Frozen's Box Office Success Aftermath: Is Big Hero 6 In Danger of Overly High Expectations?

As you may already know, (unless you've been living under a rock for the past 5 months) Frozen is a worldwide phenomenon. It won two Oscars, people sing "Let It Go" everywhere, and it has grossed more than $1 billion at the box office. This is all great news for Walt Disney Animation Studios, who have been staging this kind of comeback since 2007. Frozen is the result of years of great effort from the hard-working Disney crew, to try and turn things around and became the creative powerhouse they once were way back in the 90s. Still, one question arises after this kind of success: what's next? Will their next films earn anywhere near the same amount of money? One can dream, but $1 billion grosses are not something that can be earned that easily. This puts their next film, Big Hero 6, in a difficult position regarding its box office revenue.

Frozen Overtakes Toy Story 3 to Become Highest-Grossing Animated Film Ever!

At the start of the month, Disney's Frozen became the second animated film ever to pass the billion dollar barrier. And now, as we posited then, it has surpassed Pixar's Toy Story 3's gross of $1.063 billion to become the highest-grossing animated film of all time! Not only that, but, at $1.072 billion, it's also now the tenth highest-grossing film ever.

Frozen Becomes Second Animated Film Ever to Make $1 Billion!

On the eve of possibly two Oscar victories, musical smash-hit Frozen has just become the second animated film ever to cross the billion dollar mark! This latest landmark makes Frozen Walt Disney Animation Studios' highest-grossing animated film of all time, having passed The Lion King's $987 million gross. It's a magnificent apex to Disney Animation's phoenix-like resurgence since 2006.

Animation at the Box-Office: Frozen Now Over $900 Million; Big Opening for The Lego Movie

It's been a good few months for animation at the box-office, and that looks to continue as we move further into the second month of 2014. With Disney's mammoth hit musical Frozen still going strong, and Warner Bros.' The Lego Movie doing expectedly big business, mainstream American animation is doing immensely well right now.

Frozen Ices Over the US Box Office; Takes First Place in Second Week

After a strong first week, taking almost $93.6 million in its first 5 days, Walt Disney Animation Studios' Frozen has managed another impressive showing at the US Box Office, supplanting The Hunger Games: Catching Fire as the States' top-grossing movie this week. The icy princess pic took an estimated $31.6 million this weekend, bringing its domestic total so far to $134.2 million, and $190 million worldwide.

Frozen Opens With Massive $93 Million, Smashes Disney Records

Frozen is an inexorable steamroller of momentum right now; the film has opened to extremely strong reviews, A113Animation readers seem very taken with it too, it's been given an A+ CinemaScore, and it's also racked up the biggest opening ever for a Walt Disney Animation Studios film, with a massive $93 million over the 5-day Thanksgiving weekend!

This Was a Big Weekend for Despicable Me 2

While Monsters University started the week as the number 1 film in the US, it was usurped by another animated film this weekend, as Illumination's Despicable Me 2 took the top spot. The film, which had already been playing in foreign territories, including the UK, opened at #1, with an estimated $82.5 million haul over the weekend. That's impressively about on par with Pixar's mammoth hit, Monsters University. Factor into that the fact that Despicable Me 2 was made for allegedly about $200 million less than Monsters U, and this is a very good result for Illumination's parent company, Universal.

Monsters University Holds On Strong at US Box Office

Monsters University opened in a massive way for Pixar, providing their fourteenth #1 North American box office opening weekend, and it seems to be continuing down that impressive course. The film once again had the top spot this weekend, taking an estimated $46.2 million. That's a 44% drop from last week, but that's the smallest second week drop for the studio in recent years; Toy Story 3 dropped 45.5%; Cars 2, 60.3%; Brave, 48.6%.

The continued strength of the film means that Monsters U has already grossed about $170 million domestically, and close to $300 million worldwide. Bear in mind, that's also without having even opened in several territories, including the UK and France. Monsters University seems poised to be another colossal hit for Disney and Pixar. Meanwhile, Disney executives are currently drooling thinking about how much Finding Dory will make...

Figures via Box Office Mojo.

