Universal and Illuminations latest animated film centers on a family of geese who decides to depart the security of a Recent England pond for an adventurous trip to Jamaica. Nonetheless, their well-laid plans quickly go awry once they wander off and wind up in Recent York City.
Universal
Disney dropped the animation crown. Universal has picked it up.
And, with “Migration” opening Friday, the studio is trying to strengthen its grip.
“Migration,” a comic book tale a few family of Recent England geese that leave their pond for Jamaica, but find yourself in Recent York City, is anticipated to tally $25 million during its domestic debut. Universal has more conservative expectations, forecasting between $10 million and $15 million in ticket sales for the film’s opening.
While that pales compared to the $100 million-plus debuts of Illumination/Universal’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and the newest “Minions” film, it’s comparable to the studio and DreamWorks Animation’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” which ran in theaters for several months, securing nearly $500 million globally.
“‘Migration,’ with solid word-of-mouth and robust reviews, can have to be judged more on its long-term results than the opening weekend splash,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
Disney’s most up-to-date animated film “Wish” did not connect with audiences. After generating $31.6 million domestically over the five-day Thanksgiving holiday, the film has grossed a complete of $55.2 million within the U.S. and Canada. Globally, the film has reached $127.1 million. The film had a budget of $200 million, not including marketing costs.
For comparison, “Trolls Band Together,” which was released the week before Thanksgiving, secured $30 million for its three-day debut and nearly $180 million worldwide. The film had a budget of $95 million, not including marketing costs.
Representatives from Disney didn’t immediately reply to CNBC’s request for comment.
How Disney lost the crown
Ariana DeBose stars as Asha in Disney’s recent animated film “Wish.”
Disney
Disney established its animated feature empire within the early twentieth century with 1937’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” and continued to dominate, roughly, into the Eighties and Nineties with “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast.”
Later, it acquired Pixar, which along with Walt Disney Animation, generated billions in box-office receipts for the corporate.
“The world of feature animation has been dominated for a long time by Disney and for good reason,” said Dergarabedian. “They set the gold standard.”
Then got here the Covid pandemic. While theaters closed, Disney sought to pad its fledgling streaming service Disney+ with content, stretching its creative teams thin, and sending theatrical movies through the pandemic straight to digital.
The choice trained parents to search out recent Disney titles on streaming, not theaters, even when Disney opted to return its movies to the large screen. Compounding Disney’s woes was a general sense from audiences that the corporate’s content had grown overly existential and too concerned with social issues beyond the reach of kids.
In consequence, no Disney animated feature from Pixar or Walt Disney Animation has generated greater than $480 million at the worldwide box office since 2019.
“I believe what’s modified is that Disney doesn’t get the good thing about the doubt,” said Josh Brown, CEO at Ritholtz Wealth Management and a CNBC contributor. “And other people won’t go to a movie simply because it’s the newest Disney movie in the best way that previous generations did.”
Universal appeal
Meanwhile, Universal’s two animation arms — Illumination and DreamWorks — have thrived.
Illumination’s “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” which opened in 2022, tallied $942 million worldwide, DreamWorks’ “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” capped at $485 million after its holiday 2022 opening, and Illumination’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” soared to greater than $1.3 billion in 2023.
Even the Magic Kingdom was impressed with the box office of “Super Mario.” Disney CEO Bob Iger praised the rival studio back in May through the company’s fiscal second-quarter earnings call.
But as moviegoers have returned to cinemas within the wake of the pandemic, more are gravitating toward Universal’s fare.
“Simply put, Illumination Animation’s only agenda is entertainment,” said Jeff Bock, senior box-office analyst at Exhibitor Relations. “Their animated movies are sweet and easy and family audiences appreciate that. Disney sometimes attempts to pack an excessive amount of into their animated features, and these days have been losing sight of the simplicity of the genre.”
Not to say, Universal has been revisiting tried and true fan-favorite stories and characters. Actually, Illumination hasn’t released a nonfranchise film since 2016, and only three of the last 10 DreamWorks features have been original stories.
For comparison, of the last eight movies released by a Disney animation studio, seven have been original movies with just 2022’s “Lightyear,” a “Toy Story” spinoff, tied to an existing franchise. Previously, Disney has thrived bringing recent animated material to audiences, but within the post-pandemic world, it has struggled.
It’s the precise opposite strategy of Disney’s live-action theatrical releases, which have relied heavily on established franchises. Think “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “The Little Mermaid,” Marvel franchise movies and “Haunted Mansion.”
Iger has said that Disney will proceed to make sequels, without apology, but admitted that the corporate must be more selective by which franchises it revisits.
“I believe there must be a reason to make them, you’ve got to have a very good story,” Iger said during The Recent York Times’ DealBook Summit in late November.
“Minions: The Rise of Gru” is the sequel to the 2015 film, “Minions,” and spin-off/prequel to the foremost “Despicable Me” film series.
Universal
In animation, returning to popular characters and worlds is a simple strategy to capture the eye of oldsters and youngsters.
“Because they’ve seen these characters and related stories before, they’ve high confidence that they will probably be top quality, entertaining and ‘brand protected’ for his or her kids,” said Peter Csathy, founder and chair of advisory firm Creative Media. “They usually may even anticipate franchise animated movies as much as their kids.”
In developing consistent franchise content like Minions and Trolls, Universal is now in a position to introduce a recent film like “Migration” with a way of clout. Parents who see that the film is from the identical studio that brought other fan favorites to the large screen are then more more likely to come out to see it.
It’s what Pixar was in a position to accomplish that well for nearly three a long time.
“With ‘Minions,’ ‘Secret Lifetime of Pets’ and ‘Sing,’ I believe Illumination is a brand individuals are aware of by now,” said Bock. “And that awareness will boost ‘Migration’s’ flight pattern, likely extending its box-office run. That is key. The long play.”
Thus far, “Migration” has generally favorable reviews from critics. If audiences respond well, and spread the word, the film could see a solid run, adding to the prestige of Universal’s animation brand.
“The youngsters animation market opportunity won’t ever become older, so those playing at the highest of the sport – as is Illumination – hold the promise and possibility of becoming the subsequent go-to brand for quality animation after Pixar,” said Csathy.
Next 12 months, Disney and Pixar are set to release “Inside Out 2” in June, while Universal and Illumination’s “Despicable Me 4” is scheduled to hit theaters weeks later in July.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of Universal Pictures and CNBC.
