It looks like Blue Sky Studios is preparing to unwrap the marketing campaign on their non-Ice Age franchise as Epic hits theaters next week. The first teaser has been revealed for the sequel to Rio which will try to follow a well-received series launcher. Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway are back as well as George Lopez (the tucan) in the voice-over booth. Release is set for April 2014. Continue Reading
|
|||
|
The company is not known for putting out animated offerings that perform well domestically, but they are a powerhouse abroad with their films typically netting above two-thirds of its box office receipts from overseas markets. In other words, if Epic does not make its money in the U.S., it will do so from non-local outlets. Continue Reading
No plot details have been revealed at this time, but behind-the-scenes talent has been lined up. Directing will be Steve Martino whose credits include Horton Hears a Who and Ice Age 4. Continue Reading
For those wondering about Rio’s box office numbers–$485 million (70% foreign) on a $90 million budget.
Why does this interest us? Because Blue Sky Studios is the same animation studio behind the wildly successful Ice Age franchise. While domestic totals for Ice Age have remained roughly the same across the trilogy, the foreign totals for each successive movie has ballooned. The studio’s latest installment pulled in nearly $900 million with almost 80% of it’s total box office receipts coming from outside the United States. Clearly there’s some magic formula over at Blue Sky Studios that helps them appeal to the global marketplace. Continue Reading
Why does this interest us? Because Blue Sky Studios is the same animation studio behind the wildly successful Ice Age franchise. While domestic totals for Ice Age have remained roughly the same across the trilogy, the foreign totals for each successive movie has ballooned. The studio’s latest installment pulled in nearly $900 million with almost 80% of it’s total box office receipts coming from outside the United States. Clearly there’s some magic formula over at Blue Sky Studios that helps them appeal to the global marketplace. This is awesome, but once again, why do we actually care about these foreign markets? In a recent announcement at CinemaCon, a Warner Bros. executive said that he thinks China will surpass the US box office in revenue in a decade. This conclusion may be overly optimistic, but the reason the industry cared about the statement is the implication it made that foreign box office growth in countries like China, India, and Brazil are the future of the film industry. The undisputed champion of animated films here in the United States is currently Pixar. However, the all time most popular animated film in foreign markets doesn’t come from the Disney owned animation studio. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs grossed over $690 million outside of the United States besting Toy Story 3′s $650 million. The point is that if the environment changes for where the top dollars come from, studios will have to certainly change their positioning not just in how they market the film, but also on the creative side. It’s with these implications that studios are scared out of their minds. They barely understand what it takes to succeed in the United States, and there are clear differences between domestic and foreign markets in tastes which will complicate the insurance of mass appeal. Even though this prospect is scary, studios are embracing it because, to put it simple, money is money. |
|||
| Copyright © 2013 Media Market Journal - All Rights Reserved | Contact | About | Follow | RSS | |||
With all these big films coming out in May, what might be lost in all this is that the month is home to another animated offering for the family crowd. Competing against the likes of The Hangover III and Fast and Furious 6 on Memorial Day Weekend will be a film called Epic. The animated adventure flick follows a teenager (voiced by Amanda Seyfried) transported to the deep forest where she finds herself in the middle of a battle between good and evil. She then sets out to save their world and ours. Blue Sky Studios is producing the feature. 
One of the most successful animation studios in terms of international box office appeal has been given a treat: screen rights to the Peanuts franchise. Tuesday afternoon it came out that the Charles Schulz-created comic strip would be finding new life on the big screen from Blue Sky Studios–the Fox-owned group behind Rio and Ice Age.
Coming off the box office success of Rio and subsequent announcement of a sequel effort their macaw-driven animated feature, Blue Sky Studios is set to return to the franchise that pays the rent–Ice Age. The fourth installment of the saga will hit theaters in the July under the subtitle Continental Drift. Take a look at the first official non-teaser trailer for the film.
Blue Sky Studios may have a second full-blown franchise on their hands as the animated film house is prepared to develop 2011′s Rio into a bankable series like its international mega-star, Ice Age. The news comes from the 
Blue Sky Studios has done it again. Their latest movie, Rio, was released overseas over the weekend and has already grossed a staggering $55 million with 19 markets (including the US) yet to open in.