Anyone else disappointed that the film left almost no impact?

[GrimGrimoire 4,970]

9 hours ago, Steve Piranha said:

That may be true, but it would've been better for it to have been a huge success, so we could possibly get a sequel or something

It does not need to be a huge success to get a sequel. It just needs to make a profit and prove there is demand for it. To be fair, this movie really has a lot going against it, since it is based upon a toyline, which a lot of people automatically assume will be pure garbage regardless of the property, and had fairly poor advertising. The Emoji movie may have been awful, but they promoted the crap out of it and made sure to put that brand on a lot of things to catch peoples attention. Unfortunately studios tend to have knee jerk reactions when it comes to money and instead of reviewing the causes just focus on the results. Thus if the movie does indeed utterly fail, instead of seeing what they could do better, reading about opinions, looking into advertising and really investigating why the show seems beloved but the film tanked... they will just chalk it up to, "People hate ponies and love Legos and Emojis!" Obviously we all know better, but there are a number of suits with charts and graphs that will gladly pummel you with numbers that say otherwise.

8 hours ago, Toon4Thought said:

Really, I just wanted this to be successful enough to encourage more studios to try different things in American film animation, not just in storytelling and tone but also in visuals. We really need a resurgence of 2D because all the mainstream 3D films basically look the same now and I can't think of much more that even could be done with it. Sure, this only would've been a starting point even if it was majorly successful, but if you don't have a starting point you can't have progress.

The success or failure of this film will have no effect upon that at all. A lot of animation studios have already decided 2D is dead and advancements in 3D is the way to go... if this movie had been a blockbuster all it would have been chalked up to is a fluke since Pixar, Dreamworks, Disney & others are consistently putting out 3D films that draw in the crowds and entertain millions. On the reverse side the failure of this film will not kill the dreamers, nor curb the enthusiasm for creators to present their ideas and imaginations into a medium they feel best represents their vision. That is exactly what the creators of this film did, they presented it in a way that held true to what the visualized... and this will continue with creators the world over.

 

 

 

[Toon4Thought 273]

1 hour ago, GrimGrimoire said:

 Unfortunately studios tend to have knee jerk reactions when it comes to money and instead of reviewing the causes just focus on the results. Thus if the movie does indeed utterly fail, instead of seeing what they could do better, reading about opinions, looking into advertising and really investigating why the show seems beloved but the film tanked... they will just chalk it up to, "People hate ponies and love Legos and Emojis!" Obviously we all know better, but there are a number of suits with charts and graphs that will gladly pummel you with numbers that say otherwise.

On the reverse side the failure of this film will not kill the dreamers, nor curb the enthusiasm for creators to present their ideas and imaginations into a medium they feel best represents their vision. That is exactly what the creators of this film did, they presented it in a way that held true to what the visualized... and this will continue with creators the world over.

My point exactly; many higher-ups tend to look at financial success as an indicator of quality even when that's not true. Hence, we're more likely to get films resembling The Emoji Movie than those resembling this one.

And it's not that I think people won't stop having ambitions, it's that the studios and higher-ups won't let them fully realize it, at least not without executive meddling. Even this film had a little bit of that at the very beginning with "Ponies Got the Beat", which was a last minute replacement to an original composition.

[Whirlwindmark 41]

14 hours ago, immblueversion said:

According to Box Office Mojo, they reverted the foreign gross from $10 million to $4 million, bringing the numbering for the total worldwide gross down to just barely under $20 million.

That's depressing.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

57 minutes ago, Whirlwindmark said:

That's depressing.

It's also wrong. They reverted the foreign number down to what it was opening weekend, so those who believe that number are gullible enough to believe LITERALLY nobody in foreing countries went to see the movie in the following week/end

http://www.the-numbers.com/movie/My-Little-Pony-The-Movie-(2017)#tab=summary Still has an accurate number.

As a side tangent, I can't freaking stand how critics complain about the movie being just way to bright happy and colorful when 90% OF THE MOVIE TAKES PLACE IN GLOOMY, DESOLATE AREAS. I swear it's like those critics watched the opening song and then left the damn theater.

