Weekend box office update (Mar 23-25)

Good afternoon Disney friends,

This weekend falls into the category that all good things must come to an end. Black Panther fell from 1st place with an estimated domestic take of $16.65 million. That was still good enough for 2nd for the weekend. It is also the 4th highest 6th weekend for a film behind Frozen. The film also surpassed Avengers for the highest grossing comic book derived film in the domestic market. The film is also the fifth highest grossing domestic film of all time. It sits about $22 mil behind Jurassic World for 4th place and $29 behind Titanic for 3rd.

With a current worldwide gross of $1.237 billion, the film is currently number 12 on the all-time worldwide list. The film is about $40 million behind Frozen and if it can gain that figure, then it would move into the top 10 list.

The House of Mouse also had the 6th film of the weekend as A Wrinkle in Time grossed another $8 million for a total take of $73 million.

I hope you have a magical week. 

Disney's Weekend Box Office Roundup (Mar 16-18)

Good afternoon Disney friends,

Another weekend with the same result, Black Panther is again the number one film for the fifth straight weekend. With an estimated gross of $27 mil stateside, the film will cross the $600 mil threshold by end of business today. Here are some of the company the film is in:

1. It is only the 3rd film in the last 19 years to be #1 for 5 straight weeks. The other 2 were Avatar and The Sixth Sense.

2. It is the 2nd fastest film to $600 mil behind Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

3. It had the 4th highest 5th weekend behind Avatar, Titanic, and Frozen.

4. It is now the 7th highest grossing domestic film of all time.

5. It is now the 14th highest grossing film worldwide.

The House of Mouse also has the number four film of the weekend with A Wrinkle in Time, which is currently the number five film for the year. This film will have a slow international rollout between now and mid-June.

Also, this weekend saw the release of the new Avengers: Infinity War trailer. First, this film has already broken records. In 6 hours, it broke the record (set by Black Panther) for ticket presales. I have watched the trailer and now I am going to go nerd. If you go back and watch Avengers: Age of Ultron, there is a scene where the different members of the group are trying to pick up Thor's hammer. When Captain America gets to try, he does not pick it up, but it does budge a little bit. This is where I am going with that--in the latest trailer, he is actually in a fight with Thanos and he is actually holding his own--just an interested observation--it could mean nothing or it could mean everything.

Thank you for allowing me time to share my thoughts with you and I hope you have a magical week.

Weekend Box Office Update (Black Panther continues to rule)

Good evening Disney friends, 

Well another weekend is coming to pass and the House of Mouse rules again. This weekend saw Black Panther continue to rule the roost. By taking in over 40 million dollars, it claimed the third highest 4th weekend ever for a film. Just like last weekend, the only two films to do better than Black Panther were Avatar and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The film also crossed the $1 billion mark worldwide which makes it just the 33rd film to do so. Of those 33 films, Disney pictures produced 16 of the films. Disney also holds the number 2 film of the weekend with A Wrinkle in Time. The film did come in a little bit below expectations with around $33 million; however, part of the lower than expected earnings comes from the fact that Black Panther is still doing so well. Moving back to Black Panther, it is the first Marvel film to spend four weeks at number one. It is also the highest grossing first movie for a Marvel character. Moving back to A Wrinkle in Time, it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next few weeks since it is a family film and spring breaks for kids in elementary, middle, and high schools will be occurring over the next few weeks.

Have a great week and we will see if maybe Black Panther will be able to hold on to the number one spot for a fifth weekend.

Thanks for sharing your time with me.

Weekend Box Office Update

Hi there Disney friends,

Well it is another weekend that was a great one for the House of Mouse as Black Panther is proving to be very powerful. The film grossed in excess of $65 million. That is the third highest weekend ever recorded for the third weekend for a film. The only two films of grossed more in their third weekend of release is Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avatar. (If when the numbers come out tomorrow a little higher for Black Panther like it has every week so far, it could surpass Avatar.) To put that in perspective of how big Black Panther is, both of those films 3rd weekends of release were over the January 1st through the 3rd weekends. In other words, those two films had the advantage of having a holiday weekend to do those numbers. The film is also now the third fastest movie to make $500 million behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Star Wars: The Last Jedi. (It is also tied with Jurassic World,) This film is also now the 10th highest grossing film domestically of all time and still has many weeks to go. It is also the second highest grossing film in the Marvel Universe domestically. The film has also made over $900 million worldwide.

