American Audiences Reject ‘Good Dinosaur,’ Film Stumbles Over 60% in 2nd Weekend

By Amid Amidi | 12/06/2015 7:33 pm | 51

After a disastrous second weekend at the box office, The Good Dinosaur will have to work hard during the holiday season to avoid becoming the lowest-grossing Pixar film ever released in the United States, a mark currently held by A Bug’s Life. Adjusted for inflation, Good Dinosaur is all but guaranteed to be the lowest-grossing Pixar film ever released.

Good Dinosaur is estimated to have grossed $15.5 million in its second weekend, which is a 60.4% drop from its first weekend, the largest plummet ever for a Pixar movie. The previous largest drop was 60.3% for Cars 2, however due to that film’s higher opening, it still managed to gross $26.3M in its second weekend. After two weeks Good Dino has earned $76M versus Cars 2′s $117.2M.

The upside for Good Dinosaur is that the film has not suffered the same steep declines in foreign markets. The film was off about 25% in France and Germany, and under 20% in Latin American markets. Its overseas weekend take was $34.9M, lifting its international total to $55.4.

Blue Sky’s The Peanuts Movie slipped from 5th to 7th in its 5th U.S. weekend, adding $3.5M to its domestic total, which is now $121.4M. The film still hasn’t opened wide internationally, where it has grossed an additional $13.2 to date.

Christina R.

Awww, that’s a shame. My friends and I saw it last night and loved it! The film, while having pressure on from the start thanks to that ASTOUNDING short, had good ideas but somethings could’ve been explored a teeny bit more? And the characters, while entertaining, looking like they were copypasted onto Nature Video B-Roll didn’t help either. But it didn’t lessen the fact that it was beautiful!

I dunno, I don’t think The Good Dinosaur deserves the lowest grossing spot, but it’s flaws can’t be ignored enough to take a cut classic spot either. If critics lighten up a bit then it may still have a chance.
Anonymous

3 years ago the same thing happened to DreamWorks with Rise of the Guardians.
- FedUpWithBigGovernment
  
  Yes… I never understood why Rise of the Guardians didn’t do well at the box office. I loved that movie and I watch it every holiday season along with my list of other Christmas list of must-sees.
http://tresportfolio.tumblr.com/ Tres Swygert

Let’s not forget it’s competing against the money making franchise The Hunger Games, which it has earned over $227 million domestically so far. Adding Creed and Krampus, and you really have a huge fight between films for the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season.

Pixar probably should’ve released this earlier or after Thanksgiving, this isn’t helping them at all.
- Jacob
  
  Frozen also opened right after Hunger Games 2. So I don’t think it, much less something like Krampus, has much effect on The Good Dinosaur.
  I haven’t seen the movie yet (but I definitely plan to), but I’m guessing the marketing played a big part in this. There just didn’t seem to be as much of it compared to Inside Out or any of the previous Pixar movie. And the few trailers I have seen all seemed to focus a lot more on the emotional moments rather than the comedy. Personally, that made them more appealing to me. But I could see how that would turn away the typical kid who will laugh like crazy at Minions yelling “Banana!”
  - http://tresportfolio.tumblr.com/ Tres Swygert
    
    I agree with you that marketing for The Good Dinosaur did not help them advertise the film as it should have been. I did not know what kind of film to expect as the trailers and advertisements weren’t helping me see the film’s situation. After watching the film, I got it, and it made me think the marketing let them down on this one.
    
