Shrek vs Pearl Harbor - the batle continues

[Darth23]

Tuesdays' numbers:

1 PEARL HARBOR - 2,904,046

2 SHREK - 2,804,248


Pearl Harbor could drop behind Shrek tomorrow. Shrek won Sunday and has been creeping up on PH for a while now.

[CMJ]

I expect PH to be ahead by a nose until Friday.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I think swordfish will win the weekend with Evolution second I still think PH will be third with Shrek fourth. What will defently happen is that Shrek will crash and burn the week after that when Atlantis comes out. Disney will take all the money way from Shrek.

[CMJ]

Interesting theory...BUT SHREK is performing better than just about all Disney animated films(besides LION KING). I think it may hold well even when ATLANTIS comes out.

[JonathanLB]

Shrek will beat the living you-know-what out of that stupid Disney film. DreamWorks is far better than Disney anyway, and finally they are showing their muscle.

Shrek WILL beat PH this weekend. Duh.

[Darth23]

I said 'batle'. :o


Shrek is in for the long haul. Atlantis will be a flash in the pan. Dinosaur divided by two. :)

Actually Evolution could take away from Shrek this weekend, but I think that Pearl Harbor is over.

[Jedi Master Carr]

I don't think PH is over it will still make between 200-250 which is really good. I don't see a dominate film this summer unless its Jurassic Park 3 or Planet of the Apes.

[JonathanLB]

Yeah, I liked Pearl Harbor, but it's just another blockbuster that opened on Memorial Day weekend like basically every single other one that opened then that is dropping like a rock. You cannot say, "oh gee, 50% fall is not that bad." Umm...yes it is. Holiday or no holiday, 50% is terrible. Shrek didn't fall that much.

Shrek will be here basically all summer long in many theaters and Atlantis will be lucky to make $75 million. I think it'll open with $19 million or so and hang on for $70 to $80. I don't see it making very much.

Disney -- be warned, your competition has arrived. DreamWorks is rapidly becoming the best studio in Hollywood. In fact, I think if you give them a decade or so, DreamWorks will be the greatest studio in history. No other studio has turned out such popularly and critically successful movies with such incredible frequency.

Every other studio drops bombs on us that are produced for $100 million and suck up about $35 million. DreamWorks, on the other hand, has enjoyed nothing but success after a slightly bumpy start years ago.

American Beauty not only amazed critics but it made a ton of money, especifically given its cost, and Gladiator is their crowning achievement, both financially successful and critically acclaimed. They have succeeded with releases like Road Trip, Chicken Run, What Lies Beneath, and now Shrek is whooping the hell out of most of Disney's films. Not only is it a BETTER movie from the perspective of animation (it's better than anything Disney has ever done, roughly equal with Pixar's work), but it's a better movie because it's actually very funny and not incredibly lame. I hate movies where the characters break into a musical act and most Disney movies just plain suck. DreamWorks really knows how to do animation and I, for one, hope they cream Disney in the coming years.

One thing is for sure: when you go to a DreamWorks movie there is a MASSIVELY better chance you will see a good movie than if you go to any other movie released by another studio. The other studios just don't "get it," obviously. Whatever DreamWorks is doing when they greenlight their films, they should keep doing it, lol.

[jjwr]

You really can't compare the animation in Shrek to most of the disney movies, outside of some CGI scenes most of those movies are still hand done while Shrek is CGI, if anything compare it to Toystory 1 & 2. Shrek is a great movie, by far the best movie I've seen this year, it was very funny, a ton of fun but I don't think it held a candle to Beauty & the Beast, Aladdin, Little Mermaid or Lion King.

[foxdvd]

I liked Shrek, but was not blown away by it. I would give it a B+...To me, outside some effects, the cgi was a step back from Toy Story 2...but still better then the first Toy Story.


and as far as Pearl Harbor..it will do close to 200 million..it all comes down to this weekend..
Mission Impossible 2 had made 128 million bucks the first 12 days....Pearl Harbor has made 124 million the first 12 days...MI2 made under 20 million its third weekend...a little over 19 million...and it went on to make 215 million....if Pearl Harbor does at least 19 million it should pass 200 million..if not it will end up in the 180-190 range..

[JonathanLB]

Aladdin was good, Lion King sucked really hard. That movie is terrible, I have no idea how it made so much money. That is the most successful Disney movie ever and also one of the worst.

Beauty and the Beast is lame next to Shrek even.

Disney does not impress me. I prefer movies like Toy Story 1 and 2, A Bugs Life, and Shrek, all of which contain more humor that appeals to everyone and less little kiddie elements, and far less annoying singing and dancing BS.

[CMJ]

Even though it isn't really thought of highly...I think Disney's best animated film is HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. It's very grown up for a animated flick. Sure it's a musical, and the gargoyles are comic relief...but the issues it deals with are kind of un-Disney like. I seem to remember critics loving the hell out of it(I DO remember Roger Ebert saying it was one of that years best films). I believe it's Disney's crowning achievement in animation.

