Muppets Most Wanted Box Office Numbers

[beaker]

Exactly the point I'm trying to make.

It really feels like the reaction is "OH YEAH! I love those guys. I have all their movies on DVD. oh, they have a movie out...ehhh...I'll wait for netflix or something." or "Man! The Muppets have a new movie! We have to see it at once! Jason Segal saved the franchise [2011]...oh wait... saving the franchise means there's another movie? Ehhhhh It's probably not so good so I won't bother [2014]." Or even some Geewunner crap about loving the characters but refusing to see anything past MTM (except for ironically MCC) and then wondering why the franchise isn't current.

On the tiny plus side of hope, Muppet movies never made big bucks (except the first one... at 88 Mil, The Muppets was the second highest grossing) but hit hard on home video. And this thing will probably make more than MFS did by the end of the week into next weekend. So there's that. But calling it a flop for falling 3 million short... really?

I got banned from Tough Pigs for saying it...heavily chastised for saying it on here a decade ago...but I'm sorry, I'm going to say it...you CANNOT be a true Muppet fan and live in the past/reject post JH projects. You can hate AVMMC, Oz, Muppets Tonight, Pepe, LTS, whatever. But as a whole, I don't feel you can close off the Muppets past Jim Henson's passing and write everything off. Maybe that works for Star Wars fans or Star Trek people. 2011 TM, as much as I had issues with it, and this new film ARE MADE for the old school audience. It's all fan service. And I couldn't be happier with that.

But yeah, long as MMW did better box office than MFS and EIG, than I'm happy. Disney will keep making these movies just for their own amusement. It's the public, not Hollywood, that doesnt get Kerman and the Muffins.

 

[beaker]

Are you guys ready for another box office update?

What's that?

No?

Well sorry, here goes.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/daily/chart/
^Yesterday Muppets raked in 1.1 million dollars. Grand total now is 18 million dollars.

Considering that right now elementary schools across the country are on spring break, that's... awful. Normally the drop would be around 50 to 60 percent, with a Monday gross of about 2 to 3 million if the legs held strong, slowly decreasing throughout the week. Here it plummeted 77%. By the end of the work week, Muppets will already be taking in under a million a day, and will most likely end its second weekend just under 30 million.

I think it's about time that America at the very least seems a lost cause. Disney intentionally had Bobin and Stoller write in a world tour to market towards internationals, so let's see if that pays off.

Good. I don't think all too kindly of my own bloated braindead country of America.

Now if Europe, the Muppet's true love, tanks...well ok, I'll be pretty worried.

 

[beaker]

The hipster hype machine told people to like the 2011 Muppet film, so they did.
But it's not hip to like the new Muppet film. That's really what it's come down to. People do as they are told

I'm a sensitive, God-fearing man who wishes no ill will on people and will happily pat a passing kitten on the head.

But you don't want to see the look on my face when I visualize MMW grossing less than a derivative, intelligence-insulting, talent-wasting piece of garbage like The Nut Job.

Heh...well honestly, if you look at the reality of box office gross and reviews for non Pixar/Dreamworks cartoons...they all fail box office/critical review wise to the 2011 Muppet film and Muppets Most Wanted.

Muppets beat out Peabody. And I'm sure it'd be out any other third party cg cartoon.

I think I may live on an alternate reality...I look at Muppet Most Wanted as being on a whole other level of talent, cinematography, writing and all around magic that I have not seen a Muppet production contain...since like, the 1980's. How audiences and critics can't see that is beyond me.

 

[DarthGonzo]

I think I may live on an alternate reality...I look at Muppet Most Wanted as being on a whole other level of talent, cinematography, writing and all around magic that I have not seen a Muppet production contain...since like, the 1980's. How audiences and critics can't see that is beyond me.

Because the majority of audiences aren't hardcore Muppet fans who see things that way.

 

[goldenstate5]

I got banned from Tough Pigs for saying it...heavily chastised for saying it on here a decade ago...but I'm sorry, I'm going to say it...you CANNOT be a true Muppet fan and live in the past/reject post JH projects. You can hate AVMMC, Oz, Muppets Tonight, Pepe, LTS, whatever. But as a whole, I don't feel you can close off the Muppets past Jim Henson's passing and write everything off. Maybe that works for Star Wars fans or Star Trek people. 2011 TM, as much as I had issues with it, and this new film ARE MADE for the old school audience. It's all fan service. And I couldn't be happier with that.

It's outstanding that people can write off MCC and MTI, which were written by Jerry Juhl and just missing Jim and Richard. (although technically Frank didn't do any actual puppeteering in MTI)

I really dislike the "wrong sounding Muppets" Family Guy gag sometimes because it's just something to support that wildly dumb idea that it's totally different. I'm going to be honest: the difference in Whitmire and Henson performing Kermit is extremely subtle to me. If you play clips juxtaposed, the only thing I notice is that Henson's version is just a tad deeper and a bit more laid back. That's it. They don't sound massively different that would make me take pause. I think the only really striking one is Statler, and that's because so many people took a go at him.

Now, if people grew up with it and listening to that makes their ears bleed... okay whatever. But to say that all of it is crap? That just sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy to me.

