Muppets Most Wanted: What went wrong?

[LaRanaRene]

The only problem is that it came out in March. Not many families want to see a movie in March. I bet it would have made more money if it were released in Summer.

 

[JJandJanice]

The only problem is that it came out in March. Not many families want to see a movie in March. I bet it would have made more money if it were released in Summer.

I have to sadly disagree with that. Summer is when movie studios release their REALLY big guns. I'm taking Pixar films, Marvel films, big action movies like Transformers and Fast 7, stuff that has a huge following both from new fans and nostalgic fans like Jurassic World and Star Wars, things that are super hot at the time like Harry Potter or Hunger Games. As much as it kills me to say it, but Muppets Most Wanted wouldn't have stand a chance against the likes of those. Mind you this is coming from someone who is both a HUGE Muppets fan and a worker at a movie theater. So I think I know a little about what I'm talking about here.

I think probably the best time for this movie to be released, maybe the holidays, but even than I'm not too sure. At the end of the day, as far as family films released around the same time, it just suffer from stiff competition from the likes of Peabody and Sherman and the Lego Movie. I also STRONGLY disagree with the theory that it "took too long after 2011's the Muppets." Two and a half years really isn't that long of a time for a squeal, in fact that's pretty much normal. Most Marvel squeals take about that long and they still perform VERY well. Heck we waited 12 years from Toy Story 2 to Toy Story 3, fandom doesn't fade away quite that quickly. Not to mention if they had released MMW sooner and thereby rushing it, it probably would of been AWFUL. Good movies that are at least attempting to make an effort to be a good film take a lot of work and a lot of time.

But also and I'm sure someone else bought this point up as well, but I'm not going to read every comment here, forgive me on that confession. But 2011's the Muppets also had a couple advantages as to why it did so well compared to MMW. First was just overall better writing. Other than perhaps spending too much time on the characters of Gary and Mary (though granted it did lead to the award winning "Man or Muppet musical number), the way this film was written was pretty smart. Playing to the whole "the Muppets aren't popular anymore" thing was a good move, and really added some heart to the movie. Which also played up to the nostalgia people had, after all before that, we didn't have a Muppet movie in 12 years (needless to say, I'm not counting "made for TV," like Kermit's Swamp Years, MWoO and IAVMMCM). Most Wanted didn't have the advantage of nostalgia on its side. But as far as anything wrong with the film itself, speaking as a huge Muppets fan, I say not a darn thing. Maybe the plot was a bit "80's sitcom" in terms of an evil look a like. But I thought the charm of the characters were there, the songs were fun, the human characters portrayed by Tina Fey, Ty Burrell and Ricky Garvis were all good characters that DID NOT overshadow the Muppets or even attempted to, it was a really good and fun Muppets and therefore family picture. It is a shame it didn't perform better at the box office, but it's not the first nor last time a generally good film will sadly under performance in the box office. Heck in my view for a long time the animated Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was the best Batman to come out (I'm also a huge Batman fan FYI) and yes I'm including the first Tim Burton Batman film and that sadly was a flop.

 

[jvcarroll]

You know, looking back on it, the problem was probably timing in general. It wasn't seasonal. The Muppets kind of missed their window for a follow-up film to their 2011 success and there just didn't seem to be a reason to release another one built on the steam of the previous one after that had gone.

The TV show is getting all sorts of buzz and that's mainly because it's something new and it'll be easily accessible for free on television. That's where the Muppets belong. That's their domain. Movies are the reward for their successes elsewhere. And let's face it. Unless you're a dinosaur, superhero or some sort of teenage vampire, your chances are going to be pretty tough at the box office these days.

The point is, the Muppets are fine. MMW wasn't the success it should have been, but it wasn't an embarrassment either. And now they're where they should have been all along. Back on TV!

