May 4, 2023

Summer 2023 Could Dramatically Impact the Future of Theatrical Animation Distribution

Illumination's "Super Mario Bros." film is in the midst of a historic theatrical run, which is all good news for distributor Universal Pictures and the box offices that will screen the film.

Nevertheless, the performance of the rest of this summer's animated feature theatrical releases may tell us much about the future of animated feature distribution as the industry continues to adapt in the wake of the pandemic.

It is difficult to overstate how phenomenal Mario's box office performance was. The film reigned atop the domestic box office for four consecutive weeks, a feat that has only been accomplished by 13 films since 2000, according to a new report published by Variety based on data collected by Comscore. The last time an animated film achieved the feat was in 1995, when the first "Toy Story" film topped the box office for six consecutive weeks. Mario is also the first animated film to reach $1 billion since "The Lion King" and "Anna and the Snow Queen 2" did so in 2019.

Is Mario's performance an exceptional outlier, or does it indicate a theatrical situation with more room for animated feature films - with three animated feature films opening in theaters at the same time next month, we may have an answer about the larger situation for theatrical animation

Studio animation is a very important part of the industry.

Take a look at this summer's theatrical release calendar for studio feature films.

After Mario, perhaps no other animated film coming out this year has generated as much buzz as Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Expectations are high for the sequel to the 2018 blockbuster that won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. However, the first film grossed $375.5 million worldwide and "only" $190 million domestically. Of course, these are staggering figures given the film's $90 million budget. But this total is a pittance compared to the numbers achieved by recent major franchise films such as "Mario" (now over $1 billion) and "Minions" ($939.4 million): "Mario" (now over $1 billion) and "Minions/Gru" ($939.4 million). ($939.4 million). It also pales in comparison to the global box office for the live-action Spider-Man films. For "Across the Spider-Verse" to be considered at least a commercial hit, it will need to do much better than its predecessor, against stiff competition.

Pixar's "Elemental" would right the wrongs of Disney's last two animated feature films, "Lightyear" and "Strange World" (the biggest and third-biggest box office flops of 2022). Universal Pictures will be more direct competition for DreamWorks' "Ruby Gilman" in its third week of release.

DreamWorks' original animated feature film is a big question mark. It is an entirely new IP and will debut while "Spider-Man" and "Elemental" are still strong rivals at the box office. One factor in Ruby's favor, however, is that there are no major studio animated films being released throughout July. In fact, the next big animated film will not be released until early August.

Few franchises are rebooted as frequently as TMNT, with all-new versions of the half-shell heroes coming to theaters this summer. Produced by Nickelodeon Animation and Point Grey Pictures, the film could be a sleeper hit. The only direct competition the film faces in the kids and family arena is Disney's Haunted Mansion, but it doesn't look like a very intimidating rival. Another potential threat is DC's "Blue Beetle," which will be released on August 18.

It is a bit of a shock to see so many films released in June, as no animated studio features were released until "Puss in Boots" (December 21): from "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" last December 21 to this year's "Mario" on April 5. No studio animated films were released between "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" last December 21 and "Mario" on April 5 this year. There was a similar gap last year between Warners' "DC League of Super-Pets" (July 29) and Disney's "Strange World" (November 15), but this should not be a permanent trend.

Even stranger, the July calendar is almost entirely devoid of kid- and family-friendly content until the last weekend of the month, when Disney's live-action "Haunted Mansion" opens in theaters on July 28.

One reason Mario is doing so well is that most of the other studio films released over the past month have been aimed at adults. It seems odd that during July, when school is out and hot, air-conditioned movie theaters are attractive havens, the only animated films released in theaters are the month-old "Spider-Man" and "Elemental" and the non-franchise wild card "Ruby Gilman."

If Spider-Man, The Elemental, Ruby Gilman, and TMNT struggle with ticket sales, distributors may be more careful in choosing release dates for their films. Obviously, a great deal of thought has already gone into choosing these dates, but for the past year, the release schedule has given us pause.

Obviously, we would all like to see three animated feature films released theatrically each month, but the current theatrical situation makes absolutely no sense. Nevertheless, there should be at least one animated film released in theaters each month. If this summer's animated films do well, distributors and box office companies may work even harder to avoid months without any animation at all to offer audiences.

From a production standpoint, if several animated films prove to be profitable despite the crowded release schedule in June, perhaps studios will be motivated to ramp up their pipelines and produce more theatrical animated features. In any case, we hope for the best.