    As for Frozen, the only debate I could give, is it was definitely more seasoned themed as a film than The Good Dinosaur (though winter was briefly talked about in the movie). Not to mention it was a princess movie too, Disney does well with princess films (mostly). I do also agree with you on the Minions – that is Illumination Entertainment’s no. 1 seller, and they won’t let up.
- Jacob
  
  Frozen also opened right after Hunger Games 2. So I don’t think it, much less something like Krampus, has much effect on The Good Dinosaur.
  I haven’t seen the movie yet (but I definitely plan to), but I’m guessing the marketing played a big part in this. There just didn’t seem to be as much of it compared to Inside Out or any of the previous Pixar movie. And the few trailers I have seen all seemed to focus a lot more on the emotional moments rather than the comedy. Personally, that made them more appealing to me. But I could see how that would turn away the typical kid who will laugh like crazy at Minions yelling “Banana!”
Tigercat919

I haven’t seen it yet but I probably should. I think the issue is that in addition to not being in the summer season when Pixar typically releases its films, there’s also competition going on right now with the Peanuts Movie that is really dividing audiences. Add to the fact that you have so many other movies out there that demand lots of screens like the Hunger Games finale and Creed plus theaters likely to add Spotlight, Carol and other Oscar favorites into the mix and it might be a challenge for the movie to get more screens (and let’s not forget about a certain force that will awaken real soon and really reduce the number of screens for other movies).
- Billy Barnett
  
  Toy Story 1 and 2, A Bugs Life and Incredibles all did well in November.
- Billy Barnett
  
  Toy Story 1 and 2, A Bugs Life and Incredibles all did well in November.
supermandisco

I’m glad I’m not a writer, or the headline would be “Dinosaur flops into eary grave.”
- Honest_Miss
  
  “Pixar Believes: One Extinction Wasn’t Enough”
  
  Oooh, this is fun.
Mister Kennedy

Good Day All:
Even with the less than stellar second week, I feel the fact that we can discuss any part of our likes and dislikes; is a plus for the film. Yes, I too see segments where the film could have explored a bit further into the story development. What seems to be the biggest contributor to the conversations that I’ve had with people about the film itself, is the “what if…” question. I feel the public knowledge that the film was switching directors in the middle of production has jaded viewers to seek out why such an action happened and the only method of quantifying our assumptions is visually.

I immediately thought of “Brave”, when I saw “The Good Dinosaur” for the first time. In my own review of “Brave” after multiple viewings is that Mark Andrews should have been given 100% creative control in fleshing out his own ideas for the film. Instead we see a disconnect of sort within the film segments of Brenda Chapman’s. Both directors have different sensibilities, so of course the feel would shift a bit, which is expected. In no way am I saying that he didn’t have that freedom, its just you can see Mark’s personality in certain scenes and the lack of it in others. I felt that “Brave” should have been targeted towards the 13+ age range, similar to how Paranorman was marketed. It would have been a nice move into attracting older viewers while still staying true the Pixar magic of storytelling coupled with the legacy of the Disney Studios retelling of fantasy. Think of Ridley Scotts “Legend” with its PG rating. The film is dark and foreboding,whimsical, but obvious the idea was to market it for all ages.

The reason I bring up “Legend” along with “Brave” is due to how all three films deal with dark subject matter. And judging by the numerous reviews online from parents who felt their children may have been scared for life (Google “parent reviews of the good dinosaur”, to see what I’m talking about), the film has opened a discussion far larger than weekly numbers, in my opinion. The conversation now looks to be shifting towards when is Pixar going to continue to grow within the stories they tell? Hope may be on the way with CoCo, knowing Lee Unkrich’s love of Kubrick, and his willingness to push the envelope of emotions (the dump scene in Toy Story 3 that James Robertson storyboarded out for the scene). Either way I pretty sure these are conversations that have been, and will continue to be had during the BrainTrust sessions at the studio.

Viewers need to understand that each film is going to be different based on the director. Pete Sohn has showcased only a portion of his vision in this film, mainly because like Mark on “Brave” he had to keep in consideration what creative energy, time and efforts had already been given to the show beforehand. But, as outsider we don’t have access to the progression of the film through the stages of the pipeline, so we will never truly know where things took a turn for the original director. The BrainTrust consist of Hollywoods best directors and technicians, so I personally feel what I think matters only to how I would have handled the film if I was directing it. Pauline Kael, spoke of self analysis in films and the reason we watch film and how we should continue to express our love for quality films rather than using loose generalizations of how it doesn’t meet some sort of threshold in comparison to other films. When in fact a lot of creative work, effort and time went into giving us something to even discuss after viewing.

