Disney blows 8-year win streak
Disney blows 8-year win streak
And we were denied a wild 'Jumanji' sequel
What to know
Disney blows 8-year winning streak… The Mouse has been the box office leader every year since 2015, but in 2023, it was dethroned by one of its top rivals. These were top 5 the highest grossing studios of last year: In 5th place is Paramount, which made an estimated $2.03 billion total at the global box office. In 4th place is Sony just beating out Paramount with a $2.09 billion total. Thanks to Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse mostly. Then in 3rd place is Warner Bros, which is a little surprising considering it released the year’s top earning movie, Barbie. WB made $3.84 billion worldwide. And then Disney was number 2. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 was its only real box office achievement. As everything else was around break even, like The Little Mermaid and Elemental orr outright failures like Ant-Man 3, The Haunted Mansion, The Marvels, and Wish. And still Disney brought in $4.8 billion at the global box office. But it wasn’t enough to catch number one, Universal and its $4.9 billion haul. While Universal had a few flops like Renfield and Ruby Gillman, it also had a number of the year’s biggest successes including the Super Mario Bros Movie, Oppenheimer, and M3GAN. And Disney is definitely being a sore loser about all this, because in a note to the press, it tried to excuse itself by saying it released fewer movies this year and claim that it had the most titles of any studio in the top 10 this year (which is true). But is it really a triumph if those movies aren’t turning a profit? 🎟️
We were denied a wild direct sequel to Jumanji… In the late 90s, Sony batted around ideas for a Jumanji sequel and now, Chris Van Allsburg, who wrote and illustrated the original children’s book has opened up about one of downright bonkers idea. So you remember how at the end of Jumanji two French speaking girls are walking towards the board game on some unnamed beach? Van Allsburg told Syfy last month that in this sequel concept that beach was supposed to be Normandy, France. And that after the game made its way across the ocean, it ended up in an antique shop in the historic French town. Then, some time later, the President of the United States, who is visiting Normandy to commemorate D-Day walks into the shop and buys Jumanji for his kids. You can probably guess where this is going. Jumanji mayhem at The White House and in the halls of Congress. Allsburg explains “They had some crazy stuff. I think there was a gorilla that climbs the Washington Monument in an homage to King Kong.” Van Allsburg explains that the DC sequel concept also included animals getting chopped into pieces by helicopter blades but then because they’re magic, they re-combined into new hybrid species. The author called this “totally idiotic,” and just an excuse for Sony to show off what it could do with CGI at the time. What might have been, huh? 🦁
This Hollywood script doctor makes $300,000 a week… And he’s likely saved some of your favorite movies. Scott Frank might be one of the most under appreciated people in Holywood. He’s a credited screenwriter on Logan, Minority Report, and Out of Sight, we also wrote and directed The Queen’s Gambit. But a recent New Yorker profile is exposing his career as a top script doctor. Script doctors often go uncredited, but now we’re learning Frank made improvements to Saving Private Ryan, The Ring, Gravity, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Night at the Museum, Unfaithful, and a lot of the X-Men movies. It seems Frank is very in touch with how to improve characters, saying ”90% of what I get called in on is character work” but even he acknowledges that his $300k weekly fee is “insane.” 🩺
Doctors are pushing Hollywood for more realistic depictions of death… Really interesting article about how dying is portrayed on TV and in movies — and what Hollywood can do better to give death a more accurate portrayal. Here’s a stat for you: “Writers [are] 82 times more likely to use the word ‘killing,’ and 30 times more likely to use the word "murder," compared to 16 end-of-life terms combined, including "hospice," "last will and testament," or "chronic conditions." 🤔
And everything else
George R.R. Martin says 3 animated Game of Thrones spin offs are in the works… That’s good to hear, but uh they might want to get on with making them while Game of Thrones remains popular. ⚔️
The earliest version of Mickey Mouse is now public domain, so of course there’s a horror parody… That was fast. On the one hand, I’m glad people are allowed to do this, but on the other hand why is it always some schlocky horror film? 🐭
Emmys to include variety writing category after all… That’s good! By the way, did you know the Emmys are on Monday, Jan 15? That’s pretty soon. My guess is viewership will be very low. 📺
Sony won’t take away Playstation-bought Discovery shows after all… Well, that’s good! But remember, you don’t really own things you’ve bought on digital. 📀
Taylor Swift pushes vinyl record sales to 33-year high… That said, you know what you can own? Vinyl records. 🎵
Jenna Ortega rumored to be in talks for Taika Waititi’s Klara and the Sun… Everybody loves Jenna Ortega. ☀️
Barbie deemed an adapted screenplay at the Oscars… Which puts it among much stiffer competition. Oh well! 💄
Killers of the Flower Moon coming to Apple TV+ Jan. 12… In case you’ve been waiting. 🌖
Steve Yeun drops out of Marvel’s Thunderbolts… That’s definitely Marvel’s loss. ⚡️
Jack Black has joined the Minecraft movie… That’s definitely Minecraft’s gain. 🎮
Hacks season three is coming to Max this spring… It’s been 84 years. 👵🏻
Slow Horses gets renewed for a fifth season at Apple… It’s a good show. 🍎
Director Christopher Landon exits Scream 7… What a mess. 😱
What’s new
The Brothers Sun — Jan 4 | Netflix drama series | Ⓜ️ 61
Night Swim — Jan 5 | Horror movie in theaters | Ⓜ️