[foxdvd]

1.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Pinocchio… Still Disney’s crowning achievement. Of course, much of this is how much I loved it as a child. The animation details are amazing, and while it is not as polished as a modern Disney movie, it has work that surpasses much of the generic CGI backgrounds found in movies like Tarzan.

2.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Beauty and the Beast….One of the most movie-like of all Disney movies, and without a doubt a powerful example of what animation can be in America.

3.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Toy Story 1. I know the sequel is considered by most to be better, and in truth Toy Story 2 has better animation, but the story of the first, for me, is better. I will never forget the feeling I had during the final 10 minutes, when they go outside chasing the moving truck. The animation in that sequence still equals anything done in animated CGI. After seeing both Toy Story movies at least 30-40 times each (my little girl loves them) I have to say the first holds up much better.

4.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp Aladdin. Just a well made movie, with Robin Williams giving his second best performance ever in any movie. (behind only his amazing performance in The Fisher King) The songs WORK in Aladdin, unlike other Disney animated movies, partly because it fits the style, and partly because they are so well written.

5.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp The Hunchback of Notre Dame. I agree with CMJ, this is an underrated Disney movie. Moving, well acted, with animation that surpasses anything Disney has done, outside Pixar’s work.

6.&nbsp &nbsp &nbsp &nbsp A Bug’s Life. While I still feel the color’s chosen by Pixar for the animation was wrong, I think this is a great movie. I love the obvious Seven Samurai tribute, even if Disney denies it.

7. Toy Story 2...



Outside these works, I feel the rest of the Disney movies really should have been strait to video. Snow White? OVERRATED! Sleepy Beauty? YAWN! Lion King? Good, but not top level work.


I still feel the best animated movie ever made by an American studio is The Iron Giant.

[Darth23]

I don't think they had video when Snow White was released.

:p

[foxdvd]

really darth? Wow..I thought they always had vhs players! :)

I just am putting the movie up with all their movies...as if they came out today..

[CMJ]

I was wrong...SHREK won on Wednesday. PH seems to have been vanquished for good.

[JonathanLB]

What?! Robin Williams is awesome.

Mrs. Doubtfire is his best movie, though. I think that's the best comedy ever made, or maybe tied with Groundhog Day.

Yup, Shrek is kicking butt now. This is the final warning to Disney: your days as the only name in animation are over!

Katzenberg is the master and he made Disney's current animation company possible. Fortunately, he took 40 top animators and 12 execs with him when he left to form DreamWorks and after a few mediocre animated films as far as success (Road to El Dorado, Small Soldiers, Mouse Hunt and Prince of Egypt), then a moderate hit (Antz), DreamWorks is ready to compete (Shrek).

Where Fox failed and had to close one of their major animation studios because of Titan A.E.'s failure, DreamWorks will succeed.

I think it's only a matter of time before the animated pie is split more evenly. Everyone wants a piece of that. In fact, analysts estimate that for every dollar spent at the box office on a Disney film, the company makes 4 to 5 dollars on merchandising, rides, videos, etc.

Katzenberg made The Lion King possible, same with Aladdin, and same with many of their hits.

When the second-in-command at Disney died in a helicopter crash, Eisner made a big mistake by not appointing Jeffrey Katzenberg to his side. He not only lost a valuable, major player in the industry, but he gained a ferocious enemy.

The animosity between the two is obviously still there as Shrek has Prince Farquuad, who is like Eisner, and there are some not-too-nice things said about him.

Why do you think Antz hit theaters 7 weeks before A Bug's Life? LOL. How about Deep Impact before Armageddon?

DreamWorks is hell-bent on competing with Disney -- and winning.

[foxdvd]

who said anything bad about Robin Williams Jon?

[JonathanLB]

"Just a well made movie, with Robin Williams giving his second best performance ever in any movie."

Oh, I just think that is kind of insulting, that's all. LOL.

Nah, I know you didn't mean it that way :)

[CMJ]

.....BUT POE(thats PRINCE ON EGYPT for the uninformed) grossed more than ANTZ. It went past the 100M mark...becoming the first non-Disney aniomated film to achieve that feat. You were right about the rest basically though. SMALL SOLDIERS was a dissapointment financially(it was okay). MOUSE HUNT did fairly well but EL DORADO was a bit of a dissapointment too(though I found it to be fairly entertaining other than the annoying Elton John songs). You forgot CHICKEN RUN....it was a quite a success too. DW animation is definitely on it's way up.

[JonathanLB]

Nah I didn't forget Chicken Run, I just chose not to mention it :)

It's not as much animated, but yeah, clamation rules.