Many Thanks
- Netko
  
  “When in fact a lot of creative work, effort and time went into giving us something to even discuss after viewing.”
  A lot of creative work, effort and time went into making a building too but I’m not going to appreciate it if it crumbles to the ground. Especially if someone expected me to pay to stay in that building.
- Roca
  
  I just looked at the parent reviews. Thanks for the heads up. Pixar’s M O lately seems to be jerking people’s emotions through the ringer. I didn’t enjoy Inside Out, and I will probably pass on this one. Looking forward to Zootopia instead.
- Marielle
  
  Brave might be lacking in originality, but it still feels cohesive: Merida gets into a fight with her mom, she then asks for a spell to “change her”, but the spell turns out to have unwanted consequences, and the only way to undo the spell is to reconcile with her mom, and indeed by the end of the movie they reach a mutual understanding. The Good Dinosaur contains some interesting ideas, but it almost makes no sense: Arlo struggles to contribute to farm work, his dad dies chasing the critter he failed to catch, then that same critter causes Arlo to get swept away from home, and after that Arlo befriends the critter, and together they make it back home. Arlo technically didn’t do anything to contribute to the family farm, yet his contribution is acknowledged at the end of the movie, and all is right. It’s like one person made the end and the beginning of the movie with the whole “earn your mark” idea, and someone else made the rest of the movie about fear, grief and personal growth.
  - Mister Kennedy
    
    Interesting analysis, there’s no argument on my part.
Netko

What’s with the comments blaming the competition? When did it become normal that people would watch anything but a Pixar movie? If you made a movie that’s so unattractive that the theatre roster has to be empty for anyone to go watch it, perhaps it isn’t your competition that’s the problem.

Why weren’t Jurassic world or Minions (some of the highest grossing films of all time) a threat to Inside Out? I’d expect the dino hype from JW to make it easier on the Good Dinosaur as well as the fact that the only real competition it has is a subdued comically stylized family movie. You think parents are taking their little kids to watch Creed?

Speaking of which, I don’t get why people are acting as if Creed is some juggernaut at the box office. Creed opened on the same day as the Good Dino and it only made half of what GD made.
- Hankenshift
  
  Because Creed cost less than 1/4 of what GD did, and is an hour longer. It’s already made a profit for WB.
- Hankenshift
  
  Because Creed cost less than 1/4 of what GD did, and is an hour longer. It’s already made a profit for WB.
Tony

I just saw the movie and even my 3 year old son was bored. The first 20 minutes almost made me sleep. No memorable characters. Very few comical moments. The only thing going for it was the amazing animation. I don’t even think once is goes to DVD/blue Ray people will dish out the big bucks it will cost. A Disney flop. Hope this is not what the future holds for Disney.
Plat

I don’t think they knew just how big Hunger Games really is. It’s still number 1 in the box office.
- http://tresportfolio.tumblr.com/ Tres Swygert
  
  I’m pretty sure they knew. This is the fourth film (as Hunger Games 3 is a two parter) in the Hunger Games franchise, and it is a popular one. All three films before this current one has made nearly or more than $700 million a piece.
  
  Very strong competition.
- Strong Enough
  
  its called counter programming. you debut a movie with a different demographic. Hunger games appeals to teens. TGD will would have families going to them.
- Netko
  
  Inside Out came out a week after Jurassic World. And if Jurassic World wasn’t big, I don’t know what is.
- Stefan Ellison
  
  Frozen opened five days after The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Do you want me to repeat its box-office numbers?
I Like Animation Too Much

Americans mustn’t like films where humans are not the dominant species or don’t like a human character acting like a dog. Oh well, better luck next time brain trust.
http://www.moviebearspodcast.com Movie Bear

