On the new theatrical release front, we got a bit of bounce this past week with a 2023 output projection of 521 new movie arrivals by New Year’s Eve … up from 514.
The top two boxes ($25 million-plus; $100 million-plus) remains at 64. The pre-pandemic average was 94, so we have 30 hit films missing in action.
The latest to skip theatres for the pit of doom — that would be streaming — is the animated film from the directing team of Nick Bruno and Troy Quane, Nimona.
Well, technically-speaking it didn’t totally bypass theatres as it got a “limited” showcase one week before it was streamed by Netflix (June 30). No box office results were reported (standard operating procedure for Netflix), but judging from the Rotten Tomatoes tracking site, the film was well-received — both by the critics and ticket-buying audiences with 93% and 94% scores, respectively.
The film’s production budget is also MIA, but judging from its long and winding path from pre-production to theatrical rollout on June 23, 2023 (an eight-year odyssey), coupled with some sources calling it the best animated film of the year, we suspect that it is substantial. How much Disney wrote-off when it shuttered the production, before being resurrected by Annapurna Pictures and Netflix, clouds the issue.
If Elemental, which is likely to hit the $100 million box office mark domestically, has a 92% audience rating from Rotten Tomatoes, then isn’t it reasonable to argue that Nimona may have had a similar run if given the opportunity? It certainly has the fan base.
Sure, it’s not a direct apples-to-apples comparison, but even if Nimona only tracked at half what Elemental is likely to finish with ($50 million instead of $100 million), that means that one of the missing hit theatrical films that is leaving us 30-short for the year is right here.
Oh, but it gets better. Since this is a Netflix streaming release, it is unlikely to see the light of day in the home entertainment packaged media arena. Fans that want DVD, Blu-ray or even a 4K copy of the film will have to look to “helper” sources to find one.
Yes, Nimona began streaming on Netflix June 30 and on the same day (within hours) it was available on Blu-ray. That is what the streaming madness that dominates entertainment has done — theatres get shafted, packaged media is bypassed and pristine masters are served-up on a platter for anyone willing to take advantage of it.
For fans of ND Stevenson’s graphic novel-turned-animated-movie — who are not on Netflix, or lucky enough to be within driving distance of one of the Landmark Theatres that exhibited the film — must now look to a “helper” source as the only real viewing option.
And what else got “helper” action this past week?
Movies weren’t the only action from “helper” sources … I'm a Virgo: Season 1, The Idol: Season 1, neXt: The Complete Series, Silo: Season 1, Rings of Power - Season 1, Rough Diamonds - Season 1, Saint X - Season 1, Schimigadoon - Season 2, Swimming with Sharks - Season 1 and True Lies - Season 1 all were released on Blu-ray (and that’s just in one week).
Theatrical catalog, let’s not forget that. The studios, with their vast libraries dating back to the dawn of the sound era, have pretty much given up releasing anything on DVD, but during this past week alone, “helper” sources churned out 90 different movies for consumers to select from, including The Secret of Santa Vittoria, The Ox-Bow Incident, Pretty Maids All in a Row, The Heartbreak Kid, Tommy and A Touch of Class.
That’s a wrap for this week … next week it will be more of the same (you can count on it).
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