The Good Dinosaur on Track to Become Pixar's First Bomb

Few would quibble with the notion that Disney’s Pixar stands among the most successful movie studios of all time. They’ve churned out hit after hit with such regularity and reliable quality that excellence has become their standard.

However, that pedigree hasn’t been able to avert the pending financial disaster brought on by their newest release, The Good Dinosaur. Variety reports:

With a production budget of $200 million and roughly $150 million spent on marketing, industry analysts and executives say that Pixar and its parent company Disney must make $500 million to break even theatrically. Currently, the film has made $131.3 million globally and is showing signs of fading fast. At this point, many project that “The Good Dinosaur” will be lucky to crack the $400 million mark. That would make it the lowest grossing Pixar film since “A Bug’s Life” made $363.4 million worldwide in 1998.

What went wrong? It’s tough to pin down. Critics and audiences alike have placed their stamp of approval on the film. I took my boys to see it on Black Friday, and we each enjoyed it. But it’s not amazing, and not something I would make a point to see again. Perhaps the problem is as Variety states it:

Pixar may be getting penalized for releasing a film that’s merely good as opposed to revolutionary.

That could be. There’s nothing particularly earth-shattering about The Good Dinosaur. Perhaps Pixar will begin second-guessing their production budgets.