In Disney and Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” Joy, Sadness, Anger, Fear and Disgust meet new emotions.
Disney | Pixar
Disney is looking to bring a little joy to movie theaters with Pixar’s upcoming “Inside Out 2.”
Current Expect the next animated film to easily reach $85 million During its North American release this weekend, it will have the highest debut of any film released in the United States and Canada in 2024. Some are even predicting reports the film could achieve over $100 million in ticket sales, a feat not seen since July 2023 when Warner Bros.’ “Barbie” entered the movie theater.
Inside Out 2 grossed $13 million from Thursday night preview screenings in North America. By comparison, 2019’s Toy Story 4 grossed $12 million in its Thursday premiere and took in $120.9 million in its opening weekend.
Any opening above $50 million would be a boon for Pixar, which is struggling to regain its footing at the box office in the wake of the pandemic. However, Disney seems confident in Inside Out 2, as the film is expected to have a theatrical run of 100 days, an almost unheard of length these days for animated and action films. not a blockbuster.
While most consumers know nothing about theatrical release — the period of weeks or months during which a movie is shown exclusively in theaters before being released to streaming or other on-demand options — for theater operators and box office analysts, the commitment lasts more than three months. Big screen exclusivity is a big deal.
Before the pandemic, the industry standard was called a 90-day theatrical window (though the average is actually closer to about 75 days in practice, according to market research firm The Numbers).
Only a rare few films can last longer than that date — usually major franchises or blockbuster hits. After that time frame, the film can move into the home video space, including digital downloads, DVD and Blu-Ray discs, and availability on streaming sites. The film will still be shown in theaters after that date, but will then compete with domestic sales.
When the pandemic hit and movie theaters were forced to close, studios had to decide whether they would pause the release of their movies until theaters reopened or make them available for streaming. or video on demand in the interim.
Disney was one of the companies that chose to make some of its animated properties available in the home viewing market during that time.
As theaters began to reopen, studios renegotiated the amount of time films were required to hit the big screen before they could hit their home markets. After all, new Covid variants and a vaccine that is not yet widely available have kept many moviegoers at home. The result is a widely varying exclusivity window, as each studio negotiates its own deal with the major theater chains.
For example, Universal and focus features Sign an agreement where movies must play in theaters for at least three weekends or 17 days before they can move to premium video-on-demand platforms.
“The 90-day deadline was always unsustainable,” said Jeff Kaufman, senior vice president of film and marketing at Malco Theaters. “The pandemic has accelerated that.”
The shifting theatrical window has left studios and theaters with a complicated equation.
Shorter windows
Studios were trying to shrink theatrical windows before the pandemic to cut marketing costs, explains Daniel Loria, senior vice president of content strategy and editorial director at Box Office Company.
Studios had to pay significant sums of money to market the film in theaters and then months later had to cause a stir over the film’s move to its home market. With shorter running times, studios don’t need to spend as much to reacquaint audiences with a movie because it can still be fresh in their minds since its release.
“My impressions of the movies will [premium video on-demand] Early is often a decision not to double down on marketing spend, Loria says.
Last year, the average length of a movie in wide release was 39 days, according to The Numbers. So far in 2024, the average run time is 29 days. Of course, as bigger blockbuster titles come out during the summer months, that number is expected to increase.
Average theatrical window for major Hollywood studios in 2023
- Focus feature – 28 days
- Lionsgate – 30 days
- Universal – 30.8 days
- Warner Bros. — 30.9 days
- Critical – 42.5 days
- Sony — 47.75 days
- 20th Century Fox — 60 days
- Searchlight – 60 days
- Disney — 62 days
Source: Numbers
There are cases where studios have extended their theatrical runs far beyond the normal theatrical run. For example, in 2022, Paramount and Skydance’s Top Gun: Maverick played more than 200 days in theaters before arriving in its home market.
And, these numbers only refer to when movies are available in their home market for rental. Typically, the wait time before a movie becomes available as part of a subscription streaming service, which is often considered “free” by those subscribers, is much longer.
The Numbers reported the average time between theatrical release and streaming subscription launch was 108 days in 2023.
From the beginning there were experiments with day-and-date releases, meaning movies would hit theaters and stream at the same time. But that faded as studios realized that this simultaneous release was cannibalizing sales and leading to increasing rates of piracy.
There is also an opinion that many actors and directors have stipulations in their contracts giving them a percentage of theater profits. In 2021, actress Scarlet Johannson sued Disney for releasing the 2020 Marvel movie “Black Widow” on streaming and theaters at the same time. She claimed that her deal with the company guaranteed an exclusive theatrical release for her solo film and that her salary was largely based on box office performance. Johannson and Disney later settled for an undisclosed sum.
However, Universal has experimented with a daily model for horror movies around Halloween, most recently choosing to release “Five Nights at Freddy’s” in theaters and on Peacock at the same time. While the film had a stellar opening weekend, reaching $80 million at the domestic box office, ticket sales dropped more than 76% in its second week, reaching just $19 million.
Of course, shorter exclusivity periods and lower ticket sales could be detrimental to theater chains, which are still struggling to recover from Covid. But some people believe that choosing the wrong window can also be harmful to the film.
“A large enough opportunity is important not only for exhibitors but also for our studio partners, as it is necessary to deliver the full financial and promotional benefits of a film’s release.” theaters, continuing to meaningfully enhance the lifetime value of films across all distribution channels, including streaming,” said Sean Gamble, president and CEO of Cinemark.
Disney’s dilemma
That’s the lesson Disney has learned after the pandemic.
Both Walt Disney Animation and Pixar struggled to regain ground at the box office after pandemic restrictions eased and audiences returned to theaters. Much of this is because Disney chose to launch some of its animated films directly on its Disney+ streaming service while theaters were closed and even after theaters reopened.
The company found a way adding content to the company’s fledgling streaming serviceSpreading the creative team thin and sending films to theaters straight to digital.
That dynamic is trained parents look for new Disney titles on streamingdoesn’t hit theaters, even if Disney chooses to bring its films back to the big screen.
Because of that and other challenges, no Disney animated film from Pixar or Walt Disney Animation has generated more than $480 million at the global box office since 2019. By comparison, just before the pandemic, Coco was generated $796 million globally, while “Incredibles 2” grossed $1.24 billion globally and “Toy Story 4” grossed $1.07 billion globally.
Box office experts are looking at Inside Out 2 as a barometer for Pixar’s health and its future. If the film can attract audience attention and perform well in its opening weekend and beyond, animation studios will regain goodwill from audiences and the film industry.
Pixar’s recent domestic opening weekend results
- “The Element” (2023) — $29.6 million
- “Light Year” (2022) — 50.5 million USD
- “Turning Red” (2022) — streaming
- “Luca” (2021) — streaming
- “Soul” (2020) — streaming
- “Onward” (2020)* — $39.1 million
- “Toy Story 4” (2019) — 120.9 million USD
- “The Incredibles 2” (2018) — 182.6 million USD
* “Onward” was released just as Covid cases skyrocketed in the US and movie theaters began to close.
Source: Numbers
The 100-day window for Inside Out 2 could be the key.
According to Sebastian Gomez, research and data analyst at The Numbers, Disney is one of the only studios that doesn’t have a traditional premium video-on-demand window. Meaning, once its theatrical run is over, the film will be moved to Disney+ where subscribers can watch it for free rather than as an intermediate rental option.
By delaying its home release, Disney is signaling to audiences that Pixar’s latest is a “must see” on the big screen.
The first Inside Out movie, released in theaters in 2015, grossed $90.4 million in its opening weekend and grossed more than $850 million at the global box office.
Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.
