Will The Movie Hit Theatres Or Will It Be Straight To DVD?

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls (as far as I'm aware at least) got some kind of theatrical release, even if it was very limited. But I imagine it probably didn't do that well in the box office area, I just don't think there's a wide enough audience for something for so specific. Now that we have a pony focused MLP movie though, I think if that was in theatres it would strike a cord with the public more than Equestria Girls would have. Hasbro could probably make a lot of money doing that, but then again I suppose they also might make quite a lot of money just going straight to DVD, no-one really knows at this point, but I think the question still stands.

[BastementSparkle 20,312]

It's already been said for a while it's getting a theatrical release. Pretty sure Lionsgate is distributing it.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

The 2017 movie will be a theatrical release given the distributor, the celebtrity voice cast, the improved animation program they are using instead of Flash, and so on. It will end up being released on DVD sometime in early 2018.

[-Deleted- 25]

I think the movie will have a more public theatrical release than EQG. And I think that there will be a lot of advertising for the movie starting a few months before the movie is released. There will probably be a DVD release soon after the theatrical release.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

It's already been said for a while it's getting a theatrical release. Pretty sure Lionsgate is distributing it.

Lionsgate huh? Good on them I guess.

The 2017 movie will be a theatrical release given the distributor, the celebtrity voice cast, the improved animation program they are using instead of Flash, and so on. It will end up being released on DVD sometime in early 2018.

That makes me kind of nervous honestly. I've seen movies which have tons of celebrities as actors and it never turns out well, with all due respect to them, they're better off sticking to what they're good at than acting, because it comes off tacky and pointless. Plus, with them not using flash for this one, I have to wonder now if the movie will look... Well, too different to the show.

I think the movie will have a more public theatrical release than EQG. And I think that there will be a lot of advertising for the movie starting a few months before the movie is released. There will probably be a DVD release soon after the theatrical release.

Probably, but who knows. Sadly, since It's My Little Pony, I don't see the media giving the movie that much attention.

[Megas 27,063]

Hasbro's first full animated theatrical film in a long time. First since G1 MLP and Transformers I believe

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

That makes me kind of nervous honestly. I've seen movies which have tons of celebrities as actors and it never turns out well, with all due respect to them, they're better off sticking to what they're good at than acting, because it comes off tacky and pointless. Plus, with them not using flash for this one, I have to wonder now if the movie will look... Well, too different to the show.

 

You also have to take the marketing into consideration as well.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

You also have to take the marketing into consideration as well.

Marketing? To be honest, looking at the circumstances, can we really say there's gonna be any marketing outside of Hasbro advertising it on their channel or updating their website? I know It's sad to admit, but outside of the bronies, there simply aren't people with power in the movie industry or the media that care about My Little Pony to give this movie any promotion, whether the movie is good is another story, but whether It'll be financially successful depends on the publicity.

Edited November 12, 2016 by OmegaBeamOfficial

[leonbrony17 1,216]

Really? REALLY? Why do you even think about that?

I comes to the cinemas for all those fans!!!

Edited November 12, 2016 by leonbrony17

[TheAnimatorOfficial 566]

Marketing? To be honest, looking at the circumstances, can we really say there's gonna be any marketing outside of Hasbro advertising it on their channel or updating their website? I know It's sad to admit, but outside of the bronies, there simply aren't people with power in the movie industry or the media that care about My Little Pony to give this movie any promotion, whether the movie is good is another story, but whether It'll be financially successful depends on the publicity.

Pretty obvious you don't know how marketing works.

[Flutterbattyyy 330]

That makes me kind of nervous honestly. I've seen movies which have tons of celebrities as actors and it never turns out well, with all due respect to them, they're better off sticking to what they're good at than acting, because it comes off tacky and pointless. Plus, with them not using flash for this one, I have to wonder now if the movie will look... Well, too different to the show.

 

 

More celebrities will hopefully bring in new people who haven't even seen the show before to watch the movie. Hopefully helping to bring the general public to watch it, rather than just bronies or little kids. 

 

 

ToonBoom animation is a better and more modern animation program than Flash. Theoretically, it should mean that the movie's animation will have higher quality than the show itself. 

 

The fan-animation "The Moon Rises" by DuoCartoonist was animated using ToonBoom.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2PCNKlddJY

Edited November 12, 2016 by ElementalFluttershee

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

Pretty obvious you don't know how marketing works.

