The Muppets may be in trouble. :-/

BobThePizzaBoy

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Okay, now that I've calm down, I realized the best analogy I can make with this. Which also happens to involve another holiday season Disney release, granted one from 21 years ago.

Now, I know we all credit The Little Mermaid with kicking off the Disney Animation renaissance that we had in the 1990's. But realize the movie wasn't a huge hit when it came out. Heck, on it's opening weekend it opened at #3 behind some Eddie Murphy movie and Look Who's Talking. All in all, it made about $84 million during it's run. It certainly wasn't Disney's highest grossing release that year - and even if it sold the same number of tickets in 2010 it would be around #15 on the highest grossing movies of that year, just edging out Grown Ups. But the movie made most of it's impact on the merchandise front those first few months. Every little girl had to have an Ariel doll that Christmas and a result, merchandise exploded even if the movie itself didn't set the box office ablaze. And then when the video came out, it sent VHS selling records that year. I anticipate a similar thing happening with The Muppets. Underwhelming box office but ridiculously strong merchandise and DVD and Blu-ray sales. Disney's good in that department.
 

Drtooth

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I still don't see how a consistent second spot after a huge blockbuster that has an annoyingly large fanbase, all the while clobbering inferior kiddy flicks is such a bad thing. The buzz is extraordinary, the merchandise is doing well, and Disney no doubt has big plans for the Muppets ever since. It's the #1 family comedy in a line of 5 family movies (including October's Puss in Boots which is still playing and Jack and Jill, which thankfully fell on its second week)... it has at least 1 more week before Chipmunks and it's sure to be a contender for weeks to come if PIB is any indication. I'm sure it will get lost in the Christmas shuffle with Tintin, Sherlock Holmes, Chipmunks, that stupid thing about a zoo and whatever else is left. But I have a feeling it will sill place well after a month of it's premiere... much like PIB did.
 

Drtooth

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Think of it this way... the movie didn't cost 325 million dollars and only made 220 million world wide.

You know what I'm talking about.

It made up it's very small budget and then some domestically in a week. Everything else now is pure profit.
 

Drtooth

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THis may sound passive aggressive at this point, but I wonder how much of a boost Arthur Christmas, Hugo, and Happy Feet have from 3-D ticket sales. After all, they cost more. I hope the Muppets outclassing them is a referendum on 3-D movies. Though I do love to watch cartons in 3-D.
 

Muppet fan 123

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THis may sound passive aggressive at this point, but I wonder how much of a boost Arthur Christmas, Hugo, and Happy Feet have from 3-D ticket sales. After all, they cost more. I hope the Muppets outclassing them is a referendum on 3-D movies. Though I do love to watch cartons in 3-D.
It's actually intresting (and we of course are happy) but those movies cost more and the Muppets in higher in the box office. But also peple wouldn't just go to a 3D movie anymore becuase it's just a way for companies for make a few extra bucks.
 

Wockawocka721

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The Muppets will definitely find a renewed life thanks to this movie. The criticism has been positive and it still has yet to debut in different countries so it will make a good amount of money when comparing it to its budget. Honestly, the budget for this film wasn't that bad, so it's very possible we could see more Muppet appearances and possibly a movie down the line
 
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