BoxOffice® Pro - May 2013

global
exhibition
Global box office totals for animated flicks are reaching new
heights. What do we have to look forward to this summer?
an animated summer
by Phil Contrino
Vice President / Chief Analyst
BoxOffice.com
gru’s despicable minions
will have their own
movie this holiday
season titled, well,
minions
n Summer 2013 is shaping up to be full of
animated hits.
Epic is set to do serious damage during
Memorial Day weekend. An all-star voice cast
combined with a plot that promises plenty of
adventure should serve as an excellent bit of
counterprogramming to the two adult-skewing
movies opening during the holiday frame:
Fast & Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III.
Director Chris Wedge—the voice of Scrat in
the Ice Age films as well as the co-director of
the first Ice Age movie—knows how to deliver
family entertainment. Keep a very close eye on
this one.
Monsters University looks poised to turn
into a global behemoth when it opens on
June 21. The original Monsters, Inc. made a
staggering $559 million globally way back in
2001. If a movie made that much today, it
would be viewed as a success, but expectations
will instantly be set above the $600 million
global mark because of the original film’s
achievement. Disney is hoping to lure in fans
who are now in their late teens/early 20s as
well as young children who were introduced to
the film via the 3D release this past fall or on
Blu-ray. Online signs point to another hit for
the Mouse House. The official Monsters, Inc.
Facebook page has been adding likes at a very
rapid pace for months now. More than 300,000
were added during March alone. That kind of
growth is a sure sign that enthusiasm is growing
at a healthy pace.
July is full of animated flicks. Despicable Me
2 hits on July 3, Turbo opens on July 17, and
The Smurfs 2 closes out the month on July 31.
Despicable Me 2 is currently the favorite
to be the number-one animated movie of the
summer, and it could also end up among the
top five global performers of the year. The
two Despicable Me 2 trailers that have been
released as of press time were met with a wave
of support on Facebook and Twitter. The
official Facebook page has added more than 2
million likes during some of its busiest weeks.
That’s an amazing expansion of a brand that’s
already quite healthy. Universal is wisely
rolling out the Minions in full force as the
anchor of the promotional campaign. Those
scene-stealing yellow creatures may be more
valuable than some of the A-list stars working
today.
Turbo also looks promising, but opening
so close to Despicable Me 2 won’t be easy. The
trailers portray the film as Fast & Furious for
Kids, so that means it could tap into the same
audience that flocked to both Cars films.
Sony’s The Smurfs 2 has big shoes to fill. The
first film surprised the industry by posting a
$563.1 million global haul after opening at the
end of July 2011. Sony is now a major player in
the animation game, and it’ll be looking for big
things out of this sequel.
26 BoxOffice ® Pro The Business of Movies may 2013