Posts Tagged ‘disney’

You were there for one of the “biggest box office bombs of all time!”

Friday, March 25th, 2011


(AP Photo/Walt Disney Studios)

Congratulations – you’re witnessing history in the making! “Mars Needs Moms” – the 3-D animated Disney disaster that came out last weekend – has had one of the worst opening weekends… ever.

The film earned $6.8 million in its opening weekend… but it cost about $150 million to make. Most movies break even within a few weeks of release and then – ideally – start to turn a profit. Not so for this tribute to the power of moms. Though it brought in some revenue, it wasn’t enough to cover the cost of producing the flick.

Disney distribution president Chuck Viane says the problem is simple: “Not enough people came to see the movie.” (Um, duh.) One possible reason is that there were a lot of other animated movies in theaters this weekend, and Earth moms weren’t about to shell out $20 for 3D tickets to all of them.

So were the dismal box office numbers a product of poor timing or a cruel twist of fate?

Perhaps the movie’s budget directors should have taken Budgeting 101?

What’s up with 3-D movies anyway? Are you paying to see them? Tell us.

Living In Walt Disney World

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Walt Disney Co. plans to develop an expensive vacation-home real estate community – “Golden Oak” – in Walt Disney World in Florida.

  • Golden Oak homes will be priced between $1.5 and $8 million dollars, placing them at the very top of the Orlando area housing market.
  • Construction on the first homes is expected to be finished in 2011.
  • There is another real estate development next to the theme park – “Celebration” – that is more economically diverse and generally considered a successful project.

Facts & Figures

  • The average price of new home listings in the Orlando area in 2010 is about $243,000.
  • The proposed plan includes 450 homes, a 445-room Four Seasons hotel, 2 updated golf courses, a clubhouse, parks, walkways, and wetlands.

Best Quote

“This may be the first time that a kind of man-made entertainment center has generated that kind of real-estate activity.” – Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Dean of Architecture at the University of Miami

Disney Goes Green

Thursday, March 4th, 2010

In an effort to capitalize on environmental conscientiousness and help curb global carbon emissions, Walt Disney Co. will impose a carbon tax on itself, effectively killing two birds with one stone.

  • On Wednesday March 3, 2010 Walt Disney Co. president and chief executive let it be known that the company will impose an internal tax based on how much carbon they use.
  • The proceeds from the tax will go towards “green” initiatives, such as the preservation of tropical forests and planting trees.
  • Disney has also endeavored to reduce the amount of waste it sends to landfills, assess every new capital project from an ecological standpoint and convert vehicles to use cleaner, energy-efficient fuels.

Facts & Figures

  • The carbon tax is calculated based on a unit’s projected increase in carbon emissions over a five year period—if the emissions are less, the tax is less, and vice versa if emissions are greater.
  • Disney would like to reduce the amount of waste it sends to landfills by 50% of what it was in 2006, and is already three years ahead of schedule.
  • Disney is trying to convert 2,000 vehicles to use cleaner fuels, and is even switching the steam engines that run in their amusement parks to vegetable oil from diesel.
  • Through its program “Friends for Change,” which has enlisted 1.5 million children to do its “green” bidding, the Disney Channel is doing its part to effect change.

Best Quote

“It’s the right thing to do, but it’s also the right thing to do for shareholders” – Roger Iger, President and CEO of Walt Disney Co.

Disney Goes To Shanghai

Monday, November 9th, 2009

After 20 years of negotiation, the Walt Disney Company will build its first Chinese theme park in Shanghai.

  • The opening of such a large American theme park will have many cultural and financial implications for Shanghai, a city proud of its rich cultural history.
  • The park will be bigger than the original Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and will be similar in style to the Paris and Hong Kong parks.
  • The goal of opening such a park is to create demand for Disney products (TV shows, movies, games, characters, toys, boardgames, DVDs and plenty more) among China’s 1.3 billion citizens.

Facts & Figures

  • The park will cost $3.5 billion dollars to build, will occupy at least 1,000 acres of land in the city’s Pudong district, and is set to open in 5-6 years.
  • Only 20 foreign films (often censored) are permitted to be shown in Chinese theaters every year.
  • Disney already sells Disney merchandise at 6,000 locations in China.

Best Quote

“It’s a signal that now they will tolerate a certain kind of Western investment” – Orville Schell, Director of the Asia Society’s Center on U.S.-China Relations