What's that supposed to mean? I've read through what I wrote multiple times, it makes complete sense, if no-one knows about your movie, the movie won't make money, It's basic logic.

More celebrities will hopefully bring in new people who haven't even seen the show before to watch the movie. Hopefully helping to bring the general public to watch it, rather than just bronies or little kids. 

 

 

ToonBoom animation is a better and more modern animation program than Flash. Theoretically, it should mean that the movie's animation will have higher quality than the show itself. 

 

The fan-animation "The Moon Rises" by DuoCartoonist was animated using ToonBoom.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2PCNKlddJY

It's not the quality that bothers me, that animation looks great, but there is such a thing as going too far. We don't need upgraded animation just because It's a movie, the EG movies were fine without it, I don't see why this has to be. In my opinion It's just wasting the budget on trivial things.

[cmarston1 5,951]

Given the budget, the type of people involved with the production of the film, and the change in animation styles, as well as having some big-ish name celebrities in it, it's pretty clear that it is given a full theatrical run.

It is even being distributed by Lionsgate.

[weesh 690]

I hope the release is very wide...there were zero theaters in Alaska that showed the first equestria girls movie.  
But I'll go even if I have to drive an hour to find a theater.

Remember guys, the most important stats for a new movie are opening weekend, and opening day sales.  If possible, you should see it on opening day.  

[TheAnimatorOfficial 566]

What's that supposed to mean? I've read through what I wrote multiple times, it makes complete sense, if no-one knows about your movie, the movie won't make money, It's basic logic.

 

It's not the quality that bothers me, that animation looks great, but there is such a thing as going too far. We don't need upgraded animation just because It's a movie, the EG movies were fine without it, I don't see why this has to be. In my opinion It's just wasting the budget on trivial things.

1. What I mean is that the marketing is not going be minuscule like you claim.

 

2. Sorry, but animation quality does matter. This is not the Equestria Girl films where they're for the fans only. They're trying to gain a larger audience, and one of the ways to do that is blow them away with the animation.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

Marketing? To be honest, looking at the circumstances, can we really say there's gonna be any marketing outside of Hasbro advertising it on their channel or updating their website? I know It's sad to admit, but outside of the bronies, there simply aren't people with power in the movie industry or the media that care about My Little Pony to give this movie any promotion, whether the movie is good is another story, but whether It'll be financially successful depends on the publicity.

 

Hasbro needs to avoid repeating what happened with "Jem and the Holograms" at all costs so I think they will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the MLP movie is successful.

[ChB 18,532]

It's already been said for a while it's getting a theatrical release. Pretty sure Lionsgate is distributing it.

I'm a bit skeptical. Why doesn't MLP appear in Fandango's list of upcoming movies?

 

I have to wonder now if the movie will look... Well, too different to the show.

I also hope it doesn't become way out of character, like the Spongebob movie. Spongebob and Patrick, for example, never showed any interest in Goofy Goober, prior to the movie. Sure, it's meant to show Spongebob's innocent kid nature, but they used a way "out of blue" example. Edited November 12, 2016 by ChB

[Shimmering Sparkler 67]

Marketing? To be honest, looking at the circumstances, can we really say there's gonna be any marketing outside of Hasbro advertising it on their channel or updating their website? I know It's sad to admit, but outside of the bronies, there simply aren't people with power in the movie industry or the media that care about My Little Pony to give this movie any promotion, whether the movie is good is another story, but whether It'll be financially successful depends on the publicity.

Do you realize MLP is Hasbro's number one brand? The one that brings them in ONE MILLION dollars a year? The show that's basically holding Discovery Family up from closure? The show Hasbro won't stop expanding the brand toylines to new opportunities to? The show that millions of kids across America and probably billions more across the world can recognize? Of COURSE they're going to market it well. If something is making you money and you have a feature length movie on of COURSE they'll promote it well.

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

What's that supposed to mean? I've read through what I wrote multiple times, it makes complete sense, if no-one knows about your movie, the movie won't make money, It's basic logic.

It's not the quality that bothers me, that animation looks great, but there is such a thing as going too far. We don't need upgraded animation just because It's a movie, the EG movies were fine without it, I don't see why this has to be. In my opinion It's just wasting the budget on trivial things.

