Lightyear (2022) (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

Article about the possible future of Pixar after the "disappointment" of Lightyear at the box office.

https://www.slashfilm.com/902555/li...-at-the-box-office-what-happens-to-pixar-now/

 

[Jake Lipson]

I really hate that articles like this are being written as if Lightyear's theatrical run is already over. Even though the opening was lower than expected, it could still put up good numbers the rest of the summer if it holds well. It got a CinemaScore of A-, which indicates that audiences who did show up were generally happy. It might benefit from word of mouth. I will be very interested to see what the percentage drop is next weekend.

The next Pixar release is Elemental, which is not scheduled until basically a year from now. It is on the calendar for June 16, 2023. Disney has plenty of time to watch how Lightyear (and Strange World from Walt Disney Animation Studios in November) play out at the box office before having to make a decision on how to proceed.

This is not the start that was expected But the opening is also not the end of the road for Lightyear either. That's why it's called an "opening."

 

[Clark Green]

Pixar will be just fine.

Right now I think two main things caused this one to see a tepid opening. First being so many people now are conditioned to seeing Disney and Pixar stuff from comfort of their homes on D+ so they figured they'd save the $50-100 it costs now to take a family of 4-5 to a theater, especially now that the $100 movie money is now needed to buy pricier food and gas.
Other issue could be there is now a lot of folks angry at Disney for their new politics and other hot button issues so they are avoiding anything Disney now.

But it will be a big hit when it does hit D+ and probably will being in more subscriptions.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Other issue could be there is now a lot of folks angry at Disney for their new politics and other hot button issues so they are avoiding anything Disney now.

That doesn't seem to be affecting Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness at all. That movie has a current box office total of $942 million without playing in either China or Russia.

 

[Clark Green]

People don't think Disney in a case like that, they automatically think Marvel, and Marvel always equal fun and big money.

 

[Sam Favate]

I very much doubt that people are staying away from this movie because of politics. In fact, all Disney is guilty of is trying to stay out of politics (the company said they wouldn't donate to any political candidate), but to some people, I guess that's taking a political stand.

The cost is an issue, for sure. It easily costs us $80-$90 or more for a family of four to go to the movies, and that's at matinee prices.

I think audiences aren't used to seeing Buzz without Woody and the gang, and there is something to be said for the special nature of the way those characters play off of one another, which is something this movie must, by necessity, lack. That said, I do think most Toy Story fans would enjoy this if they gave it a chance.

 

[Clark Green]

I very much doubt that people are staying away from this movie because of politics. In fact, all Disney is guilty of is trying to stay out of politics (the company said they wouldn't donate to any political candidate), but to some people, I guess that's taking a political stand.

The cost is an issue, for sure. It easily costs us $80-$90 or more for a family of four to go to the movies, and that's at matinee prices.

I think audiences aren't used to seeing Buzz without Woody and the gang, and there is something to be said for the special nature of the way those characters play off of one another, which is something this movie must, by necessity, lack. That said, I do think most Toy Story fans would enjoy this if they gave it a chance.

Maybe not 100% politics in the true definition but they dipped their toes into some current and very hot topics that they never should have. Much of it was forced in a way.

But your other point is very valid in that folks maybe wanted the gang back together and this was a bit too much of a departure to invest their money in, especially when now many are forced to decide if they want to use extra money to pay for high priced gas or food.

 

[Greg.K]

The cost is an issue, for sure. It easily costs us $80-$90 or more for a family of four to go to the movies, and that's at matinee prices.

Yup. And knowing it will be on Disney+ in a couple months has to factor in pretty heavily.

 

[Wayne_j]

Finally saw this today, I was the only person in the theater. Decent middle tier pixar but nothing to write home about. Had surprisingly several similarities to Top Gun Maverick.

 

[Jake Lipson]

I was the only person in the theater.

On the one hand, that sounds safe for you as far as Covid is concerned because it means you weren't shoulder to shoulder with other people. But on the other hand, that's also too bad. I wonder if they would have still screened it to an empty room if you hadn't shown up to that particular time?

Had surprisingly several similarities to Top Gun Maverick.

Such as? I have seen and liked both but didn't think about Maverick at all while I was watching Lightyear.

 

[Wayne_j]

On the one hand, that sounds safe for you as far as Covid is concerned because it means you weren't shoulder to shoulder with other people. But on the other hand, that's also too bad. I wonder if they would have still screened it to an empty room if you hadn't shown up to that particular time?


Such as? I have seen and liked both but didn't think about Maverick at all while I was watching Lightyear.

Spoiler

Early in both movies Lightyear and Maverick tries to fly their ship/plane at a necessary high speed. Both steal a plane/ship.

 

[Thomas Newton]

Spoiler

Zurg can't be Buzz's dad if he literally is Buzz.

