06-13-06 CARS Disappoints…Or Does It?

[Chuck Oberleitner]

this business of show

CARS Disappoints…Or Does It?
By C. W. Oberleitner
June 13, 2006

CARS, the latest Disney-Pixar release, lapped the competition this past weekend to claim the number one spot atop the North American box office. For some analysts, the CARS’ $60.1 million take was disappointing. Is it possible some of these naysayers are just a bit myopic when it comes to looking at “North” America?

Read the full story here >>

Your thoughts...

[Dustysage]

The media stories about the 60+ million opening of Cars being a disappointment just blow me away. It is a great film that will have legs in the world market as well as DVD and merchandise for years to come. This isn't a bomb like Atlantis or Treasure Planet, this is a run away hit. So the analysts come out against the stock and start selling??? I just don't get it. Well more power to them I say. If they devalue the stock, it just makes it cheaper for the rest of us to buy. (and perhaps that is their secret plan after all).

-Dusty

[cellarhound]

I know that analysts where predicting a 70 million dollar opening...

And yeah, the film should have (could have) been cut down by about 20 or 30 minutes...

I have heard nothing but good reviews, and the pay off will be this weekend to see if it makes up that 10 million due to it being the first weekend after the 15th of the month... (Any one who tracks retail sales in any business knows what I am talking about here...)

The only analyst that was majorly concerned was Citibank which downgraded the stock from "buy" to "hold."

[sediment]

Originally Posted by cellarhound

I have heard nothing but good reviews, and the pay off will be this weekend to see if it makes up that 10 million due to it being the first weekend after the 15th of the month... (Any one who tracks retail sales in any business knows what I am talking about here...)

I don't track retail sales, but....Social Security checks arrive?

[sediment]

So, the analysts were wrong. Maybe they shouldn't try to predict opening weeken box office receits anymore, instead of blaming the movie for not living up to their predictions.

[cellarhound]

Originally Posted by sediment

So, the analysts were wrong. Maybe they shouldn't try to predict opening weeken box office receits anymore, instead of blaming the movie for not living up to their predictions.

Nah... I think that folks are so bullish on Disney recently, the adjustment from "buy" to "hold" disney stock by a few analysts is a meaningless downgrade really particularly when it is so close to it's target of $31 anyway...

[BDBopper]

Why do so many people pay attention to how much money a movie makes in the opening weekend? To me it doesn't make a hill of beans difference how much a film makes in its opening weekend. Slow and steady wins the race. This movie will make over 500 million bucks worldwide when all is said and done. Whether if it is done from the starting line or hits that mark at the checkered flag it's still over 500 million buck, and thus a big success. Besides what did Toy Story make in its first weekend...20 million plus? And look how much of a success that movie went on to become internationally.

[tahoebob54]

Originally Posted by Chuck Oberleitner

this business of show

CARS Disappoints…Or Does It?
By C. W. Oberleitner
June 13, 2006

CARS, the latest Disney-Pixar release, lapped the competition this past weekend to claim the number one spot atop the North American box office. For some analysts, the CARS’ $60.1 million take was disappointing. Is it possible some of these naysayers are just a bit myopic when it comes to looking at “North” America?

Read the full story here >>

Your thoughts...

one factor that many seen to overlook is the gas prices, many are looking for ways to cut there family budget to make up for high gas prices.

[Tomorrowland Tourist]

I too agree that analysts are taking this a little bit too far. This movie may not shatter the box office as the two most recent Pixar films did, but many people enjoy the film's believable characters and beautiful animation. There are numerous avenues for Cars to become bigger hits than those churned out Dreamworks and Fox CGI productions.

[JiminyCricketFan]

There is no question that Cars will do very well in the end. I believe that families will come out for this picture. It will do more than $230 million easily.

[Princess Picard]

'Cars' Rolls to Another Box Office Win
Sunday June 18 4:09 PM ET

Animated autos retained the pole position as "Cars" came in No. 1 at the box office for a second weekend with $31.2 million, holding off the wrestling comedy "Nacho Libre" and another car tale, "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift."

"Cars," from Disney and Pixar, beat a rush of new movies, lifting its 10-day domestic total to $114.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
Paramount's "Nacho Libre," starring Jack Black as a cook at a Mexican orphanage who takes up wrestling to buy better food for the kids, debuted in second place with $27.5 million.

The third in the "Fast and the Furious" racing franchise, Universal's "Tokyo Drift" opened at No. 3 with $24.1 million. The movie stars Lucas Black as a speed freak who gets caught up in Japan's illegal racing scene.
--------------------------

[sediment]

The LA Times this morning found some additional disappointment, as Cars' second-weekend dropoff was worse than Finding Nemo's and The Incredibles'.
Some day, they'll figure out that the picture made $23 million Mon-Thurs., and that Summer movies have a different box office pattern from Late Fall releases (as were Finding Nemo and The Incredibles).

Let's see: 60.1 opening weekend, 31.1 second weekend. Total weekend = 91.2
However, the 10-day total is 114.5, so it made $23 million on Mon-Thurs.