After a promising run, Cars 2 seems to have slipped behind bigger films in this congested summer season.
Cliches aside, we really hate to be the bearers of bad news here at Upcoming Pixar. Unfortunately, this weekend’s numbers have only painted a negative picture for Cars 2. With a combined Friday and Sunday take of $5 million and a Saturday total of $3.5 million, Pixar’s latest clocks in at:
$165,389,754
Granted, a weekend total of a little over $8 million is not bad for any film, especially this far out and with competition such as the final Harry Potter flick. However, this does track Cars 2 behind Ratatouille, Pixar’s least commercially successful film of the last decade. The only thing that might push Cars 2 past the $200 million mark would be a final Labor Day boost.
Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining. Internationally, Cars 2 is performing well with a total take of about $121 million for a combined worldwide gross of about $286 million. The film has yet to open in major markets including the UK.
Your thoughts?
(via Box Office Mojo)
Last modified: July 18, 2011
I think with movies like Harry Potter and Transformers 3 being released not long after Cars 2 has really affected the total gross. Also having to follow the release of Toy Story 3 makes it very difficult for Cars 2 to out shine other big summer blockbusters.
People will not pay to see a poor movie (Transformers 3 may ruin my theory however) Pixar deserves box office failure because they made a poor story. This economic failure will encourage Pixar to stick to their instincts, and will discourage Disney from pressuring movies for the sake of collateral profit (aka toy sales). On a bright note, John Carter looks incredible! I know it’s not technically Pixar, but it has Pixar’s soul. Please post the teaser trailer!!
It made more money than Winnie the Pooh.
;(
But Pooh is infinitely more profitable. Cars has to make $600 million to break even. It cost $200 million, plus at least another $100 million to market. The Pooh cartoon cost $30 million. And it’s Disney’s #2 merchandising slam dunk (after Mickey Mouse).
It’s behind at the box office because of poor word of mouth. I enjoyed it, but still thought it was clearly one of Pixar’s weakest films. I have friends and family who adored the first “Cars” and were very disappointed in this one. Again, I had a good time with it, but Pixar represents a higher quality to most people and “Cars 2” wasn’t quite up to their usual standards.
I think it will do very well in the UK and during the Labor Day Weekend. I think Harry Potter and Winnie the Pooh have just take center stage.
http://www.totalfilm.com/news/john-lasseter-responds-to-toy-story-4-rumours
http://www.thehdroom.com/news/Exclusive-Toy-Story-Toy-Story-2-and-Toy-Story-3-on-Blu-ray-3D-This-Year/9221
If it’s true I am so excited. Be like my 6th time buying the series.
If Cars 2 was a solidly good movie on all levels, it does not matter what competition it is up against, the movie would have done well, history of film supports this with many movies which were not expected to do well against major releases and having done so. Cars 2 was/is a major release and has failed even when the tally includes the overseas income. This movie deserves to fail, it is a poorly made film created only to make money from merchandise and to boost the popularity and anticipation of Cars Land at Disney California Adventure. It’s a shallow film, which, thank goodness, has proven a bad film is not always a hit regardless of what powerhouse makes and releases it. Cars 2 is a bad film and as a result has had a bad run, no surprise or spin can change the facts.
One more thing, if doubts persist on the motivation to increase cash flow, Pixar-fication of Disney’s Theme Parks, look not only at the majority additions in the past decade into all the parks but merchandise showing up at Disney Parks around the globe. Latest example, Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show adding Cars characters. Doesn’t that violate the concept of a stunt show storyline to force in animated characters? Rebuttal and defense of these choices sure to follow in this thread, the examples and results don’t support such comments.
You guys are just stating your opinions! It is not a bad film! So what about how much money they make? If you don’t like it so much, don’t add a comment, don’t go to this awesome website, and don’t be a Pixar fan. Stop being critics! I don’t care what percent it got on Rotten Tomatoes or how many stars it got. It’s a good movie and maybe it lost some money but that doesn’t mean it’s not going stop. Cars 2 will still be a good movie and the money will continue to go up maybe not a lot but it will go up. Cars 2 is better then a lot of movies. I don’t get it though. What is wrong about the movie?
As a fan of Pixar, I have to say it was a bad film. Not terrible. Certainly children of a certain age will enjoy it, but from a story and character point of view, it was nothing more than mediocre. It was utterly devoid of character change. Mater, the main character in this film, is exactly the same at the end than he was at the beginning. He never even attempted to better himself, he just muddles through the whole film the same Mater he’s ever been.
So, the reason I’m being such a critic of a Pixar film, even though I am a Pixar fan? The thing that makes me love Pixar, great stories, was missing. Don’t get me wrong, it was well told, but the story itself is a structural mess.
To the previous post – that was the point of the movie. People want to change Mater, but he’s perfectly fine being who he is and no one should try to change him. Be who you are, that was the message.
I thought it was still a great movie!
Is there still a chance Pixar is going to the Oscars this year?
I think this has nothing to do with bad word of mouth and such. It’s becuase of bigger movies getting more attention. Nothing could stop blockbusters like transformers 3 or harrypottter 7 part 2, regardless of how good cars 2 could of have been, it wouldn’t have beat those movies, it was still a modest hit, just not a huge one.
“Be who you are, that was the message.” Yes, and what a muddled message it was. If that was their aim, then they dropped the ball. That they had to have McQueen literally say that at the end shows just how poorly the film was expressing its message.
“People want to change Mater, but he’s perfectly fine being who he is and no one should try to change him. Be who you are, that was the message.”
That’s fine in principle, but Mater was rude and obnoxious in Japan. People shouldn’t have to change who they are, but they should have some common courtesy when travelling abroad. He didn’t even try to understand or respect the foreign culture. That’s not a cool message.
—Monica
I really am not a big fan of Cars 1 or 2. To me the characters lack that human quality that Wall-E was able to create. The characters don’t feel very relatable and when I look at them I just see a car. It doesn’t resonate that feeling which makes Pixar movies great, it seems more on the level of solely Disney movies like Bolt. Not a soul can say I hate Pixar though, 30 minutes in to Up and I decided that the field of art I’d like to pursue is character animation. It’s my dream job to work at Pixar, and I think it’s important to observe when/if the studio slips up.
To Monica,
Ummmm, it’s MATER. When something is new like that, he’s the character who doesn’t take it into consideration. He acts like he’s always acted. That was not a message sent to the audience. I mean, you really think people were walking out of the theater thinking, “Geeze, that Mater was pretty rude! I’m turned off by this movie just by the way he slapped other cultures, that were not his own, right in the face!”
No. Right away, for even people who never saw Cars 1, the audience will know what kind of character Mater is and how he will act on the tour.
At a budget of $200 million, with NO LESS than another $100 million for advertising, according to the Hollywood Economist, a film would need to clear 3 X it’s budget of production and advertising to be in the black. As of today, Cars 2 has made, world wide, approx. $350 million. That means it has to make another $550 million to make any profit (aside from merchandising).
Cars 2, the film, was a flop (financially and creatively). Cars 2, the Toy Commercial, was a big hit.
RE: Monica
I agree but for a different reason.
They try to say that “Mater isn’t dumb” and in Cars 1, he isn’t really.
But in Cars 2 he is constantly doing dumb things. It’s not funny or charming, he’s just doing blatantly idiotic things yet they want to beat you over the head with this “Mater isn’t dumb” message.
Poor writing.
-bennifer3000
Cars 2 just hasn’t the famous Pixar quality. Too much ‘shreck-like’ noise, and no good story.
It’s the first Pixar movie I won’t buy on disc.