Monsters University Becomes Pixar's Second Biggest Opener With $82 Million

Although it's not quite dazzling critics as previous, pre-Cars 2 Pixar films are accustomed to doing, Monsters University has got solid word of mouth and audiences seem to be loving it. So much so that Box Office Mojo predicts the film to have taken an impressive $82 million at the North American box office this past weekend. This ranks it as Pixar's second best opening weekend ever, behind only Toy Story 3's mammoth $110 million opening in 2010.

In addition, although the film is still to open in several international territories (here in the UK, for example), Monsters U did open in some (including Australia and South America), where it took another $54 million. This puts the film's worldwide total at an estimated $136.5 million after just a weekend. The monstrous prequel certainly looks set to be another huge hit for the studio, who opened at the American box office in the number 1 position for the fourteenth time.

Monsters University, directed by Dan Scanlon, hits UK cinemas on 12th July.

The Croods Opens Big for DreamWorks

2012 ended in a non-too-pleasant way for DreamWorks, resulting in an $87 million down write-down after the disappointing box-office returns of the very good (though that's bittersweet in the end) Rise of the Guardians. As a result, the studio is facing layoffs of almost 20% of their workforce. So, it's very, very good news to see that the studio is starting off in a big way in 2013.

DreamWorks' first release of the year, caveman-comedy The Croods, is now playing worldwide, and as well as pretty favourable reviews, the Chris Sanders/Kirk DeMicco-directed flick took the number 1 spot at the North American box office this past weekend. The film took home an estimated $44.7 million domestically, as well as $62.6 million internationally, pushing its opening weekend total north of $107 million (figures via Box Office Mojo). To put that into perspective, The Croods has made as much in its opening weekend as Aardman's The Pirates! did during its entire run last year.

Nice to see DreamWorks back in their stride. I'll hopefully be checking out the film myself this weekend.

Ralph Wrecks US Box-Office!

If more proof was needed that we're in the third golden age of Disney, here it is. Wreck-It Ralph's being lauded by critics, raved about by fans, and, as evident by these new figures, is raking in a fair amount of coins!

Walt Disney Animation Studios' 52nd animated feature took in a fantastic, estimated, $49.1 million across its opening weekend, says Box Office Mojo. This marks the highest ever opening for a Disney animated feature, beating out Tangled's 2010 $48.8 million opening weekend, and that went on to gross just shy of $591 million, so the future's very bright for Ralph! Box Office Mojo reports:

"The movie's audience skewed younger (57 percent under the age of 25) and male (55 percent), and they gave it a strong "A" CinemaScore. Considering the positive word-of-mouth and lack of competition over the next few weeks, Wreck-It Ralph could be on its way to as much as $200 million at the domestic box office."

In addition, the film took in an estimated $12 million in foreign territories, bringing its current estimated worldwide total, after only 3 days, to $61.1 million!

Wreck-It Ralph - which is preceded by John Kahrs' Paperman - opens here in the UK on 15th February.

Hotel Transylvania Takes a Vampire-Sized Bite out of the Weekend Box-Office

The critics may not be loving it, but US audiences clearly are; Sony Pictures Animation's Genndy Tartakovsky-directed Hotel Transylvania has done the studio proud on its tenth anniversary, opening to an astonishing (estimated) $43 million!

The studio's seventh film (including two Aardman releases, Arthur Christmas and The Pirates! in an Adventures with Scientists) sits at a lukewarm 42% on Rotten Tomatoes, but has raked in over a million dollars for every one of those percent at the US box office, placing it in the number 1 spot this weekend. Hotel T is the studio's strongest opener (far surpassing Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' previous record of $30.3 million), and, if it proves to have reasonable legs, it could be the studio's highest grossing film yet! The film has also raked in $8.1 million from foreign territories.

Second place this weekend goes to another Sony pic, Rian Johnson's acclaimed sci-fi actioner, Looper, with $21.2 million (again, estimated). Looper boasts a cast including Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt, while Hotel T has the more youth-friendly line-up of Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg and Selena Gomez.

