quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Maybe you are correct, that people are turned off by the angry, depressed, drunken character. Maybe the "bad girl" thing has gone too far.

I think all the alternative universes have gone too far and too dark. Name anything, Marvel, DC, Star Wars, Universal Monsters, House of the Dragons, The Boys, Stranger Things, anything, it's all nonsense. So where is the humor? Where is the joy? If people want to be depressed; they don't have to pay to be entertained.

Disney's live action Moana opens this week and the industry is already predicting a soft debut, approximately 60 M or so. Aside from Toy Story, we have had no big hits this summer.

A mostly underwhelming summer (so far) in terms of blockbusters. Total domestic grosses to date:


MORTAL KOMBAT 2 (80 M)
MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE (64 M)
MANDALORIAN (177 M)
TOY STORY (366 M)
SUPERGIRL (57 M)
DISCLOSURE DAY (105 M)
MINIONS (62 M)

"The Odyssey" opens July 17th and will beat the Toys. Its nearly 3 hours long and filmed in IMAX, so I'm sure it will be visually stunning, and that will be enough to fill the seats for the adults.

As I have said, I'm not a fan of any particular director, and I can't help but feel that the A-List cast of "The Odyssey" is a gimmick. If the plot is designed to string a bunch of adventures together, as was common in the old "sword and sandals" movies, the actors are an afterthought. If it's Shakespearean-like drama you want, you don't need the visuals.

I know this movie will open big. I know it will be called stunning and breathe taking. That being the case, do you even need a script?

That I don't know, but you don't need cameos from an all-star cast to play random sailors and foot soldiers. I don't like the excess. It's like stacking the deck and who is going to object. Only me, I guess.

"Supergirl" dropped 77% in its 2nd weekend, which is a greater decline than any other DC movie except "Joker: Folie a Deux". It's now estimated to lose somewhere in the area of 125M. The in-fighting between director Craig Gillespie and the studio, make that James Gunn, is going to be a major story for the Hollywood trade papers because somebody's head is going to roll.

Since there were supposedly two cuts for this film made and the final product was the studio's version, you know Gillespie won't want to go down for it.

This is a disaster for the DC movie franchise, and it's not merely in hindsight either. Anyone with any knowledge of the subject could have seen this freight train coming all the way.

I'm sure the brains at the studio can't understand why "Supergirl" is a stinker. "Hey, we updated her for the 21st century." She's another superhero with issues like Superman with his dark mood and dark suit. That's not who Superman and Supergirl are. The 1978 Superman movie was on one of the channels over the weekend. People love that movie because that was Superman from the comics. That scene where he rescues Lois Lane after she falls out of the helicopter and then catches the falling helicopter is one of the greatest superhero scenes in movie history - maybe the best ever.

Movie makers always want to top a classic somehow. They want to outdo the surprise ending of the original Planet of the Apes but they'll never do it and it sounds like they want to try again. How about just making a good movie with the character the same as he or she originally was. Let 20th century Supergirl deal with the 21st century and its evolving problems. Don't try to reimagine her. Don't give her a new outfit.

I think all of these low performing films are the result of the endless remakes, sequels and reboots which have been released over the past few years. As we now see with Minions and previously with the last few Mission Impossible films, interest starts to wane once you make 7, 8 or 9 films. And yet Hollywood doesn't learn, as I hear we are getting more Planet of the Apes and Transformers films

TOY STORY 5 just passed MICHAEL to become the # 2 film of 2026 domestically.

It needs about 50 M more to pass SUPER MARIO GALAXY to become # 1.

The live action MOANA with Dwayne Johnson is expected to gross about 50-60 M domestically this weekend. The film reportedly cost at least 250 M to make.

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
The live action MOANA with Dwayne Johnson is expected to gross about 50-60 M domestically this weekend. The film reportedly cost at least 250 M to make.

Disney Studios had a string of flops in 2025 and, despite owning Marvel and Star Wars and all its own stable of titles, it has continued in 2026.

GREAT, I HATE DISNEY!

Yes, it is irrational for me to take such pleasure in watching Disney lose a few billion dollars on remade junk and fire their high-priced executives, but it's more than understandable in this age of blaming everything on everybody else. You see I have long term PTSD (self-diagnosed of course) from being forced to watch all those miserable Disney films as a pre-teen, both the animated and unanimated ones, where everyone was dead or in danger of dying. All those happy, singing stories where no hero had a full set of parents. Where no hero had a home or knew if they'd survive the day. Where the guardians always wanted to kill the children. Where the happy ending turned out to be a rabid Yellow dog.

Yep, PTSD for sure. And Disney made a fortune terrorizing kids with the help of clueless parents who did not get the real message it was peddling. So now I HATE DISNEY, and I hope Moana sinks on her boat!

OK, rant over. Hope you enjoyed it and for the record, "Lady and the Tramp" was my favorite and the only one where nobody dies, although the dog pound is probably questionable.

Moana made a disappointing 45 M in its opening this weekend and Minions only 21 M in its second weekend (up to only 108 M domestically, far less than the prior films) Seems like people are staying home this summer

quote:

Originally posted by Tommy C:
Moana made a disappointing 45 M in its opening this weekend

I'm not disappointed. I can't work up enough energy to care how a Disney remake of a 10 year old movie does. I'm surprised it bothers you.

It doesn't bother me at all. I just can't recall a summer with so many misfires. Movies losing 100 to 200 M each. No big hits at all except Toy Story and probably the upcoming Spider Man.

The Michael Jackson movie opened in Japan just one month ago and the grosses there appear to have been enough to put it in the Billion Dollar Club after all, joining Mario Brothers as the only two so far this year to hit that benchmark. Toy Story should be #3 soon and I imagine it'll be joined by Spidey and The Avengers. We'll have to see on The Odyssey and Dune.