[Ganondorf8 11,118]

You could blame Hasbro for not marketing the movie enough--this is especially true when you consider that television commercials didn't start appearing until two weeks before the movie's release date--and instead focusing on the toy line associated with the movie. But then, this is not all that surprising given that as a toy company, Hasbro sees selling toys as their main directive with everything else being a bonus that they may or may not necessarily care about. I knew the movie wasn't going to have quite that big of an impact as the signs were clearly there from the start but I still think it can be successful despite the problems both in the product and what was happening behind the scenes. Of course, our opinions mean nothing to Hasbro as at the end of the day, only their opinion counts for anything when it comes to financial success for the movie.

[blackstarraven 142]

Well as far as financially goes, not going to be a issue.
Its rumored to have costed 30 million. Its made 20 million so far. It will pass 30 by this weekend most likely. That's not even counting Merchandising. Sells of the sound track. DVD sells. Netflix/Amazon/Hulu licensing. Its almost impossible for a "Franchise" movie to lose money unless they simply spend to much money on it to start with.

 

As far as sparking interest the fandom, no I think it has done that to some extent. I know a lot of fans who have not watched the last two season who went to the movie, and are not catching back up on seasons.

Its Rotten Tomato score is 50% Which is comparable with blockbuster Franchise movies like Transformers. (The first one) - Its fan Score is up in the 80's. So over all it did what it was suppose to.

[Whirlwindmark 41]

13 hours ago, blackstarraven said:

Well as far as financially goes, not going to be a issue.
Its rumored to have costed 30 million. Its made 20 million so far. It will pass 30 by this weekend most likely. That's not even counting Merchandising. Sells of the sound track. DVD sells. Netflix/Amazon/Hulu licensing. Its almost impossible for a "Franchise" movie to lose money unless they simply spend to much money on it to start with.

 

As far as sparking interest the fandom, no I think it has done that to some extent. I know a lot of fans who have not watched the last two season who went to the movie, and are not catching back up on seasons.

Its Rotten Tomato score is 50% Which is comparable with blockbuster Franchise movies like Transformers. (The first one) - Its fan Score is up in the 80's. So over all it did what it was suppose to.

It's now at 46%

Edited October 18, 2017 by Whirlwindmark

[Toon4Thought 273]

I'm still wondering if it would've been possible for this film to win over the critics, if it was handled just a little differently.

Because I was personally hoping for something like a Lego Movie effect (albeit on a smaller scale), where no one would think much of it only to find themselves completely blown away at how great the film actually was.

[King of Canterlot 9,588]

I would have been very surprised if the film had made any major impact and brought a ton more new people into the fandom, mainly because I saw almost no advertising for the film, and because of a lack of advertising, I knew that not many people would know about the movie, let alone getting them interested in actually seeing it. I really enjoyed the movie, and I think most others in the fandom did as well, showing that the movie was successful at least in appealing to Bronies/casual fans of the show.     

Edited October 19, 2017 by King of Canterlot

[BlinkZ 1,151]

I think the movie did have up hill battle. the fandom has mellowed out and yeah it does use a lot of tropes -_- not to mention a really immiseion breaking cell joke..

streaming, online media, youtube, illegal downlaoding. It hard to get rating when im sure most of the fanbase watching mlp online instead of on TV.  Hell buying stuff on Itunes is easier then TV

[Paianis 488]

I'm sure this film will get syndication, and therefore will make money from being aired across many channels in the same way the show is. The box office isn't everything. And hey, I think anyone who discovers it that way, if they end up watching it with their children or whatever, will find it surpasses their expectations comfortably. This film will keep the fandom healthy for a while.

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

Even if the Movie would have been one of the best Movies ever made, i dont think it would have turned the Fandom around, like now everyone would be understanding why adults watch this Show.

Its easy to make fun of the Fandom, since a few People react overly defensive and most People dont even care about the Show and just make fun of the fandom, because it is an easy target. Im sure many people dont have a negative image, because the show is bad, i mean from my understanding the show is already popular and got good critic and the fandom still gets mocked. I never expected the Movie to change a thing, its not the Series i think, we are just an easy target to make fun off. I mean we are a bunch of adults that play with pony dolls, its pretty obvious that People would make fun of us.

