Strange World

[Ben]

Xactly. I didn’t understand a word of this, natch, and yet I got more from this trailer than anything else revealed so far. Still not a fan of Disney humans, but the visuals, and their scope, also got me a *little* more intrigued to see this too.

[Daniel]

What really stood out to me was the small moment at the 1:17 mark. Also at 1:28 with the cloud-like creatures, weird but kinda cool. Looks like they glow.

[Dacey]

I just heard from a reliable source that Strange World will hit Disney+ before Christmas.

Which, as with Encanto, would explain the lack of an aggressive marketing campaign.

[Farerb]

While exhibition has received word that Disney’s animated Thanksgiving release Strange World will hit Disney+ in time for the year-end holidays, there’s a robust theatrical window ahead for Wakanda Forever, definitely more than 45 days, I understand, with no plans for a holiday drop on the studio’s OTT service.

Source:
https://deadline.com/2022/11/box-office ... 235169891/

[Ben]

Yes, this isn’t the hugest surprise, being that it’s Encanto and Eternals over again, releasing around Thanksgiving and then putting the Disney film on D+, which makes sense, while holding back Marvel until the new year, which also makes sense. Which just shows you where the emphasis is at the company thesedays.

Except that, last year, things played out unexpectedly, though, wth Encanto (dreadful as it was) surprising with a zeitgeist-tapping run, and Eternals bombing as the second lowest grossing MCU release. By then it was too late to extend Encanto to hoover up more cash, and they let Eternals limp on until Spidey came and did what it was supposed to, filling that MCU hole (and how, even if it didn’t immediately end up on D+ as it started it’s digital run in '22).

This time, things are going more to the usual plan: let the Disney film fizzle — which really should have been Disenchanted and hold Strange World for March — and extend Wakanda as long as possible to try and beat those Spidey numbers (although I think they’re going to drop off dramatically after week two as more casual fans just wait out that 45-day window).

Disney is not a huge proponent of theatrical these days. Or even a huge proponent of "Disney" itself…

[Farerb]

Disney really dominated the box office before 2020, and then they decided to give all of that up for an unsustainable streaming service. Disney+ was one of their biggest mistakes in my opinion.

[ShyViolet]

Disney is not a huge proponent of theatrical these days. Or even a huge proponent of "Disney" itself…

Well said!

[Dacey]

Disney’s going to absolutely dominate December with Avatar. I wouldn’t be surprised if they even pull Wakanda Forever from some theaters to ensure it has as many shows as possible.

And Ben, you don’t have to always bring up how you didn’t like Encanto.

[Ben]

Always, Dace. Always.

[Evergreen]

Yes, this isn’t the hugest surprise, being that it’s Encanto and Eternals over again, releasing around Thanksgiving and then putting the Disney film on D+, which makes sense, while holding back Marvel until the new year, which also makes sense. Which just shows you where the emphasis is at the company thesedays.

Except that, last year, things played out unexpectedly, though, wth Encanto (dreadful as it was) surprising with a zeitgeist-tapping run, and Eternals bombing as the second lowest grossing MCU release. By then it was too late to extend Encanto to hoover up more cash, and they let Eternals limp on until Spidey came and did what it was supposed to, filling that MCU hole (and how, even if it didn’t immediately end up on D+ as it started it’s digital run in '22).

This time, things are going more to the usual plan: let the Disney film fizzle — which really should have been Disenchanted and hold Strange World for March — and extend Wakanda as long as possible to try and beat those Spidey numbers (although I think they’re going to drop off dramatically after week two as more casual fans just wait out that 45-day window).

Disney is not a huge proponent of theatrical these days. Or even a huge proponent of "Disney" itself…

Strange World would have been a much better fit for a spring or summer release. Wakanda Forever is in a better position than Eternals for sure, but probably not a perfect one what with Chadwick Boseman's death.

I'm trying to look on the positive side with WDAS films moving more and more to Disney+--it makes a return of hand-drawn animation more feasible at least.

[Ben]

I would argue that Boseman's death is actually helping Wakanda's stratospheric BO, in being both a cathartic experience for fans, and as an inadvertent way of it not just being a straight retread of the first.

And I donut think there’s any upside to Disney films going more and more to D+. If we *are* going to get more hand-drawn films then it makes the chances of any of them making it to cinemas even more remote.

[Evergreen]

And I donut think there’s any upside to Disney films going more and more to D+. If we *are* going to get more hand-drawn films then it makes the chances of any of them making it to cinemas even more remote.

If they ever did come back, it would only be because Disney+ offers an alternative to films the company doesn't consider viable for a theatrical release.... Theatrical hand-drawn animation probably will never come back, no, but I'll take streaming hand-drawn animation without hesitation.

[Bill1978]

I don't understand why Disney would happily announce when Strange World is coming to streaming BEFORE it hits cinemas. Well, I kind of do, cause if you announce it after opening weekend it looks like you are admitting it underperformed BUT by announcing it beforehand you are telling people no need to go to the cinemas when its coming to streaming for free before the end of the year. Therefore, good chance the film is going to underperform anyway. Poor film is in a no-win situation.

[EricJ]

Well, for the (ahem) moment, the company is still being run by Bob "Velvet Rope" Chapek, who thinks that Disney+ is the Future, even if they have to bonfire the rest of the studios to prove it.

The bigger problem is that the ads are so being coy and showing the wacky gags, they STILL don't give a clue about what the major arc of the story is...A case I seem to remember being the same problem with "Treasure Planet".

(The ads bill it as "From the makers of Encanto and Big Hero 6"--Oh, there's a ringing endorsement of Disney.
It almost sounds like they wanted to pick other vague, unsatisfying titles to invoke: "From the studio that brought you Raya & the Last Dragon and Atlantis!")

[Ben]

Treasure Planet was billed as "Treasure Island in space". Pretty easy to work out what the story is from that.

It’s always been tradition for studios to bill a film using similar big titles to remind audiences of what came before, and shorthand for "you liked them? You’ll like this". In Disney's case they always use their biggest recent hit, and a title that will resonate with the kind of film the new one is. Therefore Encanto, being their most recent zeitgeist-tapping moment (despite, well, you know, Dacey…!) and Big Hero 6 being a male-centric action-adventure, and (whatever you might think about it) also clearly a big hit. Far from evoking vague, unsatisfying titles, this instantly tells me it’s from the people that made "that Bruno movie" but that it’s going to be more fun and actiony.

But, yeah, still very little on the story, though again it’s derivative of so much it doesn’t take much to work it out. "Jumanji in an inner-world", perhaps?