Calm down everyone, even if the numbers aren’t for TGD as previous Pixar releases, I think it’s safe to say that Disney AND Pixar are going to be just fine. But we really should separate the financial success or failure of this film (which is mainly due to marketing and release timing factors) from the critical success or failure due to its quality as a movie. There are many examples of how a film’s quality and critical reception don’t have much or anything to do with it’s financial success. And in the grand scheme of the Disney/Pixar empire, if TGD doesn’t quite live up to expectations, it will not be the end of that world.
I personally love this movie and while not perfect and a totally different animal than Inside Out (also not perfect), for several reasons I feel it’s one of the best that Pixar has done. But I recognize that the reviews have been quite mixed and even polarized. The reasons for this are many some of these have been explored and, in some cases, well-argued. Ultimately, one’s enjoyment of this film comes down to personal Pixar expectations and taste.
@SpitAndSpite

December is a busy month for families. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a big increase next weekend as more people take time off.
@SpitAndSpite

December is a busy month for families. Wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a big increase next weekend as more people take time off.
Billy Barnett

The studio seems satisfied with Creed, sequel talks have already begun.
Billy Barnett

The studio seems satisfied with Creed, sequel talks have already begun.
- Netko
  
  A cheap crappy spoof movie will make a profit and get a sequel greenlit. That doesn’t mean the audiences are abandoning blockbusters for it. It just mean it had such a low budget that a far lower number of people had to see it in order for it to make money compared to a big budget movie. It can’t pose a threat to a big budget movie from an established and respected company (not even considering the fact that they’re two completely different genres) and unless it exploded to Star Wars levels, I don’t see how some low-budget movie making a profit in any way relates to GD really not having tough competition in cinemas.
  
  (also I accidentally used Guest as username, that’s still me up there)
  - Billy Barnett
    
    No disrespect but I completely disagree. Besides, I thought it was a well made movie that deserves a sequel. Don’t know why you are dissing it so hard. Have you even seen it?
    - Netko
      
      I’m not dissing any movie and I’m not sure where you’re getting that idea from. This is not a topic about Creed and what you or I thought about it. That’s completely irrelevant to this discussion. This is about why a(nother) disappointing Pixar movie’s bad performance can’t be excused by pointing at just about any movie running in cinemas as if they seriously pose a threat to Pixar and Disney simply by virtue of being released around the same time. Pixar isn’t some unknown small company that’ll get trampled over by any big studio and I don’t see why people are treating it as such.
Chad Townsend

The Good Dinosaur doesn’t look good. My kid said the same thing. It’s just unappealing looking. I’d like to think that is why it isn’t doing well. the public must have thought so too.
Nicolás M.

I loved the harshness of situations and subtleties of certain moments in history, but I think they not found the right balance in its execution . Anyway , enjoy the movie , you have precious moments , thanks Pixar!
Strong Enough

poor Peter Sohn. i would have rejected the gig. it was cursed from the start.
- Barrett
  
  I’m looking forward to seeing what Pete Sohn can do if he’s given a chance to do a personal project from the get-go. ‘Partly Cloudy” was great, and I hope he gets a chance to direct his own feature again, rather than take over a half-done-or-more project that ran afloul of the “brain trust.” Sometimes a new director can save a film (Ratatouille, Hotel Transylvania) but more often than not, either in live action or animation, a change that late in development is bad news. I’ve had bad juju about “The Good Dinosaur” ever since Bob Peterson was canned, and I have to say the final product is (story-wise) just a shade above mediocre. Made me miss “Brave”by comparison. Yeah….
FedUpWithBigGovernment

I was so so excited to see this movie and have been looking forward to it for many months. I have to say that I was somewhat disappointed. The animation is gorgeous. The story, however, leaves something to be desired. I cannot put my finger on it but it just didn’t have “it” for me. It appeared like it was trying too hard to be cute. It tried to hard to make you care about the characters. Unfortunately I did not really care about the characters. There was never that famous tear jerker moment that other great Pixar movies had (Like in Toy Story 3 when Andy gives his toys to the little girl and then drives off to college). Also parts of the story (specifically the T-Rex cowboy wrestling part) seemed really out of place. I didn’t like any of the T-Rex characters with their hokey accents. It was OK and I am glad I saw it, but it definitely was not one of Pixar’s best moments. I believe it showed that there was definite problems during production and the subsequent mid-stream director change. It is a shame because the animation was so stunning (well the nature scenery anyway). One last tell-tale sign is that when this comes out on Blu-Ray I will not be purchasing it just as I did not purchase Cars 2. I always add most Pixar titles to my collection.
Hankenshift

Can you read?

