Take a chance, Disney.
Although they release the fewest films each year out of the Big Five film studios, Walt Disney Pictures routinely grosses the most money due to the success of their subsidiaries Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and Disney Animation. Disney’s live-action remakes of animated classics have added a lot of cash to Disney’s coffers, but they have also deprived the studio of the creative aptitude it had when making those animated classics. Did the live-action versions of Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, and Jungle Book add anything of material value to the source material? No, they were practically the same except that $150 million more dollars were invested into the film.
Disney places a lot of value in these remakes because of their monetary value and the disappointment of their annual big-budget films based on obscure or unknown IP (The Lone Ranger, A Wrinkle in Time, Tomorrowland, John Carter, etc.). Since 2012’s John Carter, these films have lost Disney hundreds of millions of dollars. Why? It’s a bad business decision to invest $300 million in a film based on intellectual property practically unknown to modern audiences. Repeating those decisions is a bad business model.
Disney struck gold with the Pirates of the Caribbean series. A string of gambles paid off immeasurably with The Curse of the Black Pearl. A $140 million film based on one of their (less popular) rides made over $650 million and turned Johnny Depp into a major star thanks to his Keith Richards impersonation. Then the next two films made $2 billion combined and Disney thought they had the formula to print money. Well, not exactly.
Disney places a lot of value in these remakes because of their monetary value and the disappointment of their annual big-budget films based on obscure or unknown IP (The Lone Ranger, A Wrinkle in Time, Tomorrowland, John Carter, etc.). Since 2012’s John Carter, these films have lost Disney hundreds of millions of dollars. Why? It’s a bad business decision to invest $300 million in a film based on intellectual property practically unknown to modern audiences. Repeating those decisions is a bad business model.
Disney struck gold with the Pirates of the Caribbean series. A string of gambles paid off immeasurably with The Curse of the Black Pearl. A $140 million film based on one of their (less popular) rides made over $650 million and turned Johnny Depp into a major star thanks to his Keith Richards impersonation. Then the next two films made $2 billion combined and Disney thought they had the formula to print money. Well, not exactly.
Movie |
Budget |
Worldwide Gross |
Prince of Persia |
$200,000,000 |
$336,400,000 |
The Sorcerer's Apprentice |
$150,000,000 |
$215,300,000 |
Tron: Legacy |
$170,000,000 |
$400,000,000 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides |
$379,000,000 |
$1,046,000,000 |
John Carter |
$263,700,000 |
$284,100,000 |
The Lone Ranger |
$250,000,000 |
$260,500,000 |
Tomorrowland |
$190,000,000 |
$209,200,000 |
The BFG |
$140,000,000 |
$183,300,000 |
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales |
$230,000,000 - $320,000,000 |
$794,900,000 |
A Wrinkle In Time |
$130,000,000 |
$132,700,000 |
When factoring in the theaters’ percentage of the worldwide grosses and the $100-$150 million marketing budgets of all these films, you can see that these films routinely lost $80-$170 million outside of the Pirates series.
Disney tried to form a business model around an insane gamble that luckily paid off. Unless you have an incredibly popular IP/brand or you are James Cameron, you should not have a $150-$200 million budgeted film kicking off your franchise.
If Disney wants to kickstart a franchise on small properties then they should re-imagine their unsuccessful animated films as live-action films. Ladies and gentlemen, I propose Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Atlantis has a ton of potential as a property. “Set in 1914, the film tells the story of a young man who gains possession of a sacred book, which he believes will guide him and a crew of mercenaries to the lost city of Atlantis.” The film only made $186.1 million on a $120 million budget and had a mixed critical reaction. Some praised Atlantis for departing from Disney tradition while others disliked the film because of an unclear target audience and absence of songs.
So why remake Atlantis if it wasn’t successful? Because filmmakers will have freedom with the source material. When remaking Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, filmmakers have to include all the signature songs and the main story beats of the original animated films because that’s what audiences want to see. With Atlantis, there is no dedicated fan base that is going to complain because you didn’t include certain things from the original film.
Disney tried to form a business model around an insane gamble that luckily paid off. Unless you have an incredibly popular IP/brand or you are James Cameron, you should not have a $150-$200 million budgeted film kicking off your franchise.
If Disney wants to kickstart a franchise on small properties then they should re-imagine their unsuccessful animated films as live-action films. Ladies and gentlemen, I propose Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Atlantis has a ton of potential as a property. “Set in 1914, the film tells the story of a young man who gains possession of a sacred book, which he believes will guide him and a crew of mercenaries to the lost city of Atlantis.” The film only made $186.1 million on a $120 million budget and had a mixed critical reaction. Some praised Atlantis for departing from Disney tradition while others disliked the film because of an unclear target audience and absence of songs.
So why remake Atlantis if it wasn’t successful? Because filmmakers will have freedom with the source material. When remaking Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King, filmmakers have to include all the signature songs and the main story beats of the original animated films because that’s what audiences want to see. With Atlantis, there is no dedicated fan base that is going to complain because you didn’t include certain things from the original film.
Instead of investing $230 million into the next Lone Ranger, put $90-$125 million into a remake of Atlantis: The Lost Empire. You aren’t going to be able to do everything the animated film did. The Leviathan attack would have to be minimized in the live-action remake so more money could be put into realizing the cinematic marvel of the city of Atlantis.
Disney should hire Neill Blomkamp to direct a live-action remake. His last directorial effort, Chappie, was not very good, but you cannot deny what he did with Elysium and the Best Picture-nominated District 9. Now, he is doing small sci-fi short films through his own studio, Oats Studios. He is waiting for another opportunity to create a sci-fi world. Plus, he’ll come cheap. But, do not let him write the script. Hire a veteran screenwriter like Eric Heisserer (Arrival) or Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Dredd, Annihilation) and give them a lot of time to craft a good story that Blomkamp has a clear blueprint when making his film.
Disney should hire Neill Blomkamp to direct a live-action remake. His last directorial effort, Chappie, was not very good, but you cannot deny what he did with Elysium and the Best Picture-nominated District 9. Now, he is doing small sci-fi short films through his own studio, Oats Studios. He is waiting for another opportunity to create a sci-fi world. Plus, he’ll come cheap. But, do not let him write the script. Hire a veteran screenwriter like Eric Heisserer (Arrival) or Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Dredd, Annihilation) and give them a lot of time to craft a good story that Blomkamp has a clear blueprint when making his film.
Here’s your cast.
Andrew Garfield - Milo Thatch
Alexandra Shipp - Kida
Josh Brolin - Lyle Rourke
Charlize Theron - Helga Sinclair
Terry Crews - Dr. Joshua Sweet
Jean Reno - Gaeten Mole Moliere
John Turturro - Vincenzo Santorini
Morgan Freeman - Kashekim Nedakh
Disney, please make this film.
Andrew Garfield - Milo Thatch
Alexandra Shipp - Kida
Josh Brolin - Lyle Rourke
Charlize Theron - Helga Sinclair
Terry Crews - Dr. Joshua Sweet
Jean Reno - Gaeten Mole Moliere
John Turturro - Vincenzo Santorini
Morgan Freeman - Kashekim Nedakh
Disney, please make this film.