A Heat Wave For Chilly Box Office Thanks To Frozen II
Olaf said it best in Frozen:
When life gets rough, I like to hold on to my dream
Relaxing in the summer sun, just lettin’ off steam
Oh the sky would be blue, and you guys’ll be there too
When I finally do what frozen things do in summerrrrrrr
With predictions about a possible 1 billion dollar take, Frozen II comes into theaters like a summer heatwave over a chilly fall box office.
Christopher Palmeri of Bloomberg.com wrote:
Walt Disney Co. looks to have another hit on its hands with “Frozen II,” the sequel to the 2013 film that became the top-grossing animated picture of all time.
Disney expects the movie, which hits theaters Friday, to generate opening-weekend sales of about $100 million in the U.S. and Canada. Outside forecasters see more, with Exhibitor Relations projecting $113 million and Box Office Pro at $130 million… [but] topping the original 2013 film’s worldwide gross of $1.29 billion may also be a stretch. That picture became a cultural phenomenon — with frantic parents searching to find replicas of Elsa’s signature blue dress for their daughters and kids belting out the hit song “Let It Go” in endless YouTube videos.
David Miller, an analyst with Imperial Capital, predicts the movie will gross $970 million worldwide, less than the original. Many of the kids who saw the first film have reached an age at which they’ll be less likely to see an animated princess picture, he said.
Just Under a Billion
Ho hum. Only $970 million worldwide. Cineplexes will take that kind of disappointment:
Disney is delivering a big marketing push for the sequel, peddling white chocolate cupcakes at the Norway pavilion at the company’s Epcot theme park, along with backpacks, dolls and “Raised by Trolls” T-shirts.
Both Box Office Pro and Exhibitor Relations predict the film will be among the biggest hits this year. Their forecasts for total domestic sales range from $415 million to as much as $520 million. Budgets for Disney animated films typically approach $200 million.
Theater owners could use the help. Domestic ticket sales for the year to date are down 6.2%.
Check back with MickeyBlog.com on Monday, when we’ll have a better idea about Frozen II’s opening weekend take.