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Sunday June 24, 2012
Hollywood B.O.: Brave New World for Pixar
Last Friday, Box Office Mojo's headline trumpeted Pixar's long-standing reign atop the domestic box office:
Pixar Aims for 13th-Straight First Place Debut with 'Brave.'
That is indeed impressive, and “Brave” performed impressively, grossing $66.7 million in 4,164 theaters, far outpacing the other big debut film, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” which grossed just $16.5 million in 3,108 theaters. “Madagascar 3” fell off by 40% but still finished in second place with $20 million.
“Brave” is, of course, the first “girl-centered” Pixar product. So how does that $66 mil stack up against other Pixar films?
Not badly:
| Date | Movie | Opening | Theaters | Total Gross | Release |
| 1 | Toy Story 3 | $110,307,189 | 4,028 | $415,004,880 | 6/18/10 |
| 2 | The Incredibles | $70,467,623 | 3,933 | $261,441,092 | 11/5/04 |
| 3 | Finding Nemo | $70,251,710 | 3,374 | $339,714,978 | 5/30/03 |
| 4 | Up | $68,108,790 | 3,766 | $293,004,164 | 5/29/09 |
| 5 | Brave | $66,739,000 | 4,164 | $66,739,000 | 6/22/12 |
| 6 | Cars 2 | $66,135,507 | 4,115 | $191,452,396 | 6/24/11 |
| 7 | WALL-E | $63,087,526 | 3,992 | $223,808,164 | 6/27/08 |
| 8 | Monsters, Inc. | $62,577,067 | 3,237 | $255,873,250 | 11/2/01 |
| 9 | Cars | $60,119,509 | 3,985 | $244,082,982 | 6/9/06 |
| 10 | Toy Story 2 | $57,388,839 | 3,236 | $245,852,179 | 11/24/99 |
| 11 | Ratatouille | $47,027,395 | 3,940 | $206,445,654 | 6/29/07 |
| 12 | A Bug's Life | $33,258,052 | 2,686 | $162,798,565 | 11/27/98 |
| 13 | Toy Story | $29,140,617 | 2,457 | $191,796,233 | 11/22/95 |
Interestingly, with the exception of “Ratatouille” on the low side and “Toy Story 3” on the high, every Pixar movie this century has opened in the $60-$70 million range, and, of course, $66 mil is right in the middle of that.
But if you adjust for inflation you get a slightly different story:
| Movie | Opening | Theaters | Release | |
| 1 | Toy Story 3 | $110,867,100 | 4,028 | 6/18/10 |
| 2 | Finding Nemo | $92,270,900 | 3,374 | 5/30/03 |
| 3 | The Incredibles | $89,871,800 | 3,933 | 11/5/04 |
| 4 | Toy Story 2 | $89,472,400 | 3,236 | 11/24/99 |
| 5 | Monsters, Inc. | $87,563,700 | 3,237 | 11/2/01 |
| 6 | Cars | $72,694,100 | 3,985 | 6/9/06 |
| 7 | Up | $72,308,500 | 3,766 | 5/29/09 |
| 8 | WALL-E | $69,589,600 | 3,992 | 6/27/08 |
| 9 | Brave | $66,739,000 | 4,164 | 6/22/12 |
| 10 | Cars 2 | $64,986,800 | 4,115 | 6/24/11 |
| 11 | A Bug's Life | $56,162,900 | 2,686 | 11/27/98 |
| 12 | Ratatouille | $54,136,200 | 3,940 | 6/29/07 |
| 13 | Toy Story | $53,056,000 | 2,457 | 11/22/95 |
It's not just “Brave.” With the exception of “Toy Story 3,” Pixar's big openings came with the four movies released between 1999 and 2004. Since then it's been kinda same-old, same-old. Their movies are in more theaters and grossing less.
Is it the movies themselves? The association with Disney? Are parents waiting for the DVD to shut the kids up?
“Brave” needs good word-of-mouth to keep going. “Up” and “Cars 2” opened similarly, but “Cars 2,” which was forgettable and poorly reviewed (38% on RT), finished with $100 million less than “Up,” which was unforgettable and spectacularly reviewed (98%).
“Brave”'s RT numbers are middling-positive: 74%. Should we guess a final domestic tally of $240 million?
In other B.O. news, “Prometheus” (4th) passed the $100 million mark, “Madagascar 3” (2nd) passed the $150 million mark, and “The Avengers” (8th) grossed another $7 mil to come within spitting distance, or $1.7 million, of $600 million. It will be the first non-James Cameron movie to reach that mark.
The boyish-yes-but-I-like-it-too numbers here.
Girls with bows don't need bows.