campy Minecraft film.
Perhaps Disney had oversaturated the markets with super hero and live-action reimaginings. They are trying to push their way into gaming with Epic Games and Fortnite, but just because Disney puts a world in the game doesn’t mean that players will want it.
Minecraft and Fortnite are their own franchises, and people will respond well to them, but not necessarily Disney IP.
Either way, Disney has just played it’s legacy film card and got their butt kicked by a slapstick, campy movie about a guy named Steve, his wolf/dog Dennis, and people from the “real world.”
What do you think? Comment and let us know!
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