By the close of box office on Friday it looked like Jerry Seinfeld and his hive of talking bees would be whacked by Denzel Washington’s American Gangster, but by the close of box office on Sunday, The “Bee Movie” edged past it by a significant margin to gain first place.
“Bee Movie,” from that animation wonder working team at DreamWorks can boast of a $26 plus million for a 3-day take, while “American Gangster” fell to second with just a tad over $24 million.
With numbers like this, and similar ones for past animated features, it is easy to see why Hollywood studios prefer these kind of venues over expensive live-action films. The profit margin is greater with the former.
The Christmas holiday romp called “Fred Claus” had a tight hold on third with all others lagging far behind.
We will have the full Top Ten weekenders for you later tomorrow or Wednesday.
“With numbers like this, and similar ones for past animated features,it is easy to see why Hollywood studios prefer these kind of venues over expensive live-action films”
According to Box Office Mojo the production budget for ‘Bee Movie’ is $150 million and the production budget for ‘American Gangster’ is $100 million. To date “American Gangster’ has made $80,995,623 worldwide compared to ‘Bee Movie’ making $80,708,247.
My point being only that these animated features are in no way cheaper to make than the expensive live-action ones. And they do about as well in the box office too.
You make a good point Walter. Bee Movie, however, is the exception to the rule. The problem with the cost of this one was it starred Jerry Seinfeld who got a huge paycheck up front.
Most animation flicks do cost less than live-action films that have the stars on the caliber of a Washington, Crowe, Hanks, etc., starring in them.
Shrek is a good case in point. The first film had a $60 mil budget. Substantial when you consider it was the first film in the franchise, but it grossed well over $160 mil in its first week alone. Shrek 2’s budget was $140 mil and it’s worldwide gross to date is nearly a billion dollars. Shrek 3 had a $160 mil budget and it grossed over $121 in its first weekend just in the US.
The point here is, yes, sometimes an animation film may cost a bit more than a live-action film up front, but their longrunning returns far outweigh their live-action counterparts. In other words, animation films tend to have better staying power, gaining them greater revenue when compared to the cost of making them.
The best example I can give to date would be the phenomenon called “Ratatouille.” It had a budget of $150 million and to date has grossed over $375 mil and showing no signs of slowing down, while a live-action hit like “The Bourne Ultimatum,” with a comparable budget has grossed only $227 mil during the same period.
thanks, that’s a great follow up with some excellent details. Looking at the bigger picture, I would have to agree with you and the original point you were making.