Strange World – the new Disney’s animated film – started its previews on Tuesday. The feature attracted less viewers than expected, which differs from the studio’s initial estimates for its first week. One of the major competitions at the box office is a film from the same studio Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which has collected over $300 million so far. Strange Worlds’ previews grossed $800k.
The expectations of the studio were around $30 to $40 million for this holiday weekend; however, the soft start might indicate those numbers are hard to reach. The amount was not unrealistic though since last year’s Encanto was released at the same time and collected $1.5M only in previews. However, every film is different and attracts different audiences. Maybe Strange World haven’t found its people yet. The film is premiering in a moment full of expected features where it may be hard for it to sum teen and adult audiences, also in post-COVID era it has been harder to animated features to match the pre-pandemic viewers at the cinema.
Strange World centers around a family of explorers that go to a mission in an unexplored territory surrounded by fantastic creatures. The story delves into the theme of family relations as many other recent Disney films. Don Hall is the director of the feature, he has directed several Disney films in the past including 2011’s Winnie The Pooh, Big Hero 6, Raya and the last Dragon and Moana. She Kills Monsters‘ playwright Qui Nguyen collaborates with Hall for the second time credited as writer. The voice cast includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union and Lucy Liu.
The feature has been well reviewed scoring 74% in Rotten Tomatoes. One of the aspects that has been praised is its visuals, described as “visually dazzling”. Strange World had a soft start, time will tell if the audience will be as fascinated as the critics with it.
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