June 26-30, 2000 News

Monday, June 26, 2000

Chicken Run Showings to Expand
Chicken Run will be playing on 300-400 more screens beginning this Friday, after a very successful opening weekend. It is estimated that Chicken Run made $17.5 million for the weekend and is garnishing strong word of mouth. Final numbers will be posted tomorrow.

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Titan A.E. Suffers 61% Drop
Titan A.E. suffered a huge 61% drop at the Box Office when compared to last weekend. Weekend estimates showed Titan A.E. bringing in only $3.7 million in its second weekend to bring its total to $16.9 million, a number topped in three days by Chicken Run. Analysts are predicting that Titan A.E. will finish its Box Office run at between $25 to $30 million. Last week the CEO of Fox Film, William Mechanic, quit when Titan A.E. failed to meet expectations.

Tuesday, June 27, 2000

Box Office Results
Here are the Box Office results for last weekend's animated films:

Chicken Run $17.5 Million ($7,028 per screen average)
2nd at the Box Office (opening weekend)
Total to Date: $17.6 Million

Titan A.E. $3.7 Million ($1,346 per screen average - huge 60% drop)
8th at the Box Office (down from #5 last weekend)
Total to Date: $16.9 Million

Dinosaur $3.2 Million ($1,449 per screen average - 44% decrease)
9th at the Box Office (down from #7 last weekend)
Total to Date: $126.8 Million

Fantasia 2000 $1.5 Million ($1,126 per screen average)
13th at the Box Office (down from #11 last weekend)
Total to Date: $55.6 Million

The Road to El Dorado $103,069 ($458 per screen average - 30% increase)
37th at the Box Office (up from #42 last weekend)
Total to Date: $50.8 Million

The Tigger Movie $74,603 ($359 per screen average - 27% increase)
42nd at the Box Office (down from number #36 last weekend)
Total to Date: $45.3 Million

Toy Story 2 $35,716 ($430 per screen average - 41% decrease)
58th at the Box Office (down from #49 last weekend)
Total to Date: $245.6 Million

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Nobody Here But us Chickens
According to The Irish Times:

“Do you remember a Fast Show sketch in which reporter Paul Whitehouse, covering the making of a Plasticine-animation movie, gradually loses the will to live, as an earnest young model-maker painstakingly shows him how he moves the dog's eyebrow a millionth of a millimetre before taking a shot, then moves it another millionth of a millimetre before taking another shot, thereby producing about one frame of film every six months?

This reporter can't help recalling it while standing on the set of Aardman Animation's first full-length claymation feature, the £30 million Chicken Run, while an earnest young animator named Merlin patiently explains how it took him two weeks to shoot a 30-second scene in which a motorbike and sidecar crashes to the ground...”

Click here for the full story.

Wednesday, June 28, 2000

Fox Closes Arizona Studio!
According to the Washington Post:

“In the wake of the disappointing box office results for the space cartoon Titan A.E., 20th Century Fox said Monday it will close its 6-year-old animation facility in Phoenix, Ariz.

In February, Fox laid off about two-thirds of the 320 employees at the Phoenix unit, but now the studio is shuttering the outpost entirely.

The move is a further sign that the animated world, while full of cuddly creatures, is also highly treacherous for pretenders to the Disney throne.

‘It clearly is a tough marketplace,’ said Fox Animation president Chris Meledandri...”

Click here for the full story.

Note: Fox will continue doing computer animation and some stop-motion animation. The Arizona studio what its traditional animation facility.

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Chicken Run Weekday Showings Strong
Chicken Run made $2.6 million at the Box Office on Monday, a very strong weekday showing for an animated film. Meanwhile, Titan A.E. made $530,000 and Dinosaur made $450,000.

Thursday, June 29, 2000

Princess Mononoke Coming to Video
Buena Vista is releasing Princess Mononoke to video and DVD on August 29, 2000. Both are the English-dubbed versions, however the DVD also includes a French track. Fans wondering about the original Japanese version will be disappointed to learn that it is not included on the DVD because Buena Vista doesn’t want it to effect sales of the Japanese Princess Mononoke DVD release (which will be later than the August 29 USA release).

Furthermore, Buena Vista is initially pricing the Princess Mononoke DVD at $103. This is to maximize profits from rental outlets (such as Blockbuster and Hollywood Video). Several months after the release (possibly just before Christmas), the price of the VHS will be lowered to a more attractive general consumer price. Meanwhile, the DVD will cost $34.99 (list price). You can, however, order the DVD here for $20.99.

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Arizona Newspaper Reacts to Fox Closing
According to The Arizona Republic:

“The 'toon wars between the Fox and the Mouse claimed another casualty Tuesday as Phoenix was caught in the crossfire.

Twentieth Century Fox pulled the curtain on its struggling animation studio here, putting 70 people out of work and further dimming Hollywood's spotlight on Arizona.

The studio had been Fox's attempt to share the cartoon throne with Disney. But the contender turned into pretender when Titan A.E., the Phoenix studio's second feature film, plummeted to Earth with measly box-office earnings.

The sci-fi adventure, combining two-dimensional animation with 3-D computer graphics, took in just $16.9 million over two weekends, a huge disappointment considering its $80 million production costs.

‘It's tough to take on Disney,’ said animator Edison Goncalves, one of the employees given a few hours to pack their things...”

Click here for the full story.

Friday, June 30, 2000

Chicken Run Success Spilling Over
According to ITN Online:

“Shares in two companies linked to the surprise Hollywood blockbuster Chicken Run enjoyed a run of their own on expectations they are set to benefit from the film's success.

Licensed toys specialist Character Group, which is distributing a range of toys linked to the animated film, rose 28½p to 136p.

And shares in designer and manufacturer International Greetings, which holds the exclusive European licence to manufacture products linked to the film, were up 44½p to 297½p...”

Click here for the full story.

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Dreamspan Looking for Voices
Dreamspan, a new multimedia company, has partnered with the famed Short Attention Span Festival to create Dreamspan.com, an online forum for short films, animated movies, and original series.

Dreamspan is currently putting its first serial into production, tentatively titled "Rock Star." The series is a choose-your-own-adventure flash animation series and the company is now seeking talent to voice the characters. These include (but are not limited to):

- The four members of the rock band
- Their female twenty-something groupie
- The lead singer's family: mom, dad and little sister
- Various others: a nurse, doctor, newscaster, etc.

At this time, Dreamspan cannot pay for voice talent, but it will heavily promote the series and when it becomes “popular,” will renegotiate the terms. Dreamspan is hoping to eventually develop the series for television.

At this time, Dreamspan cannot pay for voice talent, but it will heavily promote the series and when it becomes “popular,” will renegotiate the terms. Dreamspan is hoping to eventually develop the series for television.

To discuss content and/or voice your interest, please call Andrea at 310-260-1551 or email at andrea@dreamspan.com.

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