I mean just the name itself gets people off i think, hey, do you wanna watch the new " My Little Pony " movie? Or the new Disney Movie like Big Hero 6 or Moana, which are not so overly cute names. Its like Littlest Pet Shop, if that would be become a Movie, its destined to fail, why would the majority of people watch something as cutesy as this? If they could watch a Movie about Lego, a Brand that was never just targeted at one Gender and had various different franchises featured in the Movie, it had a way bigger appeal, because it featured more neutral and popular things. It had a more world wide appeal.

Its sad that the Movie doesnt seem to become that big of a success, but i expected that, it will make enough Money i think, but it will never become a worldwide success. But hey, at least its already more successful than the first one.

Edited October 22, 2017 by Twilight Doll

[heavens-champion 1,893]

4 hours ago, Twilight Doll said:

Even if the Movie would have been one of the best Movies ever made, i dont think it would have turned the Fandom around, like now everyone would be understanding why adults watch this Show.

Its easy to make fun of the Fandom, since a few People react overly defensive and most People dont even care about the Show and just make fun of the fandom, because it is an easy target. Im sure many people dont have a negative image, because the show is bad, i mean from my understanding the show is already popular and got good critic and the fandom still gets mocked. I never expected the Movie to change a thing, its not the Series i think, we are just an easy target to make fun off. I mean we are a bunch of adults that play with pony dolls, its pretty obvious that People would make fun of us.

I mean just the name itself gets people off i think, hey, do you wanna watch the new " My Little Pony " movie? Or the new Disney Movie like Big Hero 6 or Moana, which are not so overly cute names. Its like Littlest Pet Shop, if that would be become a Movie, its destined to fail, why would the majority of people watch something as cutesy as this? If they could watch a Movie about Lego, a Brand that was never just targeted at one Gender and had various different franchises featured in the Movie, it had a way bigger appeal, because it featured more neutral and popular things. It had a more world wide appeal.

Its sad that the Movie doesnt seem to become that big of a success, but i expected that, it will make enough Money i think, but it will never become a worldwide success. But hey, at least its already more successful than the first one.

So it didn't do well because the title wasn't gender neutral?

[Moony the Cat 3,697]

4 hours ago, heavens-champion said:

So it didn't do well because the title wasn't gender neutral?

I meant the entire franchise was more targeted at young females and the title itself is bad because its way to cute to catch attention from a big audience. ( or catch new fans, specially adults ) I guess. It should be more...general, more normal. I dont know.

[TBD 17,228]

If they dig deeper into the conflicts in the plot I think that will do the job to remove this stereotype ideas about MLP.

Honestly, if only they'd hired Ted Anderson, Alex de Campi and other IDW MLP writers, writing the script instead. I'm sure "making a huge bang" to the movie won't be a problem.

and look Hasbro done it before....

Bet many non-fans would change their mind about MLP after seeing that xp

[Castle Bleck 19,167]

1 hour ago, TBD said:

If they dig deeper into the conflicts in the plot I think that will do the job to remove this stereotype ideas about MLP.

Honestly, if only they'd hired Ted Anderson, Alex de Campi and other IDW MLP writers, writing the script instead. I'm sure "making a huge bang" to the movie won't be a problem.

and look Hasbro done it before....

Bet many non-fans would change their mind about MLP after seeing that xp

 

Even after 3 years, that's still best fight scene, IMO.

[TBD 17,228]

4 minutes ago, The Artist Formerly Known As A.V. said:

Even after 3 years, that's still best fight scene, IMO.

I wonder why they haven't made another... did the writer got in trouble for that or something?

[Jeric 46,835]

On 10/16/2017 at 3:52 PM, Ryanmahaffe said:

THe rumored budget is 30 million, it will pass that before next weekend.

That's not breaking even. If a film costs 30 million to make and market, having 30 million in ticket sales is not breaking even. Box Office receipts don't factor in the exhibition cut. 

 

On 10/16/2017 at 11:15 PM, Firedog said:

Not true. Common for films not to make there full cost back.

