What's in store for the Muppets in 2012 article

[Drtooth]

It's amazingly well-done - and not just animated, either. It's performance capture, so those are the actor's real performances. Give it a shot, you might be surprised. My favorite adventure movie in a long, long time.

I am by no means a fan of motion capture. But I think that's because Zermerkis had a crappy system. This one looks far more full of life and vigor with GOOD character designs than any of his films did. Why he felt the need to make Polar Express look so whispy and zombie like was beyond me. But this system used here looks quite good. I still prefer entirely CGI animation that doesn't use MoCap, but this time they managed to make it look good.

 

[Speed Tracer]

I am by no means a fan of motion capture. But I think that's because Zermerkis had a crappy system. This one looks far more full of life and vigor with GOOD character designs than any of his films did. Why he felt the need to make Polar Express look so whispy and zombie like was beyond me. But this system used here looks quite good. I still prefer entirely CGI animation that doesn't use MoCap, but this time they managed to make it look good.

You're absolutely right. These characters are ALIVE.

 

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

i STILL think it looks weird and zombie like! Still....something about STILL bugs me, i dont know what but something!

 

[DarthGonzo]

Hasn't Disney gone on record saying that this film's officially a success? I don't have the source for this information, but people keep saying it on here so I assume it's true.

That was about 5 days into the release, when the movie was doing really well and people were starting to predict that the film might overtake Twilight in it's second weekend.

That didn't happen.

 

[zoebell]

i really wanted that 80 million mark. is there still a chance for that, given the rest of the christmas season?

 

[goldenstate5]

i really wanted that 80 million mark. is there still a chance for that, given the rest of the christmas season?

Yes. Very much so. These two weeks are pretty much going to put the film on sustained life support. But it'll die a quick death afterward, probably in the early 80's.

Chipmunks underperforming is a terrific thing. It proves to Disney that a box office slump did the film in, and not lack of interest. This'll brighten the franchise's prospects incredibly. Still, a box office slump is a box office slump... and it's unfortunately still going to shy Disney from making theatrical films for a long while.

 

[Drtooth]

That was about 5 days into the release, when the movie was doing really well and people were starting to predict that the film might overtake Twilight in it's second weekend.

That didn't happen.

That's because Twiblight has a larger fan base of shrieking teenage girls and the completely uninterested boyfriends they dragged to it. But even in that film's second week, it was only a matter of a couple million between that and The Muppets.

And like I said the hundred thousandth time, The Muppets direct competition was not Twilight, it was Happy Feet Two, Hugo, and Arthur Christmas... up until this past weekend, it managed to surpass them 3 weeks in a row... even then, this weekened it was a difference of 0.1 million. I felt AC was going to get a small Christmas bump.

It's not only a slumping box office, but multiple blockbuster movies coming out at once. There wasn't this much direct strong competition in the Summer! 3 Kids movies on opening weekend? At least 3 more big films came out this weekend, 3 more tomorrow. I doubt any of them will make budget with competition that strong. The bad news is because of this, it will most likely disappear from most theaters Wednesday. Not because it was unsuccessful, not because it underperformed, but because of a summer's worth of movies coming out in 2 weeks. Like I said, a suicide mission.

The movie did what it set out to do. It brought the characters back to a theatrical standpoint after the dismal performance of MFS. Heck, The Muppets, as it stands, has out performed (adjusting for inflation) 4 of 6 previous Muppet Movies. Not adjusting for inflation, it's the highest grossing Muppet movie period. Even outside the movie, we're seeing a small surge of merchandise. Granted, it's mostly not the stuff I'd collect (Adult Feetie pajamas don't do it for me), but it's better than the maybe one or two shirts we were seeing.

The movie ONLY has up to go when it hits internationally and even moreso on video. The movie wasn't going to make Toy Story money anyway.

 

[terrimonster]

i STILL think it looks weird and zombie like! Still....something about STILL bugs me, i dont know what but something!

It's the uncanny valley.

 

[beaker]

And like I said the hundred thousandth time, The Muppets direct competition was not Twilight, it was Happy Feet Two, Hugo, and Arthur Christmas... up until this past weekend, it managed to surpass them 3 weeks in a row... even then, this weekened it was a difference of 0.1 million. I felt AC was going to get a small Christmas bump.

It's not only a slumping box office, but multiple blockbuster movies coming out at once. There wasn't this much direct strong competition in the Summer!

More proof later Summer over direct holiday release may have proven more fruitful?

 

[Drtooth]

More proof later Summer over direct holiday release may have proven more fruitful?

Let's not mince words... If the Smurfs didn't kill it then, the Super Hero movies would have. I don't think it would have opened at 3rd and made half as much as it did. After all, that's when MFS was released.