Talk about your Hollywood endings. On
the very same day that Disney "Frozen" won the Academy Award for Best
Animation Feature, this Walt Disney Animation Studios production then becomes a
member of Hollywood's exclusive
Billion Dollar Club.
(L to R) Peter Del Vecho, producer of Disney "Frozen," Jennifer Lee and
Chris Buck onstage at the Dolby Theatre as they win this year's Academy
Award for Best Animated Feature. Photo by Adam Taylor. Copyright
American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. All rights reserved
Now you have to understand the crew at WDAS never ever
expected to be here. I mean, I still remember all of the panicked phone calls
& e-mails that I got back in late June of last year. This was right after
that first teaser trailer for Disney "Frozen" had been released to the Web. And based on what people were saying
about Olaf (If I'm remembering correctly, the reply that most often got posted
in this YouTube video's discussion section was "KILL IT! KILL IT WITH
FIRE!!"), my friends who worked on this production were genuinely concerned
that moviegoers weren't going to give "Frozen" a chance.
Well, as you can see by the $388.7 million worth of tickets that
have been sold to date for this Chris Buck / Jennifer Lee film in North
America as well as those $611.5 million worth of tickets that have
been sold to date overseas, moviegoers really were willing to give Disney
"Frozen" a chance.
And as for this film's current $1,000.2 billion worldwide
total … Well, friends who work at WDAS are still obviously jazzed about
"Frozen" 's Oscar win as well as the fact that their movie has just
passed this massive milestone (Which — for those of you who are keeping count
out there — means that Disney "Frozen" is now 18th on Box Office
Mojo's list of all time worldwide top box office earners. More to the point, it's only the second animated feature in Hollywood history to reach this threshold).
Copyright 2010 Pixar Disney. All rights reserved
But you know what's funny? In that great Texas tradition of
"Too much ain't enough," the very same people who once dreamed that Disney
"Frozen" could possibly blow through the billion dollar barrier are
now looking a little further up Box Office Mojo's all time worldwide box office
earners list. At "Toy Story 3
," to be specific. Which currently
occupies the No. 11th spot with a worldwide box office total of "just"
$1,063.2 billion.
Given that only $63 million separates Disney
"Frozen" and the current top grossing animated feature of all time
(More importantly, given that this WDAS production doesn't actually open in
Japan 'til March 15th), there are those in Burbank who are now wondering if
this acclaimed animated feature still have enough gas left in the tank to roll
past one more box office milestone.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
To be honest, it's kind of hard to predict what's going to
happen next with Disney "Frozen" in North America.
I mean, this past weekend — during its 15th week in release — this WDAS
release still managed to sell $3.6 million in tickets. And after a Oscar win,
films do traditionally experience a box office bump. The only problem is that
the DVD & Blu-ray version of Disney "Frozen"
hits store shelves
on March 18th (More to the point, this film became available as a digital HD
download this past Tuesday). Which means that this Walt Disney Animation
Studios production really only has two weeks left to sell tickets in North
America.
Now as for how Disney "Frozen" will do in Japan
… Given that "Tangled
" sold $31 million worth of tickets in that
country back in March of 2011 and "Wreck-It Ralph
" sold $29.6 million
worth of tickets back in March of last year, the smart money is now on Disney
"Frozen" selling at least $35 – $40 million worth of tickets when it
opens in Japan later this month. But if this WDAS production becomes a
phenomenon in Japan
the way it has in the US,
a $60 million gross in that country is not out of the question.
Copyright Disney Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved
So what do you folks think? Does Disney "Frozen"
actually have what it takes to become the top earning animated feature of all
time? Or will this WDAS production just have to settle for being 2013's Best
Animated Feature (Which has to be really sweet. Given that — in the 13 years since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences first introduced the Best Animated Feature category — "Frozen" is the first Walt Disney Productions Studios production to win this award)? Not to mention becoming the newest member of the Billion
Dollar Earner Club?
Your thoughts?