Can Bolt Make Box Office?
Disney Animated Film Stars John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Mark Walton
Nov 26, 2008
Bolt shoulda been a contender.
The film had it all: veteran script doctor Chris Williams (Mulan, The Emperor's New Groove) was not only co-directing the film but co-writing the script. Executive producer John Lasseter was one of the most admired animators in the world: not only for directing films like Toy Story and Cars, but also for developing Pixar into the CGI animation facility, and the only North American studio that has never had a bomb.
Bolt also had 2 bankable stars in the lead roles: John Travolta voicing the titular dog, and tween star of the moment Miley Cyrus as Penny.
Advance reviews were more than favourable: Bolt received an 84% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, meaning 90 out of a possible 107 critics liked the movie. According to Jim Hill, Mouse House executives said they expected the flick would pull $50 million in its first weekend.
So why did it only make $26.2 million?
Vampires Bite Bolt
Blame Twilight.
The writing was on the wall two weeks ago, when Twilight's soundtrack shot to #1 on the Billboard Chart, and an appearance by star Robert Pattinson at San Francisco's Stonestown Galleria resulted in a riot. Those same Disney executives immediately downgraded Bolt's chances to $30 - 40 million in the face of the coming phenomenon.
Unfortunately, they didn't give Twilight enough credit. Many tweens and younger teens – who would have otherwise gone to hear Cyrus' voice – were otherwise enthralled with the brooding bloodsuckers, giving the Summit Entertainment film a $69.6 million debut.
The Mouse House is now looking to the lucrative Thanksgiving weekend to turn Bolt's fortunes around. They're hoping that everyone who went nuts over Twilight and the Bond flick Quantum of Solace will now give Bolt a try, given its solid reviews.
“Word of mouth should bode well over the Thanksgiving holiday and beyond,” Disney spokeswoman Heidi Trotta told the New York Times.
Another encouraging sign about Bolt – again, from Jim Hill – is that Disney Stores are having difficulty keeping the 12" stuffed toy in stock. Parents and kids are buying the plush version of Travolta's character in droves. So, even though the movie is performing well below expectations, sales of the associated merchandise might just put this flick over the top.
Worst case scenario?
Even if Bolt totally bombs at the box office, there's still a chance that it'll become a bestselling title on DVD. Many Disney animated films, from Fantasia to The Nightmare Before Christmas, did badly in theatres only to get their just desserts on re-release and home video. Given Bolt's solid reviews, parents might be more likely to drop the cash on a DVD later, rather than fork out for tickets, gas money and tubs of popcorn filled with butter-flavoured grease.
If that doesn't happen, the damage to John Lasseter's reputation will likely be small, but significant. His return to Disney 2 years ago (he was fired from the company in 1983) caused no little turmoil, since he promptly reversed the standard power structure at Disney Animation, putting control in the hands of the creatives instead of executives.
Despite making over $200 million in domestic box office, WALL-E didn't do as well in theatres as expected so the bloom is certainly off the rose when it comes to Disney and Pixar. That said, Disney's head office is still more than happy that Lasseter, Catmull and crew are on their side, rather than working for the competition – which nearly happened when talks broke down between Disney and Pixar in 2004.
Do you think Bolt can still become a hit? Strike back and let us know.
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