In spite of the negative reviews, it seems audiences are really taking to Sony's monster-flick (of course, the timing isn't bad either, with Halloween just around the corner). Speaking from an outside perspective, having not seen the film yet (it doesn't open here until 12th October), I think what's resonating with audiences is exactly what's putting critics off: it doesn't take itself too seriously. Hotel T looks like fun for the sake of fun, with not too much focus on emotional twists - the 'Art of' book stated that they repeatedly chose to forego solemn moments in favour of comedy. Jerry Beck says it best, that Hotel T is a "full “cartoon” feature"; just look how perfectly poised and considered the animation is! Genndy Tartakovsky's stylised cartoon style is here in abundance!

Seen Hotel Transylvania? What did you think? Let us know below!

Stats via Box Office Mojo.

Ice Age 4 Now in (Some) Cinemas - What Are the Reviews Saying?

Blue Sky Studios' fourth instalment in the Ice Age franchise, Ice Age: Continental Drift has been out here in Europe for over a week (although, despite a few early screenings this weekend, isn't open here in England and Wales until 13th) and will open stateside in just under a week, but how's it faring so far? It should come as no great surprise, given how hugely successful Ice Age 3 was, that Continental Drift has done fantastically well at the worldwide box-office - despite non-too strong performances overall in the UK. The film, coming a whole decade after the release of the original Ice Age, opened at number 1 in all of the 34 territories, taking over $80 million and setting many opening-day and opening-weekend records in those territories. The film's current takings (remember, it hasn't opened in the US yet) are an impressive $118,677,915 (via Box Office Mojo).

The critical response, however, is far less enthusiastic. Ice Age: Continental Drift currently holds a Rotten Tomatoes score of 54% from 24 reviews. It's hardly surprising given that the response for the third Ice Age was far from enthusiastic and sequels rarely maintain the critical adoration of the originals - especially to 4 films. THR's Megan Lehmann sums up her review by saying "[Ice Age 4] Has the goods for kids but fails to break new ground for the series." But, on the positive side, Den of Geek's Simon Brew says "the team behind it have delivered something worth cherishing: an immensely good fun summer movie, warts and all. It might not win bags of awards, but for a family movie, you most certainly get your money's worth."

It shouldn't come as any great surprise that critics are less than enthusiastic in general about the film, I can think of very few franchises that maintain critical praise this far in - Toy Story, Lord of the Rings and The Godfather are some of the few that survived 3, let alone 4! But a strong box-office performance and Blue Sky's consistent standards should mean it's enjoyable anyway.

Ice Age: Continental Drift opens in the remaining UK countries and in the US on 13th July,

Theory: Monsters University Has the Potential to Beat Toy Story 3

A few days ago, I posted a theory: that Pixar's purportedly shelved film newt, wasn't in fact cancelled, but rather, just hibernating. A couple of weeks ago, the first teasers for the Monsters, Inc. prequel, Monsters University, appeared online, to a huge response. "Monsters University" trended on Twitter, worldwide, all day, and fans across the web and across the world were enthralled. It really struck home for me, once again, how insanely popular Pixar is, and how Monsters, Inc. is one of its most beloved properties.

Back in 2010, after an 11 year break since Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3 arrived in cinemas, and went on to become the highest grossing film of the year, the highest grossing animated film of all time, and the 5th highest grossing film worldwide, ever (now down to 8th). This got me thinking, it'll have been almost 12 years since Monsters, Inc. when Monsters U premieres, so: does Monsters University have the potential to out-gross Toy Story 3?

UPDATED -- Brave Opens Strong

Pixar have always been a critical and commercial juggernaut, and Brave looks set to keep that tradition alive with a very strong opening day. Pixar's latest opened at the #1 spot, making it the thirteenth consecutive #1 opening for a Pixar film. Early estimates place the film's takings at roughly $24.5 million (according to Box Office Mojo) completely obliterating its competition (including DreamWorks' Madagascar 3, down to #3 with $6.1 million this week) and making Brave Pixar's third biggest opening day yet; behind only Toy Story 3 and Cars 2. So it's Pixar's biggest ever opening for a non-sequel!

A tremendous start and good word of mouth means it's entirely likely that  Pixar's first fairy-tale will take in over $70 million over the weekend. Where it goes from there is just conjecture at this point, with generally strong reviews and a sure to be powerful overseas Box Office performance, it could end up with a very high worldwide gross like Up or Finding Nemo, or may fall slightly short of estimates, like WALL-E.

We'll have to wait and see, but it looks promising.