 

If someone does not know what MLP is by now, then nothing short of a giant transforming pony robot falling out of the sky is going to tell them. MLP advertises itself these days pretty well. Hasbro could probably sit on their thumbs and let word of mouth sell the movie at this point honestly and still make some profit off it... the Brony fandom is going to swallow it, period. However, they are going to have ads all over the place, in print, television, internet, most likely a supporting toyline, probably a video game, McDonalds happy meals toys and a bunch of other things to spread the word. The advertising and marketing is going to be covered, trust me. It will become an anti-bronies worst nightmare for a few weeks I imagine.

 

The show animation is OK, that is all... there are superior ways out there now to animate coming into existence... so they can either stick to the old way which is looking dated compared to some things out there, or they can step up and take advantage of this and make what we all hope is a superior product. The fact is, everyone who goes to see the movie, wants to be overwhelmed, not underwhelmed... and the animation can play a big part of that. Go look at some old Disney cartoons vs. their older theatrical releases and see how much they stepped up their game when taking it to the theaters. Although some of those plots where questionable... most everyone acknowledged the film looked amazing. A great story and fun film can carry the film, but why make them do all the work?

 

This is a chance to take their biggest current product and make it even bigger... they are going to take full advantage of all their resources to make that happen. Whether people like or hate MLP, there is no denying that this generation of the series has become huge and is raking in the dollars for Hasbro. It is go big or go home... they can't afford to just put a film that is "decent" into theaters. Now whether it will be good or not.. I have no idea... but I do think it will do very well, probably fairly impressively, just because of the brand alone and where it stands... now if the movie is really good and gets a lot of praise, well that just means it will do even better.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

I hope the release is very wide...there were zero theaters in Alaska that showed the first equestria girls movie.  

But I'll go even if I have to drive an hour to find a theater.

 

Remember guys, the most important stats for a new movie are opening weekend, and opening day sales.  If possible, you should see it on opening day.  

Actually, although the opening day sales are important, you shouldn't rely completely on those to judge how well it did, movies gain money over time, not everyone can go to see them on opening day, so if the opening weekend ends up unimpressive (which just maybe It'll do fine now that I consider the majority of bronies will see it as well as the original little girls demographic, those two together will add up) the ongoing sales may make up for it.

1. What I mean is that the marketing is not going be minuscule like you claim.

 

2. Sorry, but animation quality does matter. This is not the Equestria Girl films where they're for the fans only. They're trying to gain a larger audience, and one of the ways to do that is blow them away with the animation.

OK, sorry, I got a little offended, that's all. I've been studying the movie industry including marketing for a while now, so when someone tells me I don't know what I'm talking about, it gets me a little mad, that's my bad.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say in the long run, is I don't expect this movie to get the scale of marketing that some other popular franchises get. I suppose I shouldn't expect nothing either, but considering It's Hasbro, I don't expect something massive.

 

There's a difference between improvement and changing the style entirely. If you want to have better animation with the movie than your show, then improve upon the Flash animation you use, don't throw the baby out with the bath tub and change everything.

Hasbro needs to avoid repeating what happened with "Jem and the Holograms" at all costs so I think they will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the MLP movie is successful.

I'm unaware of Jem and the Holograms, but if this Isn't Hasbro's first attempt at a full on movie, they will have learned at least something...

I'm a bit skeptical. Why doesn't MLP appear in Fandango's list of upcoming movies?

 

I also hope it doesn't become way out of character, like the Spongebob movie. Spongebob and Patrick, for example, never showed any interest in Goofy Goober, prior to the movie. Sure, it's meant to show Spongebob's innocent kid nature, but they used a way "out of blue" example.

Really, that's bad.

 

I can relate to you on that, but I'm fine with introducing new things and characters to the movie that aren't in shows, as long as they flesh them out enough to justify them only being in the movie.

Do you realize MLP is Hasbro's number one brand? The one that brings them in ONE MILLION dollars a year? The show that's basically holding Discovery Family up from closure? The show Hasbro won't stop expanding the brand toylines to new opportunities to? The show that millions of kids across America and probably billions more across the world can recognize? Of COURSE they're going to market it well. If something is making you money and you have a feature length movie on of COURSE they'll promote it well.

Yes, but toy sales don't fully translate to movie ticket sales. Hasbro might not want to go all out for something that Isn't even their speciality.

