Disney’s Lightyear Flops At The Box Office Following Chris Evans Comments On Same Sex Kiss Scene
Jacob Smith
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Perhaps calling critics of a movie “idiots who are going to die off like the dinosaurs” wasn’t the best strategy to get families to watch the latest entry in the Toy Story franchise.
TRIAL AND ERROR – After being marooned on a hostile planet, Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans) attempts multiple test flights in an effort to recreate the complicated fuel required to reach hyperspeed so he and the whole crew can return to Earth. Directed by Angus MacLane (co-director “Finding Dory”) and produced by Galyn Susman (“Toy Story That Time Forgot”), Disney and Pixar’s “Lightyear” opens in U.S. theaters on June 17, 2022. © 2021 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Disney’s latest film Lightyear made its way to theaters this weekend, and the result can only be described as disappointing. The spinoff film from Pixar’s Toy Story universe fell short of insider projections in its box office debut, collecting a lackluster $51 million at the domestic box office from 4,255 North American theaters, and only $84 million from the worldwide box office.
Source: Jurassic World Dominion, Sam Neill, Isabella Sermon and Chris Pratt, Courtesy Of Universal Pictures
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The film failed to dethrone Jurassic World: Dominion, which brought in $58.6 million in its second weekend at the box office. Earlier this week, some insiders expected the Disney film to generate at least $80 million domestically. But, after a disappointing Thursday preview night, those projections plummeted to 60 million, and by Saturday, it settled in at $51 million from North America.
HERO’S BEST FRIEND — Disney and Pixar’s “Lightyear” is an all-new, original feature film that presents the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans)—the hero who inspired the toy—following the legendary Space Ranger on an intergalactic adventure. But Buzz can’t do it alone—he shares space with a dutiful robot companion cat called Sox (voice of Peter Sohn). A hidden grab bag of gizmos in a cute kitty package, Sox is Buzz’s go-to friend and sidekick. Directed by Angus MacLane (co-director “Finding Dory”) and produced by Galyn Susman (“Toy Story That Time Forgot”), the sci-fi action-adventure releases on June 17, 2022. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
The result is considered a major drop-off from Toy Story 4, which did $120 million dollars in its opening weekend in the US back in 2019. That film went on to gross over $1 billion worldwide.
Both Toy Story 4 and Lightyear have identical production budgets of $200 million dollars. Toy Story 4’s break-even mark was estimated at $700 million dollars after production budgets, marketing and talent participation. If Lightyear’s break-even is around $500-600 million, then the film could end up being a major money pit for Disney & Pixar. A multitude of self-inflicted errors did not sell Lightyear to the masses.
The Gray Man (2022). Chris Evans as Lloyd Hansen. Cr. Paul Abell/Netflix © 2022
First, Disney replaced iconic actor Tim Allen as the legendary voice of Buzz Lightyear in what many feel was a political decision, given Allen is a well-known Hollywood Conservative. Disney then replaced Allen with actor Chris Evans, who is well known for voicing his opinions on social media against Conservatives.
Next, Disney focused all of the marketing of the film on the fact that they had a same-sex kiss scene in a children’s movie. The scene was originally cut out of the movie, but was restored when radical Left employees at Disney pressured the company to take a stance on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which bans the teaching of sexuality and transgenderism to children between kindergarten and third grade.
LIGHTYEAR, slated to open in theaters on June 17, 2022, is a sci-fi action-adventure and the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans)—the hero who inspired the toy. The film reveals how a young test pilot became the Space Ranger that we all know him to be today. © 2021 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
The movie was then banned in China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Malaysia, and Indonesia. In response, Chris Evans called anyone who has a problem with the same-sex kiss is an “idiot” who will “die off like the dinosaurs” indirectly slamming every Muslim in the middle east.
“The real truth is those people are idiots. There’s always going to be people who are afraid and unaware and trying to hold on to what was before. But those people die off like dinosaurs.” Evans said in an interview with Reuters.
TEAMING UP – Disney and Pixar’s “Lightyear” is a sci-fi action adventure and the definitive origin story of Buzz Lightyear (voice of Chris Evans), the hero who inspired the toy. The all-new story follows the legendary Space Ranger on an intergalactic adventure alongside a group of ambitious recruits (voices of Keke Palmer, Taika Waititi and Dale Soules), and their robot companion Sox (voice of Peter Sohn). Also joining the cast are Uzo Aduba, James Brolin, Mary McDonald-Lewis, Efren Ramirez and Isiah Whitlock Jr. Directed by Angus MacLane (co-director “Finding Dory”) and produced by Galyn Susman (“Toy Story That Time Forgot”), “Lightyear” releases June 17, 2022. © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
“I think the goal is to pay them no mind, march forward and embrace the growth that makes us human.” he added. Evans continued his frustration with those upset about the scene, citing that it bothers him that same-sex relationships are still a problem in the first place.
“It’s tough to not be a little frustrated that it even has to be a topic of discussion. The goal is that we can get to a point where it is the norm, and that this doesn’t have to be some uncharted waters, that eventually this is just the way it is, that representation across the board is how we make films.”
Source: Disney Parks, YouTube
In the face of rising inflation driving up the cost of average goods and record gas prices, publicly slamming a potential viewing audience and their families before the release of the film could not have been a smart strategy for Disney.
With the projections of Lightyear dropping every single day, the film has a long way to go before making any real money at the box office, and with the massive budget behind the film, it may end up worsening a precipitous decline in Disney’s profitability, not to mention its already-soiled reputation.
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