Minions Gets Best Previews for an Animated Pic in the Pandemic Era

 The little yellow heartstring tuggers have done it again. Minions: The Rise of Gru has managed to pull in not only the best previews for an animated picture in the pandemic era, but also nabbed themselves an Independence Day 4-day opening record, too. Entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A, Brandon Blake, breaks the Grus…er..news

                                                                          Brandon Blake


Independence Day Record

Over its 4-day Independence Day weekend opening, Minions: The Rise of Gru has netted a solid $125.1M. Its 3-day of $107M is also the second-best in the franchise, after the 2015 Minions movie. Its 4-day takings also are hot on the heels of the original Minions movie, which took in $128.7M


Of course, there’s no real question why. The comically wordless, frantic antics of the Minions IP has been backed by a multimillion dollar marketing campaign spanning the whole globe, and various kid-centric marketing items have netted extraordinary tie-in sales. Still, an IP that hasn’t dimmed in over 12 years is one worth celebrating. It’s also not one you can build with streaming alone, as the underperformance of animated films from Disney and Pixar continue to prove.

The Importance of Solid Release Dates

The Minion’s franchise also provides what marketing partners want- a stable and reliable release structure. When films with marketing tie-ins suddenly shift theatrical windows, or jettison them for streaming and day-and-date, partners get understandably angry. With careful manufacturing and marketing timelines, a whimsical shift can be devastating to these tie-in partners.


Spider-Man: No Way Home and several movies since have already proved that families want to go back to the cinema- and already are. Sonic 2 and the more surprising Sing 2 had fantastic traction for what was anticipated, too. Nor did the Minions release forget streaming altogether- a co-branded Minions: The Rise of Gru x The Office custom animation dropped on the studio’s streamer, Peacock.


Further evidence, if needed, that the argument never has been theatrical vs streaming. The most profitable films- including animation- are those that can leverage both smartly together.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is Kung Fu Panda 4 the Key to a Reinvigorated 2024 Box Office?

Image
 With Dune: Part Two having finally powered up the 2024 box office, it's time to build on that impetus if the wider box office recovery is to continue. There could be another strong contender lurking in the wings for this weekend’s releases- but it will doubtless surprise you to learn that this hope lies with the fourth installment of the animated Kung Fu Panda saga! Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment attorney Los Angeles , Brandon Blake, has more on this ironic twist for us.                                                                          Brandon Blake Two $40M Grosses on the Cards For the first time since July 2023 and the Barbenheimer dual release, we have a chance at not one, but two, films grossing over $40M this weekend. In fact, those figures may top $50M! While Dune: Part Two...
Read more

Netflix Ad Tier Turns in Fantastic Growth

Image
 What a difference half a year can make! With Netflix’s ad-supported subscription tier first launched only 18 months ago, the streamer has managed to nearly double its subscriber base since the start of 2024. Blake & Wang P.A. entertainment lawyer , Brandon Blake, fills in the details. Brandon Blake Impressive Subscriber Gains Netflix’s total subscribers for the ad-supported tier now number 40 million monthly active users. In January 2024, it was 23 million. The streamer was understandably gleeful to reveal this news at its first in-person Upfronts presentation in New York earlier this month. At its first-ever Upfronts presentation, which was held digitally in 2023, the ad tier had 5 million monthly active users.   Additionally, we were told that 40% of active signups now opt for the ad-supported plan, in countries where it is currently available. Of course, much of this can be attributed to a rather kind price ($7 domestically) for this tier, well below most of ...
Read more

Hulu on Disney+ is Officially Here

Image
While the Hulu on Disney+ Beta bundle has been live since last year, we have officially reached the point of full integration. Intriguingly, much of the executive focus on the new bundle has been around the technical advancements needed to unite the two platforms. You could take a look at entertainment lawyer Brandon Blake, from Blake & Wang P.A., looks in more depth at the united offering.                                              Brandon Blake Technical Advancements While few viewers are likely to know (or care, frankly) about the backstage technology that powers their viewing experience, Disney executives have been keen to hammer home the potential for happier, healthier subscriber engagement and retention with the new tech shift. They have gone as far as to call it the “most extensive technical advancement” since launch. At this point, it is clear that they ...
Read more