If someone does not know what MLP is by now, then nothing short of a giant transforming pony robot falling out of the sky is going to tell them. MLP advertises itself these days pretty well. Hasbro could probably sit on their thumbs and let word of mouth sell the movie at this point honestly and still make some profit off it... the Brony fandom is going to swallow it, period. However, they are going to have ads all over the place, in print, television, internet, most likely a supporting toyline, probably a video game, McDonalds happy meals toys and a bunch of other things to spread the word. The advertising and marketing is going to be covered, trust me. It will become an anti-bronies worst nightmare for a few weeks I imagine.

 

The show animation is OK, that is all... there are superior ways out there now to animate coming into existence... so they can either stick to the old way which is looking dated compared to some things out there, or they can step up and take advantage of this and make what we all hope is a superior product. The fact is, everyone who goes to see the movie, wants to be overwhelmed, not underwhelmed... and the animation can play a big part of that. Go look at some old Disney cartoons vs. their older theatrical releases and see how much they stepped up their game when taking it to the theaters. Although some of those plots where questionable... most everyone acknowledged the film looked amazing. A great story and fun film can carry the film, but why make them do all the work?

 

This is a chance to take their biggest current product and make it even bigger... they are going to take full advantage of all their resources to make that happen. Whether people like or hate MLP, there is no denying that this generation of the series has become huge and is raking in the dollars for Hasbro. It is go big or go home... they can't afford to just put a film that is "decent" into theaters. Now whether it will be good or not.. I have no idea... but I do think it will do very well, probably fairly impressively, just because of the brand alone and where it stands... now if the movie is really good and gets a lot of praise, well that just means it will do even better.

You'd be surprised how many people you can run into who have no clue what MLP is, I think It's safe to say there are more recognisable brands out there. In print, television maybe, the internet and the toyline I can definitely see happening, but something tells me if they were gonna make an MLP video game they would have done it by now, and that McDonalds Isn't the best place to promote characters who are literally made of what they use in their burgers.

 

I can accept wanting to improve your animation for the sake of the movie, hell, I've even seen plenty of shows where animation improves as the series progresses, but switching out your entire method of animation... It just feels really drastic. I'm not saying anything about anything, who knows, maybe I'll come to like the new "toonboom" MLP, but we haven't seen any movie footage yet, so there's no way to tell for now.

 

I'm praying to Celestia that the movie itself will be good, something like this has been wanted by bronies for a long time, and Hasbro knows that. I hope they'll go all out to make the movie, but I cannot shake the feeling that they won't put just as much effort into marketing it, and that probably won't change until the months up to the movie's release.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

I'm unaware of Jem and the Holograms, but if this Isn't Hasbro's first attempt at a full on movie, they will have learned at least something...

 

That movie did so bad that it was pulled from theatres two weeks after it was released. Hasbro realize now that Jem and the Holograms was abysmal because it went completely against the original vision they had from back in the 1980s and wanted a more modern version no one could relate to. The MLP movie will be handled with much more care so I know it is going to turn out well.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

That movie did so bad that it was pulled from theatres two weeks after it was released. Hasbro realize now that Jem and the Holograms was abysmal because it went completely against the original vision they had from back in the 1980s and wanted a more modern version no one could relate to. The MLP movie will be handled with much more care so I know it is going to turn out well.

Now do people understand why I'm worried? This sort of sounds similar, no? Going completely against the original vision (AKA the switch from Flash to Toonboom.)...

[Fhaolan 4,468]

 

 

But I imagine it probably didn't do that well in the box office area, I just don't think there's a wide enough audience for something for so specific.

 

Actually, by all reports it did amazingly well at the box-office for such a strange limited release. Well enough that the quarterly reports published by Hasbro specifically called it out in a rather confused manner, as they really didn't expect it to work that way. The box office apparently did better than the toy sales, which is why Rainbow Rocks got made.

 

 

 

Plus, with them not using flash for this one, I have to wonder now if the movie will look... Well, too different to the show.

 

 

They've shown some promotional materials, and while you can tell it's different assets they've used, that's only because we've stared at the current assets for a long time. I'm not sure casual viewers will really notice beyond it being 'upgraded' in quality.

 

 

 

Hasbro's first full animated theatrical film in a long time. First since G1 MLP and Transformers I believe

 

 

Yup. And there's reasons for that. The G1 MLP and Transformers movies together lost so much money it almost tanked Hasbro as a company. That's supposedly why EqG had that strange limited release. Hasbro didn't want to make *that* mistake again, even though it was decades ago.

