Muppets Most Wanted Box Office Numbers

[Pinkflower7783]

I've said that since the beginning...but what do I know?

 

[RealWonderman]

Really, honestly, in the nicest way possible: anyone who doesn't think MMW underperformed at the box office is absolutely delusional. It made 10 million less WORLDWIDE than the predecessor's DOMESTIC total. I don't think any Disney execs were content with that.

Instead right now, what's happening behind the scenes is that they are focusing on pushing the movie BIG on DVD to see if the Muppets will have better traction on the home video market. (I've already seen TV spots and a lot of online advertising, not to mention the Disney Drive On series that they've apparently had in their back pocket for a long while) After that they'll likely review other options that are anything but a theatrical feature.

My best guess is that Disney initially saw after the success of the 2011 Muppets is that they had their answer to Sony's Smurfs in a cheap, nostalgia-based family franchise. But now they're probably just revising their intentions. And as I said in an earlier post: I'm totally, totally cool with that.

Between the 2012 Muppets Blu-Ray release and the 2014 release of MMW, the characters and franchise sort of went into mothballs for two years without a peep. That would likely happen again with a third Muppets film. I'm excited to see what they'll do with the characters next.

I'm not sure anyone is in disagreement that it under performed. But it wasn't a flop or horrid train wreck, and that's what we're arguing

 

[Pinkflower7783]

An argument that's just leading you all back to where you started.

 

[Muppet Master]

Muppets Most Wanted reaches theaters two-and-a-half years after the Muppets reboot earned $88.6 million at the domestic box office. With goodwill from the well-liked first movie, and with a memorable, fun marketing effort, it's widely assumed that Muppets Most Wanted can match its predecessor.

Unfortunately, live-action family sequels have an atrocious track record: The Smurfs, Stuart Little, The Pink Panther and Garfield all fell at least 50 percent in their second outings. While The Muppets was obviously a step up from those movies, that data suggests that expectations ought to be tempered for Muppets Most Wanted. (BOXOFFICEMOJO)

I'm pretty sure that underperforming was something we had to expect considering all those other live-action family films.

 

[RealWonderman]

An argument that's just leading you all back to where you started.

Right. That it wasn't a flop or a train wreck.

 

[LouisTheOtter]

I find some hope in the fact that, if you take Maleficent and the Marvel movies out of the mix, MMW was actually among the better performers for Disney this year.

The Planes sequel, which was likely supposed to represent the next big merchandising push for the Mouse House, is barely treading water (about $49 million at the North American box office as we speak) and Million Dollar Arm sadly fizzled ($36 million). If it weren't for the big returns on the late-2013 release of Frozen, 2014 could have been a year Disney would have wanted to forget.

Not panicking. The Muppets are still having a great year in terms of visibility, and I'm excited about the big MMW home release promo push that starts this Friday on The View.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

Right. That it wasn't a flop or a train wreck.

Agree to disagree.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

All I gotta do is go to the store.

 

[RealWonderman]

Agree to disagree.

I can agree that it is an incorrect assessment. Under performed? Absolutely. Flop? No.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

I can agree that it is an incorrect assessment. Under performed? Absolutely. Flop? No.

I'm not gonna sit here and argue about something that's already been said and is gonna end up right back where it started. Again agree to disagree. Discussion over. Have a nice day.