 

[Drtooth]

I have to sadly disagree with that. Summer is when movie studios release their REALLY big guns. I'm taking Pixar films, Marvel films, big action movies like Transformers and Fast 7, stuff that has a huge following both from new fans and nostalgic fans like Jurassic World and Star Wars, things that are super hot at the time like Harry Potter or Hunger Games. As much as it kills me to say it, but Muppets Most Wanted wouldn't have stand a chance against the likes of those. Mind you this is coming from someone who is both a HUGE Muppets fan and a worker at a movie theater. So I think I know a little about what I'm talking about here.

March worked out lovely the year before for Disney with that Wizard of Oz film and this year with Cinderella. So that's what they were thinking releasing that film on that date. It sure as heck wouldn't have worked in Summer. Look how "well" their precious Planes 2 did when released in July after the first one was a moderate success. And that was only there because Good Dinosaur was delayed.

The thing is, last year was a crappy year for movies, and a lot of that blame falls on movie goers who would rather watch movies on phones to kill time than pay for them. Seems that the only films that really succeed last year were massive blockbuster Marvel type films, and just barely qualified as successful. The highest grossing was GOTG, with a 94 million dollar opening. About half what Avengers made and less than half of Jurassic World. Family films were hit hard, even big name Dreamworks's Dragon film opened weak over here (but made a crapload of cash overseas). Inside Out opened about 90 Mil (unless I';m wrong). Best performing family film of last year only managed a 70 mil, in March, but still 70 mil. Then you look at other films that did the same amount as MMW, Book of Life and The Boxtrolls. Don't see why both films failed to make that much, and I was shocked that BOL didn't garner a huge Hispanic audience. Comedies that weren't named "22 Jump Street" all failed last year as well.

Still, the fact anyone paid to see "The Nut Job" makes this pretty unfair.

You know, looking back on it, the problem was probably timing in general. It wasn't seasonal. The Muppets kind of missed their window for a follow-up film to their 2011 success and there just didn't seem to be a reason to release another one built on the steam of the previous one after that had gone.

That's the catch 22. If it doesn't come out a year later, it loses the public conscience, but if they rushed the thing out, it probably would have been lousy. I swear, had Peabody and Sherman and MMW switched release dates, both films would have been more successful. Disney works well early March, Dreamworks in late. Croods did very well, Home did better than most (at least domestically)... Not to mention that both films together look like desperate attempts to revive pop culture. Of course, Disney also botched the crap out of MMW's international release, so that's their fault right there. Planes 2 made about 20 mil more internationally because it was released to more markets. MMW was essentially North America and parts of Europe. And even there, scant parts of Europe that barely got it.

 

[mr3urious]

Family films were hit hard, even big name Dreamworks's Dragon film opened weak over here (but made a crapload of cash overseas). Inside Out opened about 90 Mil (unless I';m wrong). Best performing family film of last year only managed a 70 mil, in March, but still 70 mil.

I'm glad (big-name) animated films are performing a lot better this year. Home made more in the domestic market than most of Dreamworks' output since Rise of the Guardians, while Inside Out had the biggest opening gross since Toy Story 3, and the 2nd SpongeBob movie proved that a movie based on a current TV show that utilizes (mostly) hand-drawn visuals can be a success.

 

[Drtooth]

With Dreamworks, they haven't had a real money loser, and at worst they make their money back on international viewings. Of course, strange concepts and poor timing prevented the American BO for their last few movies to reach their potential. Very disappointed Penguins of Madagascar didn't become the hit it was supposed to (even though it would have been at the expense of BH6), maybe because the franchise's last movie was just out of reach enough from this one and the TV series, while having a staccato run ion Nicktoons, ended years before this film came out.

I've noticed other than Strange Magic, there really haven't been any fourth or fifth party animation studios releasing that much this year. Just the standard crop of Pixar, Dreamworks (which only released one), Universal (and only because it's Minions), and Blue Sky. Last year there was too many released, and junk like Nut Job and Return to Oz (which bombed hilariously) pretty much watered down anything that wasn't called "The Lego Movie."