POE did well, you are right, actually it was a moderate success for DreamWorks and most people enjoyed the movie. Even biblical scholars said it was accurate and DreamWorks brought in roughly 600 experts to help them with the film. It was quite amazing that a film with an obviously religious plot could make so much money. They were worried that people would think it was preachy or wouldn't take it seriously and that adults would not show up. Both Antz and POE were considered moderate successes and encouraging signs for the studio because both showed that another studio CAN successfully challenge Disney.

Now, as for the $101 million that POE made, well that was definitely good, but keep in mind it cost DreamWorks about $500 million to launch their animation studio in Glendale and they hired many talented people to put these films together. So, the reported $70 to $90 million budget for POE combined with all of the operational costs for the studio means they really needed either a few massive hits or many years to pay off their expenses slowly. I think POE and Antz helped because, unlike Fox's Titan A.E., they performed very respectably. Chicken Run was not that expensive, $45 million, and is part of a five-film deal with that animation studio. The film made $106 million stateside alone, so that was another good hit for them, especially given the more mid-sized budget.

Now with Shrek, which will expand into the most theaters any movie has ever played in this weekend, DreamWorks will have its first animated $200 million grosser, and, obviously, the first non-Disney animated film ever to make that much money. I think it can probably reach $240 million or so. I'm not really sure, but it seems headed for a pretty awesome gross!

Who would have said that Shrek would kick some Pearl Harbor butt at the start of this year? Not me, at least.

DreamWorks, lately, has not been picking anything but winners hardly. I mean, they have occassional movies that do just mediocre, but other studios have these MASSIVE bombs and not that many big hits either. After they lost Best Picture for SPR, absurdly I might add, they've dominated that category now for two years and they're the newest major studio.

At first, everyone was very excited about the company and its prospects. Then hype turned to reality and everyone started saying "Is the dream fading?" and "DreamWorks is not living up to its promise," and all this other nonsense. I mean, this was just a few years after it opened and they hadn't even really had a chance to warm up! Movies take time, and animated movies take four years or more, so you have to give any studio sufficient time to prove themselves. Now, they've been a partner with Cast Away and What Lies Beneath, two massive successes, and Gladiator too. They've released critically acclaimed films such as American Beauty and Almost Famous, the former of which was also very financially successful and especially so given its very modest budget. Then even the movies that shouldn't have necessarily been big hits, such as Galaxy Quest and Road Trip, posted very respectable numbers and became solid hits. With A.I., Evolution, and Shrek this summer, I think DreamWorks is going to have a good year if they can release a few successful holiday films.

[Darth23]

heh heh:

Wednesdays numbers:

1) SHREK - 2,820,537

2) PEARL HARBOR - 2,430,336

[CMJ]

They have SHREK, EVOLUTION(which I see today)...and lying out there is the co-production A.I., directed by Spielberg himself. That is the film I'm most looking forward to this summer(Steve is my favorite director ever). I'm sure it'll do very well. I'm not even sure what else they have on their summer slate...it doesn't matter. A. I. is all I care about. :)

I'm not sure about the holidays. I don't remember any BIG flicks they are planning on rolling out for the season...but they might. I'll have to check.

[Darth23]

Who would have said that Shrek would kick some Pearl Harbor butt at the start of this year? Not me, at least.


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:p

[Dutchy]

Outside these works, I feel the rest of the Disney movies really should have been strait to video. Snow White? OVERRATED!

Overrated? IMHO that's one of the best movies ever made. I'm still amazed by its graphical detail. Hands down the best Disney movie. A true work of art.

[Darth23]

Thursdays numbers:

1 SHREK - 3,080,407
2 PEARL HARBOR - 2,347,246

[foxdvd]

the animation on Snow White is amazing..esp when you think about the fact it was all hand drawn..but the movie itself, while a good story, is not a movie-like and magical as the movies I listed above. I know I am in the minority there..in fact, I might be the only dude who feels that way, but I can not watch it as many times as the movies I listed above.

[Jedieb]

As much fun as Eisner bashing can be, Dreamworks still has a long way to go before it can supplant Disney. Walt and Co. turned out some amazing work. Films like Snow White, Pinnochio, and Cinderella. It's upon that foundation that Eisner built today's Disney. Considering the lull that Disney was in the early 80's he's done a remarkable job. Alladin, The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (Didn't like it much but it was a big hit), Toy Story, etc...

I do think that technology will enable rivals to compete with Disney more easily. I can see a day when Disney isn't the reigning champ decade after decade. But they still have all that history behind them. For Dreamworks to accomplish what Disney has then we'd have to still be talking about them dominating Hollywood animation 60 years from now. We'd also have to be dragging our grandkids to their theme parks.

I like Dreamworks, and I think they're a great studio. I think they've done some amazing work in the last few years. But they're still a young studio. They're going to have their ups and downs just like any other studio. They'll have years where everything's gold, and others with one dud after another.