“as if Creed is some juggernaut at the box office. ”

Box office means money. That’s all that matters to the corporations that make these things. Not to mention Creed got glowing reviews. It’s already in the black–hence sequel talks. Who says it is a threat to blockbusters (of which GD is not one)? Don’t get your panties in a bunch.
Charles Norwood

I wonder if Lasseter-brand Saccharine is starting to lose its appeal. Cars 3 will still do gangbusters though, since the audience is subverbal.
V.M.L.

I think it’s a real shame that THE GOOD DINOSAUR isn’t doing well at the box office, and it doesn’t deserve the mistreatment! I thought it was a really good movie, despite being derivative. I loved it so much that I’ve been telling people to watch it. (I’m going to force my family to watch it next weekend, when I visit them!) I guess the film isn’t as “cool” as MOCKINGJAY, CREED, or KRAMPUS, films that appeal to adults. However, Pixar has always found ways to entertain adults and there’s definitely adult humor in GOOD DINO. I also tell people my age that if they grew up with THE LAND BEFORE TIME, they’d enjoy THE GOOD DINOSAUR, especially for that heartbreaking nostalgia.

In my opinion, as a cinema employee who isn’t an animator, I think what factored into GOOD DINO’s lousy box office returns was the advertising. Disney’s obviously saving the rest of their marketing budget for STAR WARS. They could’ve done so much more with GOOD DINO! It’s not really the first time they’ve done such a thing with their own animated features. Remember that one year when WINNIE THE POOH got dumped somewhere in the middle of summer, while CARS 2 was promoted as if it was a “big deal?” Does anyone even remember that Pooh movie?!
GOATmaybe

I don’t think Pixar should release two films in the same year again. That and the fact that the movie was a nightmare behind the scenes made it seem like a no go. Shame, it looks to be a pretty good film, maybe not Pixar great but still not worse than cars.
d. harry

should have kept it shelved after they took it from Bob.
Matthew

Frankly, the two leads look like a variation on Dino and Bamm-Bamm, and the Brain Trust “changes” seem to amount to shoehorning it into the same story structure as TOY STORY.
Netko

Well then that’s not the issue with marketing anymore, isn’t it? If your movie is generic and unattractive, it’s not the marketing’s fault that it looks generic and unattractive. It’s like blaming Nut Job’s marketing for making the movie look like crap.
- Mermaid Warrior
  
  I haven’t seen the movie, so I can’t say whether it’s actually generic or bad. Just that it LOOKS generic.
Sebastian Villegas

Never underestimate Krampus. That is why The Good Dinosaur saw a decrease. Obviously, more people besides The Hunger Games and Creed, people had more of an interest in the Krampus than dinosaurs.
KLA

Frozen had the biggest thanksgivin opening while still taking second in the BO against Hunger Games. It then went to #1 in its second week.
Some Guy

…probably because everyone’s still stuffed with the hype over Jurassic World. It’s like a good Thanksgiving dinner– you’ve already had seconds and thirds, are you sure you want desert?

I don’t know why it under-performed. Ask the people who go to the theaters. Even if all the comments on this Disqus banded together to say they saw it, that doesn’t account to everyone else who didn’t bother.

Let’s put it to the test. Look up ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Zootopia’ and ‘Good Dinosaur’ and tell me which two movies have the most insane amount of hype right now. I can assure you, ‘Good Dinosaur’ has been lost in the shuffle. Zootopia has well over some 20K likes on whatever they post on their Facebook. Star Wars triple that. The two are even cross-referencing each other.

If ‘Good Dinosaur’ was supposed to be a good dinosaur film, I’m afraid you’re too late. Jurassic World remained king… should’ve released it sooner, or next year.