It’s been a good month for Disney at the box office. The year-end tent-pole movie Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi just lassoed Wonder Woman for the second-place spot on the 2017 box office domestic North America gross list with $424M compared to $413M for Wonder Woman. The year isn’t over yet, and it is very possible The Last Jedi will catch up with Disney’s Beauty and the Beast which earned $504M. The film only needs to maintain its current weekday pace and it will get there with a day to spare.
Worldwide box office hasn’t been as kind to Star Wars: The Last Jedi where it ranks 8th in 2017 at $844M. That said, it now looks clear that the film will gross more than a billion in 2017. It will have to gross more than $1.27 billion to get a spot on the top 10 all time list. Star Wars: The Force Awakens ended up with $2.1B and ranks 3rd on that list.
Throw a big bone to Pixar’s Coco too, which just reached $500M for its worldwide total gross, aided greatly by record numbers in Mexico and China. The animated feature has yet to open in some international markets too (the UK, Brazil, Korea, Australia and Italy) so there’s hope for $600M too. It’s a shame this highly regarded (two Golden Globe nominations for a start) gem of a movie isn’t doing very well domestically where it only earned $167M. The movie ranks 16 out of 19 for Pixar films in domestic earnings, but it’s ahead of Cars 3, the other Pixar film that came out in 2017. Maybe the domestic market for Pixar films has just softened after a few movies that were perceived as substandard for the studio?
Previously: Disney passes $6 billion at worldwide box office setting new record for Hollywood Studios.
Another thing that could possibly be hurting Coco domestically is the flashback from the Frozen Short and John Lasseter’s leave of absence. I sense both of those are more domestic issues and concerns.
Perhaps the subject matter….Dias de los Muertos….day of the dead is the problem? And right before the holidays. I know I am in a minority although not alone in this….some of us have a rough time with the holidays having lost those we love. My Mom died on Christmas Day 3000 miles from home and alone. Not wanting to be reminded of death right now.
Coco is a wonderful film that will be recognized as a classic. Canadians and Americans might be put off by not understanding the subject matter. Small children especially, would easier relate to, and understand a story about a lost fish, than they would a child’s journey into the world of the dead. It raises many questions about life and death that maybe parents don’t want to discuss with a 6 or 8 year old. Also the question of where their religious beliefs fall in line with the theology of the movie might be something they don’t want to talk about. Whereas you can easily discuss – “Dory wanted to find her parents and she did.”
The Lassiter thing is a distraction too. I am very disappointed in him as he is a cultural hero of mine. How could the creator of Toy Story be disrespectful to women? It is a bit like reading bad stuff about Walt Disney.
I wonder if some of Coco’s problem is due to marketing. I did not know anything about it until I visited Disney World for Thanksgiving. I saw a promo film for it in Hollywood Studios and decided I need to go see it when I got home. I ended up loving the film and can not wait for it to come out on Blu-ray.
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