Although Strange World debuted in US theaters over the Thanksgiving long weekend, which alone could have guaranteed success for the family cartoon, the animated sci-fi flopped miserably: it brought in only $18.6 million, so the $180 million in production costs and marketing expenses because of this, the creators can register a loss of one hundred million dollars, our film would have to bring in roughly 360 million dollars to break even.
The release of Strange World was hugely anticipated in the LGBTQ community, as it is the first Disney tale to feature a gay teenager, queer 16-year-old Ethan Clade. As we wrote, according to Pride.com, Strange World is a family-friendly film that the whole family can enjoy, including young children, and Disney recommends viewing for ages six and up.
However, the number of viewers fell well short of their expectations. Lgbtqnation.com , the reason for the flop, in addition to some conservative and anti-LGBTQ parents refusing to take their kids to the movie, is because Disney "stabbed" the promotion: there were no Happy Meal toys, no pop songs from the soundtrack , not enough subway advertising. All of this may not be a coincidence - suggested the fans.
At the same time, the article notes that streaming can also play a role in the low movie ticket revenue, as many people prefer to wait until a movie is added to the Disney+ offer and watch it at home. (Incidentally, Stranger World will be shown on the online channel by Disney at Christmas.)
Although it is a fact that fewer and fewer people go to the cinema since the Covid epidemic, the quantified results of the premieres are comparable. Variety.com , citing Stranger World as one of Disney's worst opening weekends, points out that Encanto earned $96 million and Lightyear earned $118 million. So Stranger World might not be as great as LGBTQ circles claim, receiving a weak B rating from audiences on CinemaScore, and Variety's chief critic Peter Debruge, while praising the film's colorful visuals and characters, the story itself he called it relatively unimaginative.
The film probably won't make up for the backlog later either, partly because it won't be shown in cinemas in China, Russia, the Middle East, Malaysia and Indonesia, for example, because of the gay character.
Source: hirado.hu