Looking ahead, next weekend could be a very interesting weekend for Disney films as the Oprah Winfrey starring film A Wrinkle in Time is released. It will be interesting to see if that film can knock Black Panther out of the number one spot. Another little piece of information that came out this week Disney has chosen to release Avengers: Infinity War a week earlier than planned and will be the last weekend in April not first weekend in May. We will see how beginning the summer a week earlier helps these numbers for this upcoming film. Disney also announced that the live action film version of Mulan will be delayed 2 years into 2020 and Nicole which was to be released this November has been put on hold. The thinking is the last film will be moved to Disney's new streaming service that will be starting up next year.

Thank you for allowing me to share my love for Disney and movies with you. I hope you have a great week.

Tour of EPCOT - part 3 (The Land)

Hi Disney friends,

Today's post is going to move back across Future World to The Land pavilion which is located behind Innoventions West. The Land pavilion can easily take up a couple of hours of your day in EPCOT. This location is home to Soarin', Living with the Land, Sunshine Seasons, and The Garden Grill.

Soarin', like Test Track and Frozen Ever After, is a tier-1 ride on the Fastpass system. This ride has been changed over the years to move from a ride that was mimicking the one in California and now the right is called Soarin' Around the World. The moderate thrill ride carries guests around the world to some of the most iconic locations to see. Guests are able to fly over the Great Wall of China or the Taj Mahal or across the plains of Africa. This ride also has a wonderful queue, but bring your smart phones charged up. While waiting in line, guests can joint teams and compete against each other answering questions about geography from around the world. This is gives guests something to do since at peak times the wait for this right can be well in excess of 1 hour. (Also, if you are a Patrick Warburton fan, he is the flight attendant for the ride.) Again our plan is to use our fastpass for either Test Track or Soarin around 9:30 to 10:00 and then try to get to the other ride prior to the fast pass time (that means being there at rope drop.)

Not So Hidden Mickey in
 Living with the Land

Living with the Land provides guests an opportunity to float through a long of farming and then moving into some of the new methods that scientists are using to increase crop yields to feed an increasing world population. There are numerous things to see that are both interesting and unique in this location. If you're really into the sciences this is a great ride for you. Also, this ride shows you ways that Walt Disney World grows food to use and some of the locations on site for the restaurants.

That leads us to the two eating areas that are found in The Land. Sunshine Seasons is one of a handful of quick service restaurants that provides guests with different food opportunities. You will be able to try Asian Cuisine or have a salad in one of these locations. It is a definitely a change of pace compared to the other Quick Service restaurants on site. Many of those locations serve basic American fare of cheese burgers or chicken fingers. This location allows many more opportunities that guest would not normally think.

Lastly in The Land is the Garden Grill. This restaurant is on the table service section of the Dining Plan. This restaurant rotates above the Living with the Land ride. Guests are able to, if seated in the right location, over look and see parts of the intro to living with the land. This restaurant provides table service family style food in the fact that they bring food to you. You're also able to meet Garden Mickey and Chip and Dale. Just like in Sunshine Seasons, some of the food is grown in Living with the Land or the associated Disney green houses.

This is a unique place to visit especially for people who are looking for a nicer cooler area since the all rides and restaurants are located under the same roof you do not have to move from location to location.

I look forward to helping you plan any of your vacations to Walt Disney World or any other Disney sites and I hope you found this informative and entertaining. As always, thank you for allowing me to share my experiences at Walt Disney World with you and I look forward to hearing your questions and talking with you in the future about you being able to visit a magical location. Me email address is brian.herndon@mousemadesimple.com.