UPDATE

The estimates for Brave's weekend gross are in, and it's even better than expected! Above you can see I predicted about $70 million for its opening weekend, analysts predicted around $60 million (domestically), the reality is even grander than both, as Brave took $80 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. Taking $66.7 million in the US and $13.5 million in international markets (especially impressive given it still hasn't opened in a lot of countries yet), Brave has had an incredibly strong start, more than Cars 2's $66 million.

Look for Brave to be another hit for Pixar!

Aardman News 7 - How Will The Pirates! Sail in America?

Aardman's latest film, the fantastic The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, has just been released state-side, where it's branded as The Pirates! Band of Misfits. Despite critical praise and a strong box-office showing here in the UK, Aardman's home territory, how it'll fare in America is far less certain.

The pirate theme to the film may broaden the film's appeal to US audience, who have never quite got Aardman's trademark British wit, but if opening sales are any indication, that may not be enough. The Pirates! clocks in Aadramn's weakest US opening to date, taking an estimated $11.4 million, compared to $12.1 million for last year's Arthur Christmas. The fact that the film is being released in accordance with Sony Pictures Animation, who are much better known in America, and the film's fairly strong advertising campaign - focusing on Aardman's Oscar success and the film's comedy - may also work some way to help boost sales - although by how much will remain to be seen.

Aardman can probably expect a decent, if unexciting, box-office report for The Pirates! - although hopefully good word of mouth will drive the masses in. Large box-office receipts are going to be pretty necessary if the talk of a sequel is going to go anywhere - I'd certainly love to see a sequel.

Director Peter Lord said the following to BBC News on the subject:

"My attitude is one of hope. We do what we do and we hope the rest of the world will come to the party. I shall now be going around North America and beating a drum and wearing a sandwich board to get them to come to the cinema.

We'd be interested in doing a sequel for this film because I'd love to re-explore this bunch of characters but it entirely depends upon box office business.

This is a really rash thing to say, but most of the rest of the world I am quite confident about. We always do really well in places like France and Germany, but America is the tricky one, and that's because I think our brand of comedy is less familiar to them."

Here's hoping the film does well - it deserves too. A note to any American readers: go see it! You won't be disappointed.

The Lorax and John Carter Debut - Who's Winning?

The latest animated effort from Illumination Entertainment - the studio behind Despicable Me - The Lorax, was released last Friday. While the critical response to the film hasn't been overwhelmingly positive, it has been raking it in at the US box office, opening in the number 1 position and maintaining that place this week. It's currently grossed over $120 million, making it the highest grossing film of the year thus far.

It's placed ahead of a film that made its debut this weekend, a film that Disney was hoping would place significantly higher, Andrew Stanton's John Carter. The Finding Nemo director's adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs's first Barsoom based sci-fi novel was hoped to be Disney's next franchise, to replace Pirates of the Carribbean; yet it took only £30.6 million in its opening weekend. While it's far too early to write it off yet, the combination of bad marketing, poor critical response so far and a reportedly large budget mean that a sequel is looking less likely; which is a real shame given Andrew Stanton's blatant love for the source material and his immense talent.

It's a shame to see John Carter under-perform, and I'll be able to judge it for myself (and contribute to its worldwide gross) when I see it this weekend.

Golden Streak Continues - Cars 2

Amongst all the news today about upcoming Pixar projects, what with the Brave trailer and the possibility of Toy Story 4, we needn't forget the current Pixar film, Cars 2. Whilst Cars 2 is by no means the critical success we have come to expect from Pixar (currently holding 33% on Rotten Tomatoes), it seems people don't mind. As Cars 2 is Pixar's 12th consecutive No. 1 Box Office Opener.

Cars 2 opened to a brilliant opening day revenue of $25.7 million as people went in their droves to see the latest Pixar feature. Estimates suggest that Cars 2 has far exceeded its predictions, at a current estimate of around $68 million for the opening weekend.

As Martin of Upcoming Pixar points out, if these estimates are accurate, Cars 2 could tie Up as Pixar's 4th best opener, and that an exceeding of that estimate could beat The Incredibles $70 million opening.

It seems that Pixar fans aren't put off by a few bad reviews, thus is the trust that Pixar have built up over the years.