Some thoughts have been flowing around the Internet that "Ratatouille" by Disney (DIS) is a test of the deal that brought Pixar to the Disney fold for $7.4 billion. I can't agree with that. As a matter of fact, at the time I thought Pixar was crazy for allowing itself under the Disney wing. Disney will always have gotten the best of that deal.
Concerning "Ratatouille" itself, reviews of the film has been great, but this summer that hasn't been much of an indicator of success.
Some have made opening weekend box office estimates of anywhere from $50 million to $65 million.
I think what's going on here is Hollywood has hyped this year so strongly that anything other than breaking records would be a disaster, and that disaster may end up happening. As after some of the big releases, the numbers are quite a bit lower than was expected for this time for the year.
Comments have been made that there will be strong competition from "Live Free or Die Hard" or "Evan Almighty," but that can't be taken too seriously. "Evan Almighty" is the only real competition as far as families go, and their opening was so far lower than hoped for that it can't be seriously thought of as a real contender or disruptor.
How that affects "Ratatouille" is I think the studio is downplaying the hype and creating lower expectations. Not necessarily because they the film will really draw low numbers, but when the film produces for them they can have some boasting rights that it exceeded expectations. That creates a momentum that carries it even further.
It will be exciting to see how it does, as Pixar has never failed in its opening box office numbers, as their last seven films have all opened in the No. 1 position in the North American market.
Having said all that, the only thing that concerns me are what some of the critics have said, saying it's "a high-water mark for everyone at Pixar" and "so advanced, so sophisticated, it doesn't feel like it was made for kids."
I hope the kids feel like it's a movie made for kids, or it may be the only thing that could really stop it from being a huge smash hit. Unless Pixar has abandoned its way of doing movies, I think there's not too much to be concerned with there.
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