Muppets Most Wanted Box Office Numbers

[Pinkflower7783]

Yeah well I should know better then to argue with people on YouTube. If you think about it even back to the Jim Henson days the Muppets always kinda struggled.

 

[muppet boy]

true. but there has been good times and bad. for instance, imo. anything from MFS to LTS was bad. the 2011 movie turned around and this one I feel hit a similar key.

 

[MrBloogarFoobly]

I think The Muppets' next step will have to be television. Oscarfan said "movies aren't out for one week" but they do get pulled if they don't put arses in chairs. The fact is, The Muppets are unlikely to see a second revival on the screen if Disney decides not to do a third movie, at least not for a few decades.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

I never said there weren't good times I said even when Jim was alive the muppets still struggled.

 

[King Rupert]

Interesting that it was playing in less theaters. I know where I live it was only showing in the smaller older theaters. Not in the big mall cineplex. I assume it was because Frozen was still there.

Also I am not convinced this movie cost 50 million to make. Not unless Burrell, Fey and Gervais got paid 20M.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I said this elsewhere but I never really thought movies were the key to bringing the Muppets back to the mainstream. The Muppets first home has always been Television. People went to see the original Muppet films because they enjoyed Muppet Show every week. Kids today don't have that kind of foundation.

Look at a franchise like Looney Toones. Trying to update the original characters with Space Jam didn't get them very far. But a lot of kids fondly remember growing up with reruns of the original Looney Tunes. The Muppets did themselves no favors whenever they distanced themselves from their past too much. The best thing that happened in the '90s was Nickelodeon rerunning Muppet Show. So many people I know remember that.

Plus Looney Tunes also realized the value in creating new characters that had the spirit of the old (Tiny Toons and Animaniacs), rather than constantly trying to awkwardly reinvent the originals.

 

[Drtooth]

Guess what guys? Movies aren't open for one week. This movie has various opportunities to make money back. Sure, the theaters I've seen it at haven't been packed; others claim they have been.

Yeah, I'm a tad upset it's not doing that well. According to Box Office Mojo, it's playing in around 300 less theaters than the last movie (which is weird), so that could partially affect its performance.

You have a point, but...

While there could have been an opportunity to make a larger chunk of money on opening weekend, and while there can be a chance of word of mouth perking this film up in weeks to come... well, it managed to miss a measly 3 million of it's already low second estimate and was considered a flop on site even though it did come in second, had a low budget anyway, and has a strong kid's movie competition with Peabody and Sherman (which at least makes me happy as a Jay Ward fan). And hopefully, those will be taken into account, and things will look up. And like I said, hopefully some decent weekday traffic will jump those numbers up to at least half the budget by next weekend.

It will make some more money by the time the film is out of theaters and all, but something tells me it will either almost or barely make back its budget over here.

All we can hope is the international does much better and this blows up on DVD to keep the franchise going.

And yes... the theater count has nothing to do with it. Lego managed 70 million with not too many theaters having it (apparently).

Well the marketing has to spin it someway. Disney isn't going to actively come out right now and say, "We're not happy." Not until everything is said and done, the movie is out of theaters and they're looking back will anyone say anything on MMW yet. If it did gangbuster business, that'd be different.

The fact it opened at number 2 should count for something. The higher budget films fell sharply as well. It's just... it's 3 million off of being considered successful enough. The so close-ness of the whole thing is what really has me upset about this.

 

[Drtooth]

I said this elsewhere but I never really thought movies were the key to bringing the Muppets back to the mainstream. The Muppets first home has always been Television. People went to see the original Muppet films because they enjoyed Muppet Show every week. Kids today don't have that kind of foundation.

Look at a franchise like Looney Toones. Trying to update the original characters with Space Jam didn't get them very far. But a lot of kids fondly remember growing up with reruns of the original Looney Tunes. The Muppets did themselves no favors whenever they distanced themselves from their past too much. The best thing that happened in the '90s was Nickelodeon rerunning Muppet Show. So many people I know remember that.

Plus Looney Tunes also realized the value in creating new characters that had the spirit of the old (Tiny Toons and Animaniacs), rather than constantly trying to awkwardly reinvent the originals.

I hate double posting, but...

I'd agree with you if there wasn't a movie 3 years before hand. Remember what kid movie competition this film had. Peabody and Sherman: An even less accessible cartoon series that's over 60 years old, and a backup segment. And it had 3 high level flops with the franchise related to it 15 years before. It had significantly less marketing, absolutely no merchandise, retro or otherwise... the show hasn't even been rerun since the 90's. And it managed to have a stronger 40 million opening and continued second. It's made over 80 million in the US supposedly.

 

[LouisTheOtter]

I am somewhat surprised that nobody has yet mentioned this rather encouraging Forbes article about the value of "small franchises" to giant corporations like Disney:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothy...ven-small-franchises-like-the-muppets-matter/

Thank you, Ms. Pomerantz. I hope you and your kids enjoy the movie as much as I did. MMW proves once again that "small franchises" can (and have) made some wonderful movies.

 

[Drtooth]

While it puts things into perspective and all, the fact that it fell almost 10 million short of expectations still makes things look bleak, especially since the last film made most of its money here rather than overseas.

But yes, these smaller franchises do matter and can make money that return better than a huge blockbuster. The Muppets, by comparison of John Carter and Lone Ranger, are still a viable investment.

But it didn't hit that 20-25 million mark, it's deemed a failure already... not too much to be optimistic about. On the other hand, Detergent was supposed to open at 60 and only got like 52. So maybe that's saying something there. Trying not to delude myself with hope, but maybe next week will be a stronger movie going weekend.