The Box Office Podcast

James Gunn’s acclaimed and buzzy Superman opened in North America with $125 million toward a $95 million overseas launch. The domestic grosses are good enough, especially with thus-far strong weekday earnings ($12.9 million on Monday, $17 million on Tuesday and $11.8 million on Wednesday) to compensate for thus-far lousy international grosses. And the buzz is closer to Batman Begins than Superman Returns, so we invited TheWrap’s resident scooper and geek-specific (but not IP-exclusive) film journalist, Umberto Gonzalez, to answer “Why is this IP franchise reboot different from all other IP franchise reboots?” Jeremy Fuster discusses how this furthers the notion of Warner Bros. Discovery’s attempts at theatrical consistency. Lisa Laman laments the lack of anything resembling counterprogramming similar to My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Devil Wears Prada, or This Is the End that once greeted other Batman and/or Superman movies. Scott Mendelson somewhat plays the “bad cop,” partially due to the lack of competition and the presumption of a crushing-all-comers strength, amid otherwise cautious optimism, and approval of the film’s politics. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

Longtime Jurassic super-fan (and more recent Clown in a Cornfield mega-fan) Ryan Scott returns to the fourth chair to talk about dinosaurs and movies about dinosaurs. The numbers ($148 million over five days in North America and $322 million worldwide) are unquestionably huge, even without IMAX screens. However, this standalone, presumably one-and-done entry still sparks questions about where the franchise can or should go for the inevitable next chapter. Cowardly Ryan slightly disagrees with courageous Scott about whether Universal and Amblin should go full “Jonathan Sayles’ Jurassic Park IV.” Meanwhile, Scott throws out his daughter’s rather good pitch that he probably shouldn’t have uttered without copywriting, Lisa suggests uh… cloning Ronald Reagan (?), and Jeremy is completely indifferent beyond the financial results. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

I’ve often said that I was exactly the right age to initially think that Power Rangers was idiotic when it debuted in 1993, only to come to appreciate it when my kids discovered it in the early 2010s. Be it “good” or “bad,” it’s unlike anything else that existed before or (save for attempted knock-offs) since. In retrospect, it was an example of a large-scale commercial triumph, partly due to being the first of its kind and by delivering previously “foreign” genre elements to young American audiences. It proved to be a gateway drug for all kinds of geeky and fantastical properties, including a gradual move towards a “mainstream” acceptance of anime outside of Japan, while serving as a one-stop shop for everything (giant robots, slimy monsters, kaiju mayhem, martial arts, slapstick comedy, YA soap opera, and more) that a stereotypical American kid might crave. Furthermore, its difficulty in achieving commercial success beyond the small screen and the toy aisle early on highlighted the challenges of attaining cross-platform success. So it was with great interest that I scooped up Morphemenal, written by Kentucky-based journalist Joshua Moore. As hoped, it’s a captivating one-stop shop for everything notable related to the creation, evolution, and pop culture impact of the Power Rangers. It’s packed with nuggets of “new to me” trivia. For example, I somehow never knew that the first, now-30-year-old Power Rangers movie was essentially an Elseworld. It also provides a comprehensive context for more well-known historical nuggets, such as how the 9/11 attacks affected the show and the unpleasant circumstances behind David Yost’s departure. It all adds up to a singular tome that celebrates the show’s successes without ignoring its artistic and/or economic shortcomings. We spent most of the (edited for clarity and length) 75-minute conversation discussing our differing and mutual experiences with the property, its of-the-moment and in retrospect cultural impact and whether the franchise, which aired its “final” television season in 2023, is truly done. While we do discuss factoids and history that can be found in the book, I have tried to avoid extensively detailing its contents. I still want you to buy or borrow it and read it yourself. And with that, Forces of darkness empow… wait, sorry… I meant, “It’s Moprhin’ Time.” Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

The good news is that F1 just nabbed a big win for Apple’s bumpy theatrical ambitions. The bad news is that M3GAN 2.0 continued Blumhouse’s less-than-stellar track record with sequels, which was less of an issue even a few years ago when their originals and non-sequels were kicking ass on the regular. And the truly ugly news drops at around the hour-mark as Lisa Laman reads as-it-drops reporting confirming all our worst fears about why Pixar’s Elio was delayed and what was changed from the allegedly nearly finished original cut. Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]