 

https://priceonomics.com/why-do-all-hollywood-movies-lose-money/

That's corporate accounting 101. The profit is still there, just legally laundered. Every Business or Econ major knows this, knows how to detect it, as do any SEC auditors who don't look the other way.

 

On 10/22/2017 at 10:41 AM, heavens-champion said:

So it didn't do well because the title wasn't gender neutral?

Well .. 

Title psychology is a well know thing and absolutely influences people. Specific words invoke a visual image. Finding a great title for an original work that is creative, original, and appealing is no easy task.

Suggesting that, My Little Pony, wouldn't invoke a certain image or emotion (absent the brands known influence), ignores how words as we process them. To make it even more amusing, the writers of this movie actually know that about naming conventions. Hence the joke about Tempest. 

[tm2dragon 12]

Not sure about the PUBLIC impact, but I worry a bit about the practical non-reaction from fans.  If this movie had come out five years ago, I have little doubt we'd be drowning in fanfiction, songs, and more gorgeous art then we could ever hope for.  So far, I've read maybe ONE fanfic from the movie that I found entertaining.....on a similar note, FIMfiction hasn't even bothered to add tags for any of the new characters yet. ><  Is this because the movie didn't inspire people the way the show does?  I'm really kind of worried that the real reason our response seems (relatively) subdued is because our community has lost it's momentum.  This feels like a more lack-luster response on our part then back when the Equestria Girls movie came out!

[Toon4Thought 273]

6 hours ago, tm2dragon said:

Not sure about the PUBLIC impact, but I worry a bit about the practical non-reaction from fans.  If this movie had come out five years ago, I have little doubt we'd be drowning in fanfiction, songs, and more gorgeous art then we could ever hope for.  So far, I've read maybe ONE fanfic from the movie that I found entertaining.....on a similar note, FIMfiction hasn't even bothered to add tags for any of the new characters yet. ><  Is this because the movie didn't inspire people the way the show does?  I'm really kind of worried that the real reason our response seems (relatively) subdued is because our community has lost it's momentum.  This feels like a more lack-luster response on our part then back when the Equestria Girls movie came out!

To be fair, Fimfiction hasn't added tags for ANY of the new characters that came out in the entire franchise this year (which there have been a lot of, to put it lightly); it isn't just the movie.

But yeah, it seems the one thing from the movie that people have REALLY gone crazy for is Tempest, and just the fact that a lot of fans seem to be debating over whether or not the film is even truly good I think kind of speaks a lot.

I do think the community has lost a significant amount of momentum since this film was greenlit, and assuming the production schedule was the same it straight up couldn't have come out 5 years ago. Still, I was expecting many people who stopped watching the show since season 2 would take a look at this.

I really liked the movie, don't get me wrong, but all these tell-tale signs really serve as a reminder to me of how much better it could and should've been.

Edited October 26, 2017 by Toon4Thought

[tm2dragon 12]

6 hours ago, Toon4Thought said:

To be fair, Fimfiction hasn't added tags for ANY of the new characters that came out in the entire franchise this year (which there have been a lot of, to put it lightly); it isn't just the movie.

But yeah, it seems the one thing from the movie that people have REALLY gone crazy for is Tempest, and just the fact that a lot of fans seem to be debating over whether or not the film is even truly good I think kind of speaks a lot.

I do think the community has lost a significant amount of momentum since this film was greenlit, and assuming the production schedule was the same it straight up couldn't have come out 5 years ago. Still, I was expecting many people who stopped watching the show since season 2 would take a look at this.

I really liked the movie, don't get me wrong, but all these tell-tale signs really serve as a reminder to me of how much better it could and should've been.

And yet, the fandom's opinion of the movie itself is likely not the biggest factor here.  The first Equestria Girls movie got some actual HATRED from many Bronies, and relatively few of actually loved it.......of course, Rainbow Rocks turned all that around, but that is besides the point.  Equestria Girls was getting more of a response in the are and story department after it's first showing than this big theatrical release....a movie we can mostly agree more of us enjoyed.  Not sure why that is.....whether the fandom has shrunk, grown lazy, or our enthusiasm was held back by the more critical negativity the film attracted.  Hopefully, things gain momentum as more people get to see the film, and ideas start to sprout in response to it.

