Lion King and other theater 3D releases

So the Lion King 3D theater run is pretty much done, and it was wildly successful. Estimates for the US take (I believe) are $85,962,000, which is pretty sweet considering that they only viewed this as a way to promote the re-re-re-release (ok, I lost count) of the title to home viewers.

The Washington Post announced that this success has encouraged Disney to announce the following release schedule. "They are: the previously announced 3-D version of “Beauty and the Beast,” coming Jan. 13, 2012; “Finding Nemo” (Sept. 14, 2012); “Monsters, Inc.” (Jan. 18, 2013), which will serve as a nice marketing tool for the prequel “Monster University” that will be released the following June; and “The Little Mermaid” (Sept. 13, 2013)."

So a few thoughts come to mind:

1) I haven't been watching much TV, but I don't think Disney made much of an advertising push for the Lion King 3D. I suspect there will be a more aggressive push for the other titles.

2) It shows you the power that some of these films have. The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid don't really need any advertising. People want to see them and will come out in droves. I'm not as sure about the Pixar releases to be honest. But in any case, the whole thinking that theater re-releases were no longer viable has to be reconsidered.

3) Will they also consider doing this (even if it's not for 3D conversions) for the classic films? Would you head out to the theater, say, to watch a cleaned up version of Cinderella? I'm man enough to admit that I would.

4) Although this is potentially a very positive development, my one piece of advice to Disney is - don't overdo it. There's an unfortunate history at times of killing the golden goose, witness the Disney animation studios post Lion King.

What are your thoughts?

I'm excited to see the re-release of classic films but I think we're in a precarious time for the 3D format. 2D films did far better than 3D this summer and I personally believe that the craze is just about fizzled out. Ever since the 70's 3D has come and gone several times as the "next new thing", and perhaps in another 2-3 trend cycles they will find some way to make it less cumbersome and nauseating for a pretty broad population of people who get sick watching 3D flicks. I digress.
I hope to see a small-but-steady release of the Disney classics to theaters (maybe only 1 a year, 2 tops), restored and digitally enhanced perhaps but hope they can get away from converting everything over to 3D. I can see where Beauty and the Beast might work with the big ballroom and all the other large environments and the Pixar films will carry over nicely I'm sure, but I'm not sure how much it will really enhance The Little Mermaid.

we didnt bother with going to the movies and seeing the 3D.. i will save my $6.50 a person and buy the dvd/blueray when it comes out. i'm not big on 3D unless its there in the parks

I am pretty excited for Finding Nemo to come out in 3d. The others ones I really dont care about. I wish Wall*e was on that list

Lion King stayed on top for two weeks beating out new releases... not bad for an old film. I know we went to see it.

I think the original poster's second point is most accurate, at least for me. It doesn't matter to me that The Lion King was released in 3D. It was re-released in movie theaters, making it the first time I've seen the film on the big screen in over 15 years. That's enough for me. I don't care that Little Mermaid is coming out in 3D. But I won't have seen it in theaters for nearly 25 years, so I'll see it.

I'm more concerned that Disney thinks the 3D is what's caused Lion King to do so well, which I doubt. If they decide to do as previous studio heads did and re-release older films in theaters every few years, they could make a boatload. 3D, however, is still kind of a fad, IMO.

It's amazing that it racked up that much money, though with the inflated prices for 3D, it would stand to reason. I went to a matinee in 3D and paid $6. So saying that I was let down had nothing to do with the money. While I remember it being one of my favorite Disney films, I guess I haven't seen it in quite a while and found it to be dragging in some places. Plus, the 3D was completely unnecessary. It looked great all cleaned up, but it was NOT a 3D-worthy film by any means.

I completely agree that the 3D was unnecessary. I was glad to see the movie again in theaters--though the story's structure is a bit odd, I think Jeremy Irons' performance as Scar is an all-timer--but even the Circle of Life sequence didn't really look too impressive to me. My opinion of the 3D has dimmed even more, honestly, after watching the Blu-ray version of Lion King, which is incredible to look at. Whatever money Disney put into the Blu-ray transfer, they should put into future 3D conversions if they're sticking with that format.

I like the 3d movies, I'm not looking for the in your face 3d affect, I like the depth of field that 3d gives. I have two 3d tv's at home, so I guess you can say I'm really into 3d, I've just watched Lion King, Beauty & the Beast, and The Nightmare before Christmas, they were great!! Alice in Wonderland with Johnny Depp, Tangled 3d, and A Christmas Carol were amazing. Looking forward to Pirates 3 in 3d next week. Coming soon Cars2 and all three toy stories, Meet the Robinsons, Bolt and Chicken Little in stores by 11/8

My only wish is that when they release a movie in 3d they would give me the option to buy just the 3d version. I really don't need a blu-ray, a dvd, and digital copy. Which does nothing but run the cost of purchasing a 3d movie that much more, and they wonder why 3d is not that popular

I agree about the 3D format really being optional for the theater release - I know that my original post put it in that context, but that was only because that is the marketing plan Disney has adopted as far as I can tell. IMO the success of the re-release had nothing to do with it being 3D and everything to do with it being The Lion King.

@mousterpiece, I have never been a big fan of The Lion King (the movie). I certainly respect the impact and influence it had. However, I always have felt that the ending of the film is a mess. Perhaps I don't give it enough credit, especially to the music, as I missed the brilliant Ashman/Menken collaboration.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by norman

Coming soon Cars2 and all three toy stories, Meet the Robinsons, Bolt and Chicken Little in stores by 11/8.

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Along with Home on the Range and Atlantis, I'm shocked that Disney even remembers that they released Chicken Little, Bolt or Meet the Robinsons.

I'm not the biggest fan of Bolt, but that one did well enough to have some lasting impact, I think. (Or maybe it's just because I always see Bolt plushes in the Disney Store and World of Disney.)

Re: Lion King, I don't think it's the best of the era, but I was more impressed with it this time and the Blu-ray is incredible. And, yes, the lyrics aren't Ashman-level, but the music is pretty great, I think.