Media Continues to Misdiagnose Box Office Success of Family-Friendly Movies
By Movieguide® Contributor
While movies containing strong moral and Christian content have outperformed immoral content at the box office, mainstream media continues to find other reasons for their success.
In “The Simple Secret to the ‘Super Mario’ Animation Studio’s Success,” published by The Wall Street Journal, the success of Illumination Studios is explained as coming from its reliance on proven franchises and IPs, creation of films that people of all ages want to see, and the decline of Disney’s Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios.
“[An] explanation for Illumination’s success is the studio’s reliance on tried-and-true intellectual property as the basis of its stories” the article states. “The first movie to feature the minions–now an indelible part of pop culture–came out in 2012 and has spawned four sequels and spinoffs.”
“’Super Mario Bros.’ is based on the 1985 Nintendo game created by Shiguro Miyamoto, who is a producer on the movie and worked closely with Mr. Meledandri throughout its creative process,” the article continues. “The movie cribs plot twists from several of the early “Mario” games, including how Mario and Luigi travel through green sewer pipes and end up in the magical Mushroom Kingdom, battling evil turtle King Bowser to help save Princess Peach and her legions of mushroom-shaped subjects.”
While the emphasis on the power of established IPs is compelling and can account for a number of sales during the opening of a movie, the argument ultimately falls short as audiences care about the content of a movie more than anything else. For example, Disney’s LIGHTYEAR lost $100M despite its established IP.
Looking just at video game franchises, dozens of movies have been created with established IPs, and the majority of them are received with lukewarm praise, if they manage to turn any profit at the box office at all. Nintendo, for example, released a Mario movie in 1993 that was a massive failure and is considered one of the worst movies ever made. Therefore, the use of a well-known IP can help a movie, but the movie still needs content to stand on.
The Wall Street Journal article claims that the content Illumination Studios movies stand on is content that all ages want to see. The SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE, for example, is popular among adults because they are nostalgic for the games that they grew up playing.
“One of the key success factors for any animated family film is that you’ll want to have parents that want to go see it with their kids,” Mr. Broughton, of the media-focused U.K. market research film Ampere, said.
What the article, and Mr. Broughton, fail to mention is that parents have to be excited to take their kids to these movies too. Parents are more likely to take their children to movies when the content is teaching strong morals. A family movie can’t succeed if it isn’t well suited for children.
Another explanation that The Wall Street Journal piece gives is that Disney’s recent movies have largely been failures, leaving Illumination Studios with little competition.
“It doesn’t hurt that some of [THE SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE’s] top competitors, including Walt Disney’s two core animation divisions Pixar and Walt Disney Animation, are in a bit of a dry spell. Last year, Disney released back-to-back theatrical flops in LIGHTYEAR and STRANGE WORLD, the latter of which posted Disney Animation’s lowest opening-weekend gross in about a decade, aside from RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON, a 2021 title whose opening was hurt by the Covid-19 pandemic,” the article said.
While focusing on Illumination Studio’s success, the article fails to provide any explanation for why Disney’s movies are failing. A common thread between LIGHTYEAR, STRANGE WORLD, and RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON is their promotion of non-Christian worldviews, with LIGHTYEAR and STRANGE WORLD including exclusively politically correct morals. Illumination Studios, on the other hand, includes some level of strong moral content in each of its movies, distinguishing its movies from Disney blockbusters.
Ultimately, mainstream media is afraid to admit that Christian or strong moral content is a large factor in what makes a movie successful.
Time and time again, Christian and morally centered movies succeed above their amoral and Anti-Christian counterparts. Much of the box office’s recovery from the pandemic lockdowns can be attributed to morally strong movies drawing people into theaters. The world is hungry for Christian and moral content and that’s why movies that provide that type of content succeed.
Movieguide®’s annual Report to the Entertainment Industry outlines that movies with immoral content (excessive foul language, violence, and sex) consistently perform worse at the box office.
Moreover, movies with moral worldview elements, family-friendly content, and other Christian themes succeed.
Movieguide® previously reported:
In its second week at the box office, the SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE comfortably maintains its number one spot.
The animated hit grossed $92.5 million domestically over Easter weekend. Including Monday’s numbers, the SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE has raked in over $700 million worldwide and is well on its way to being the first movie this year to cross the $1 billion mark.
This weekend’s horror movies THE POPE’S EXORCIST and RENFIELD were vastly overshadowed by the MARIO BROS. MOVIE. THE POPE’S EXORCIST was number 2 at the box office, bringing in $9.2 million, while RENFIELD was number 4 at $8 million.
The success of the SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE continues the trend of uplifting, positive, family-friendly movies succeeding at the box office while horror and violent movies perform poorly.
The continued success of family movies is encouraging as moviemakers focus on making movies that audiences like. The success of the SUPER MARIO BROS. MOVIE tells producers that audiences want more movies like it. Due to the success of the Mario movie, many fans are excited to see if Nintendo will allow more of their IPs to come to the big screen.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.
What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.
You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.
Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.