This week’s topic, obviously, is what happened to Elio, whether Pixar is finished as a butts-in-seats brand for original animated films, and (without blaming any single factor as a zero-sum explanation) who and what is responsible. Special guest Josh Spiegel, who wrote the book(s) on [https://www.amazon.com/Yesterday-Forever-Nostalgia-Animation-2015-11-17/dp/B01K3JFEN0/ref=sr_1_10?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pWdSmliUEQvO1pOhU7PySD1fmHfatnw3kqxJwv8ZOh4OYLsRgb-ErTX1SihE-RcnKYY5mPErUyAe6bOblw6Mv7ZqpgFfzKynyaULVtlFvsyDdWuM3DrffxPFstQ_yfaOMRJYHvL5C59CpJQzAMPnSzTpJGRoKHQzVdC1qNwIne1WWDrk2G0iv_K_EqgpdIUw.GpntJu58q-SqY1UuZC44QIVCMdvRZA57aLLBdP_8fMM&dib_tag=se&qid=1751038838&refinements=p_27%3AJosh+Spiegel&s=books&sr=1-10] Pixar [https://www.amazon.com/Pixar-Infinite-Past-Nostalgia-Animation/dp/B0F3N72TCY/ref=sr_1_8?dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.pWdSmliUEQvO1pOhU7PySD1fmHfatnw3kqxJwv8ZOh4OYLsRgb-ErTX1SihE-RcnKYY5mPErUyAe6bOblw6Mv7ZqpgFfzKynyaULVtlFvsyDdWuM3DrffxPFstQ_yfaOMRJYHvL5C59CpJQzAMPnSzTpJGRoKHQzVdC1qNwIne1WWDrk2G0iv_K_EqgpdIUw.GpntJu58q-SqY1UuZC44QIVCMdvRZA57aLLBdP_8fMM&dib_tag=se&qid=1751038838&refinements=p_27%3AJosh+Spiegel&s=books&sr=1-8], blames Bob Chapek for sending three key original Pixar films to Disney+ during the early days of the streaming war. Lisa Laman notes that Pixar hasn’t been a “the name is enough” brand since the mid-2010s. Jeremy Fuster attributes the decline to audiences voting for more of what they already know while noting that Disney is at least trying to put out big-deal original toons in a brutal marketplace. Scott Mendelson, while agreeing with all of that, highlights the tragedy of what should have been a decade—both for Pixar and Walt Disney Animation—focused on buzzy originals, instead becoming centered on rehashing the most significant commercial successes of the previous decade. Oh, and 28 Years Later opened pretty damn well for an R-rated grimdark zombie flick, and concerns about possible frontloading mainly relate to the two sequels presumably on the way. And, huzzah, Sinners has passed the global total of The Nun to take its place as uh, the jazziest chapter of the Conjuring Universe? In terms of the written word… Scott Mendelson discusses whether the success of [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/p/how-to-train-your-dragon-is-batman-of-dreamworks-cartoons] How to Train Your Dragon will or should kick-start a wave of DreamWorks live-action remakes. Lisa Laman does the lord’s work [https://comicbook.com/movies/news/dc-detective-chimp-movie-should-happen-explained-james-gunn/] in demanding that James Gunn do what is needed and give us the Detective Chimp movie we need and deserve. In more, less #importantjournalisms, she also notes that the romantic comedy need not continually having prove itself [https://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/how-many-times-must-the-romcom-prove-itself-at-the-box-office.php]at the box office (which frankly has become a circumstance for almost any genre save for horror and, bemusingly, DC/Marvel flicks) and details why she believes Pixar lost its pop culture juice [https://www.pajiba.com/film_reviews/how-the-pixar-empire-crumbled-even-before-covid-and-elio-arrived.php] (quality of films like Turning Red and Soul notwithstanding) a decade ago. Jeremy Fuster notes how the industry-wide employment crisis has now migrated to post-production [https://www.thewrap.com/hollywood-post-production-jobs-crisis/]. Spoiler - Things are still terrible, actually. Ryan C. Scott (who, unless life gets in the way, should be returning as a guest to discuss his and Ethan Mendelson’s favorite franchise) offers a “Tales from the Box Office [https://www.slashfilm.com/1891672/jaws-changed-box-office-forever/]” noting the 50th anniversary of Jaws. Spoiler, it was kind of a big deal. Josh Spiegel has a new podcast, Mousterpiece Melodies [https://open.spotify.com/show/4qJ2kHA0fiEw2HZ1687jTv] (a sequel to Mousterpiece Cinema [https://open.spotify.com/show/5u6RiGPhuZ1773MI5d0BXP]), which analyzes the musical numbers from each Disney film. I’d suggest having Allison Mendelson as a guest on the eventual Frozen II episode, but (a film she despises with the fiery passion of a devoted Zack Snyder fan discussing the theatrical cut of Justice League) it’d risk becoming an unbroken three-hour monologue.  If you like what you hear, please like, share, comment, and subscribe (using a cartoon mallet) with every justified ounce of strength and passion. If you’d like to reach out and offer good cheer, request in-show discussions, or suggest ideas for bonus episodes, please email us at Asktheboxofficepod@gmail.com. Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/] and Puck News [https://puck.news/author/scott-mendelson/]Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap [https://www.thewrap.com/author/jeremy-fuster/]Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer [https://www.dallasobserver.com/arts/dallas-forths-best-trans-inclusive-bars-and-businesses-21590543], Pajiba [https://www.pajiba.com/staff/lisa-laman.php], Looper [https://www.looper.com/author/lisalaman/], Cultress [https://culturess.com/author/llaman], Comic Book [https://comicbook.com/author/lisa-laman/] and Autostraddle [https://www.autostraddle.com/author/lisalaman/]Ryan C. Scott - SlashFilm [https://www.slashfilm.com/author/ryanscott/] and Fangoria [https://www.fangoria.com/authors/ryan-scott/]Josh C. Spiegel - SlashFilm [https://www.slashfilm.com/author/joshspiegel/], PrimeTimer [https://www.primetimer.com/about/josh_spiegel], Crooked Marquee [https://crookedmarquee.com/author/josh-spiegel/] and LateNighter [https://latenighter.com/author/josh-spiegel/] Get full access to The Outside Scoop at scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe [https://scottmendelson.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4]