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

On 10/25/2017 at 5:25 PM, Jeric said:

That's not breaking even. If a film costs 30 million to make and market, having 30 million in ticket sales is not breaking even. Box Office receipts don't factor in the exhibition cut. 

 

That's corporate accounting 101. The profit is still there, just legally laundered. Every Business or Econ major knows this, knows how to detect it, as do any SEC auditors who don't look the other way.

 

Well .. 

Title psychology is a well know thing and absolutely influences people. Specific words invoke a visual image. Finding a great title for an original work that is creative, original, and appealing is no easy task.

Suggesting that, My Little Pony, wouldn't invoke a certain image or emotion (absent the brands known influence), ignores how words as we process them. To make it even more amusing, the writers of this movie actually know that about naming conventions. Hence the joke about Tempest. 

I didn't say it was breaking even, I just said it was going to pass it's budget

However according to the recent earnings report I would say it will definitely be a profit for them even not counting merch sales.

[Jeric 46,835]

1 hour ago, Ryanmahaffe said:

However according to the recent earnings report I would say it will definitely be a profit for them even not counting merch sales.

It's nowhere near making a profit. As far as merch sales and their earnings report, it's a mixed bag. Non investors and non business educated individuals see all rosy news. The initiated will actually see a mixed bag, which explains what happened to good old HAS after the earnings report. While you were celebrating, it lost 8% of it's value. The reason for that is because people who invest that much actual follow the company a bit closer than fans of an IP.

The earnings report is useless information without actually pulling down their SEC filings and the 10-K ... and no offense but I am sure that you are going to have go Google what a 10-K filing is. That 10-K has a metric that is going to impact their greatest KPI ... merchandise. Though 7% expected lost volume sales may seem small, that figuratively eats into the published finals ... they can no longer bank the movie merch catapulting them to the loftier position they expected. 

Good tax write-off tho. 

[Drunkfrank 1,125]

1 minute ago, Jeric said:

It's nowhere near making a profit. As far as merch sales and their earnings report, it's a mixed bag. Non investors and non business educated individuals see all rosy news. The initiated will actually see a mixed bag, which explains what happened to good old HAS after the earnings report. While you were celebrating, it lost 8% of it's value. The reason for that is because people who invest that much actual follow the company a bit closer than fans of an IP.

The earnings report is useless information without actually pulling down their SEC filings and the 10-K ... and no offense but I am sure that you are going to have go Google what a 10-K filing is. That 10-K has a metric that is going to impact their greatest KPI ... merchandise. Though 7% expected lost volume sales may seem small, that figuratively eats into the published finals ... they can no longer bank the movie merch catapulting them to the loftier position they expected. 

Good tax write-off tho. 

Of course that is the assumption that the movies budget was 30M which still could be wrong. A movie typically needs to make double in the box office to break even and MLP likely hit that with this upcoming weekend (I never really believed the 4chan "leak" on that) and in the coming months with more of the mlp merch made available and the upcoming DVD/blu ray release. There is no way the movie is unsuccessful or won't turn a profit for them.

Maybe it isn't a golden money maker right now, no one really claims it is. But in the long run of it's life it will definitely have been worth it for Hasbro.

On 10/25/2017 at 5:16 PM, TBD said:

I wonder why they haven't made another... did the writer got in trouble for that or something?

Likely really expensive to animate a fight scene on that scale nor have they had the story to do it again, no 2 parter since Twilight's Kingdom has had a fight scene like that because it wouldn't fit.

[Regent 77]

I saw exactly one ad (on tv). It was the most phoned-in bullcrap I had ever seen. Everything about it said, "only little girls will like this." You'd be forgiven for thinking it was a direct-to-video movie. I don't know if it's the same ad they have on the internet, I thought there was more than one, but the first one seemed to be pretty rushed too.

Heck, I didn't even know that it was out until I came to this forum. If someone's talking about it, I'll have to look for them, because I don't see any mention of it on my typical YT and Facebook feeds.

I can only imagine that it was a disappointment... but then I saw all the Equestria Girl flicks, so I might as well watch this one when it comes to Xfinity. If it comes.

Edited October 31, 2017 by Regent