But they are not what is killing MMW. The fact is that a lot of people just aren't into Muppets beyond the nostalgia-driven reboot. Jim Hill Media reported the other day that Dave Golez said they may try to revive the Muppet Show on Disney Channel as a nostalgic companion to the upcoming "Girl Meets World"... but I'm not sure what Disney's plans are anymore. I hope they have the sense to bring them back to television.

This is super controversial, so stick with me -- but I'm not sure if a third movie would be any good. Muppets Take Manhattan to me struck as a literal childrens' film that seemed written as a Sesame Street movie rather than a Muppet movie... and that's why it was made: GMC didn't do as well as TMM in the box office, but did gangbusters on family home video. So they wrote a movie designed towards children. (Muppet Babies, anyone?) I'm nervous that Disney would take this route with a third, so maybe it's good we won't see that.

 

[Drtooth]

The hipster hype machine told people to like the 2011 Muppet film, so they did.
But it's not hip to like the new Muppet film. That's really what it's come down to. People do as they are told

The thing that drives me up the wall is this. If the word of mouth was that the film was this horrible, poorly done on every level, torturous to watch and was condemned as a failure on those facts, I wouldn't mind. But it's all "nyeehhhhh, this is a slight disappointment. That's the worst thing ever" and getting bad reviews for not being as good. Not terrible, not awful, a slight dip in matter of taste quality. Yes, people are avoiding a film and letting the franchise die because they've decided that a shrill, unpleasable 25% says it's a slight disappointment compared to the last one. Not "It's good in its won right." Frog forbid a movie's liked for what it is and not what another movie is. They knew Jason wasn't involved since it was announced. The film makers said they were going in a different direction true to the older Muppet films. They were upset Jason wasn't involved and it wasn't the same film. Uh, research?

 

[Pinkflower7783]

I personally think even if they don't get a tv show there's plenty of room for tv specials and they don't have to be holiday related. Sometimes you gotta go back to where you started.

 

[Muppet fan 123]

I can't stand this anymore. I have to step in and give you guys the facts.

• Muppet movies are cheap to make. Look at some of Disney's other franchises. Planes barely made any money, yet two more sequels are on the way. How many Buddies movies have they made by now? Phineas and Ferb? My point is all of these franchises cost barely any money to Disney and the Muppets fall into this category. I think it's safe to say we won't be seeing another Lone ranger sequel, but we will be seeing more Muppet productions. My next guess would be that they're heading to television.
• Disney has way too much invested in the franchise right now. They are in no way just going to dump the whole thing just because one movie did poorly. They realize the Muppets have been around for years and beloved. They saw how much people got excited for the last movie, and that there is demand for it.
• I'm pretty sure Disney realizes their mistake. Putting it up against Divergent, and a month that already has two family films in it was a dangerous move. Personally, I think the November date works the best to the Muppets, and most Disney movies released at that time generally rake in the most money.
• The movie will most probably do well internationally. The film takes place all over Europe, so I have no doubt that it won't do well in the EU. The good news is that Divergent doesn't come out in the UK until April 4th, so the Muppets have one good week before that dumb movie comes into the picture.
• You guys should read this article that the LA Times spoke to Disney distributor David Hollis who said the film's money was "definetley a disappointment" but he said (quote)

“Overall it’s a little disappointing,” said Dave Hollis, president of global theatrical distribution at Disney. While noting that tracking had "Most Wanted" opening at more than $20 million, he added that the film is "an asset of the company across many lines of business." He said it "will likely hit $100 million or more worldwide on a budget of $54 million" and has "a lot of business left to do.”
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-divergent-muppets-gods-not-dead-box-office-results-20140323,0,1409060.story#ixzz2x4qPUcTo

I think the "many lines of business" is the key sentence here. This is to say that Disney is in no way finished with the franchise. Maybe not in movies, but is for sure not the end of the Muppets in any way. Like I said, they'd probably be heading to TV soon, and in a couple of years, Disney will roll out another movie after they spend some more time on television and in the parks so they can draw in more fans.

My suggestion: Go to the movie and celebrate it along with fellow Muppet fans. I wouldn't worry about the numbers until it gets picked up overseas and once the Blu-Ray/DVD sales numbers come out. It's stupid to worry about it now anyway, and this is in no means a franchise killer.

 

[CensoredAlso]

I got banned from Tough Pigs for saying it...heavily chastised for saying it on here a decade ago...but I'm sorry, I'm going to say it...you CANNOT be a true Muppet fan and live in the past/reject post JH projects.

Well I wouldn't ban you for it, heh, but I can't say I agree with you. It's not about living in "the past" or "the present." It's simply about preference. Some fans prefer the aesthetic of the JH projects. That is just as valid as someone preferring the post JH aesthetic. Again, it's about personal taste.

And frankly, a lot of fans were deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Henson. To tell them they must get over it and accept movies he had nothing do it with is a bit insensitive. That's kinda like if a parent dies and a child is scolded for refusing to refer to their step parent as "Dad." A child has the right to keep certain love personal. So do fans.

 

[Pinkflower7783]

I agree with heralde on this and besides what is a true muppet fan? Last time I checked there were no rules stating what does or doesn't make you a TRUE fan.