 

 

 

Hasbro needs to avoid repeating what happened with "Jem and the Holograms" at all costs so I think they will do whatever is necessary to ensure that the MLP movie is successful.

 

Oh lord, that was all sorts of disaster. Why Hasbro went along with that marketing plan still baffles me. Run contests for fans of the original series to provide their own content for the movie? Use unlicensed clips from celebrities talking about the original cartoon series? And then have the movie not actually have much if anything to do with that original series? Good job there.

 

 

 

I'm unaware of Jem and the Holograms, but if this Isn't Hasbro's first attempt at a full on movie, they will have learned at least something...

 

Given that the Transformers movies, the Battleship movie, G.I. Joe movies are all Hasbro properties prior to Jem and the Holograms... I'm not sure Hasbro as a company learns things particularly quickly.  To be honest Hasbro doesn't do a lot beyond hold the IP and do a little marketing. As a rule they hand off all the production and management to other companies, like DHX, Bonnaventure, Universal, Paramount, Discovery, etc.

Now do people understand why I'm worried? This sort of sounds similar, no? Going completely against the original vision (AKA the switch from Flash to Toonboom.)...

 

Nah, you have to have seen the original and the movie to understand how different they were. Changing animation software is a trivial thing compared to the differences between the original Jem series and the Movie. The original Jem series was in effect a magical girl series, with supercomputers and holograms substituted for the normal 'magic'. The Jem movie was a Hannah Montana clone.

[OmegaBeamOfficial 622]

Actually, by all reports it did amazingly well at the box-office for such a strange limited release. Well enough that the quarterly reports published by Hasbro specifically called it out in a rather confused manner, as they really didn't expect it to work that way. The box office apparently did better than the toy sales, which is why Rainbow Rocks got made.

 

 

 

 

 

They've shown some promotional materials, and while you can tell it's different assets they've used, that's only because we've stared at the current assets for a long time. I'm not sure casual viewers will really notice beyond it being 'upgraded' in quality.

 

 

 

 

 

Yup. And there's reasons for that. The G1 MLP and Transformers movies together lost so much money it almost tanked Hasbro as a company. That's supposedly why EqG had that strange limited release. Hasbro didn't want to make *that* mistake again, even though it was decades ago.

 

 

 

 

Oh lord, that was all sorts of disaster. Why Hasbro went along with that marketing plan still baffles me. Run contests for fans of the original series to provide their own content for the movie? Use unlicensed clips from celebrities talking about the original cartoon series? And then have the movie not actually have much if anything to do with that original series? Good job there.

 

 

 

 

Given that the Transformers movies, the Battleship movie, G.I. Joe movies are all Hasbro properties prior to Jem and the Holograms... I'm not sure Hasbro as a company learns things particularly quickly.  To be honest Hasbro doesn't do a lot beyond hold the IP and do a little marketing. As a rule they hand off all the production and management to other companies, like DHX, Bonnaventure, Universal, Paramount, Discovery, etc.

 

Nah, you have to have seen the original and the movie to understand how different they were. Changing animation software is a trivial thing compared to the differences between the original Jem series and the Movie. The original Jem series was in effect a magical girl series, with supercomputers and holograms substituted for the normal 'magic'. The Jem movie was a Hannah Montana clone.

Well, I mean, I figured they made Rainbow Rocks so they could sell more toys, but that worked out for the better in my opinion, Rainbow Rocks is the best EG movie to date.

 

Who knows, I mean they're changing their entire animation method.

 

That's a shame. I liked the Transformers movie, I've never touched MLP's other generations, they don't seem like my kind of thing. Sucks to see that movies people liked get treated so poorly at the box office.

 

Again, I'm not familiar with Jemz, but that sounds like an ATROCIOUS attempt at marketing.

 

Well, who knows. We'll wait and see.

[TheAnimatorOfficial 566]

There's a difference between improvement and changing the style entirely. If you want to have better animation with the movie than your show, then improve upon the Flash animation you use, don't throw the baby out with the bath tub and change everything.

It's impossible to improve upon the Flash animation; it's Flash. It's pretty limited. Toon Boom is actually theatrical quality.

Edited November 13, 2016 by TheAnimatorOfficial