Disney’s Strange Magic, produced by its Lucasfilm Animation Singapore division, is poised to break a record—but it’s not the kind of record a film studio wants to break: the lowest-grossing animated feature ever released in 3000-plus theaters. In its sophomore weekend, the film dropped from seventh to ninth place, earning $3.4 million. Its total gross now stands at $9.9 million.
What’s the lowest-grossing animated feature ever released in 3,000-plus theaters? It’s the 2009 CG film Astro Boy with $19.6 million. That film is followed closely by Robert Zemeckis’s mo-cap disaster Mars Needs Moms ($21.4 million) and the infamous Warner Bros. trainwreck Quest for Camelot ($22.5 million). Unless audiences suddenly discover that ideas “from the mind of George Lucas” are worth paying money for, Strange Magic should gross less than any of those other films.
Meanwhile Paddington, the live-action film with a CG-animated bear in the lead, moved up one spot from third to second in its 3rd weekend. The film grossed an estimated $8.5 million, boosting its overall total to $50.5 million. Worldwide the film has taken $198.5 million, a significant amount for a European-funded film that was produced outside of the traditional U.S. studio system.