Pixar could "fix" that by going "All You Zombies" on us. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire …

 

[jayembee]

On the one hand, that sounds safe for you as far as Covid is concerned because it means you weren't shoulder to shoulder with other people. But on the other hand, that's also too bad. I wonder if they would have still screened it to an empty room if you hadn't shown up to that particular time?

It's my understanding that theaters these days just start the ball rolling at the appointed time, and let the films run, even though there may not be anyone attending. There are people who show up late, after all.

When my wife and I finally went to see Eternals at a local theater (just before it was due to end its run), we had been directed to the wrong auditorium. When we walked in, we saw Encanto playing on the screen, and thought it was a trailer. We were the only ones there. After several minutes passed, and we realized it was the movie itself playing and not a trailer, we went back to find out which auditorium we were supposed to be in. Fortunately, we'd arrived early enough that we didn't miss the beginning of Eternals. At any rate, Encanto has been playing with no audience.

 

[Jake Lipson]

Spoiler

Pixar could "fix" that by going "All You Zombies" on us. Out of the frying pan, and into the fire …

Spoiler

I think there is an easier fix. They could have had Buzz mistake the old Buzz for his dad at first and directly referenced it as being wrong. This at least would have acknowledged the continuity change and dealt with it instead of ignoring it altogether. They already have this version of Buzz saying lines verbatim from the original Toy Story, so it wouldn't have been too strange to deal with the misconception. Then you could at least say that the idea of Zurg being Buzz's father was in the source movie, but the toy was programmed wrong or something. It wouldn't have been perfect, but it would have been better than nothing.

I really hope that Angus McLane goes into the choice to change course on the Blu-ray commentary track when that comes out. He was an animator on Toy Story 2 for Buzz, so it seems odd that he would contradict his own work without at least trying to pay lip service to explaining the change. And like I said, I actually like the Buzz-is-Zurg idea in the context of this movie; it wouldn't bother me at all if the scene in Toy Story 2 never existed. But it does exist, so I don't like that they just tossed it aside. Oh well. It didn't ruin this movie for me or anything but sticks out as a sore thumb because the movie managed to honor Toy Story so well in other ways.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

First, some additional thoughts on my post from yesterday: While it's sort of fun to talk about things like, "Why didn't Andy have a toy of Sox?", all of that is ultimately just talk. It's one of those nitpick things film fans like to point out, but it didn't distract from my enjoyment of Lightyear at all. We know as audience members in 2022 that the real reason Andy doesn't have Sox is because Sox did not exist in 1995.

Did Andy ever have any Buzz-related toys other than Buzz?

I don't recall that he had Zurg or whatever.

I don't recall the movies ever showing Buzz-related toys other than Buzz himself period, but I could just be forgetful in my old age!

 

[TravisR]

Did Andy ever have any Buzz-related toys other than Buzz?

I don't recall that he had Zurg or whatever.

I don't recall the movies ever showing Buzz-related toys other than Buzz himself period, but I could just be forgetful in my old age!

Andy largely (exclusively?) only had one toy from all of the toy lines that he had. Mrs. Potato Head was his sister's, the Round Up Gang came from the toy collector, Zurg was in the toy store.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Andy largely (exclusively?) only had one toy from all of the toy lines that he had. Mrs. Potato Head was his sister's, the Round Up Gang came from the toy collector, Zurg was in the toy store.

Yeah, obviously I remember the Woody-related toys. Just wasn't sure what we'd seen related to Buzz - didn't recall anything other than Buzz himself, but wasn't sure.

Since Andy never owned Zurg or any other Buzz-related toys, I don't know why some seem hung up on the fact he didn't have Socks.

I mean, more kids wanted Darth Vader action figures than 3PO or R2, and since Socks is essentially an amalgamation of those 2, it's not a shock he wouldn't have that character.

Socks feels more like a toy a kid would want a stuff version of vs. an action figure. I mean, Socks isn't the most active character in terms of "playability"!

 

[Malcolm R]

It's my understanding that theaters these days just start the ball rolling at the appointed time, and let the films run, even though there may not be anyone attending. There are people who show up late, after all.

Seems like with today's technology, they'd be able to connect the projection systems with the point-of-sale system in the box office and not run the show unless a ticket has been sold. But I have no idea if any of them are sophisticated enough to actually do that.

The way some theaters bitch-and-moan about the price of projector lamps you'd think they'd go the extra step to save the system from running for unnecessary shows to empty rooms.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Most chain theaters these days have their showtimes programmed into the projector servers for the week in advance, and the entire system runs automated. They’ve essentially made a calculation that the cost of running a movie to an empty house occasionally is less than the cost of hiring a full time projectionist or technician for each location.

 

[Ross Gowland]

I was a projectionist in the days of celluloid. Back then, I’d run the film for a few minutes, but if the auditorium was still empty, I’d switch off the lamp and let the film spool through to the end in reel… er, real time.