by Ray Keating
Analysis
DisneyBizJournal.com
June 6, 2024
Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, from its 20th Century Studios division, has scored pretty well with critics and audiences who have come out for the film. On RottenTomatoes.com as of June 5, for example, it scored 80 percent with critics and 78 percent with moviegoers.
The question, however, is: Have enough people gone to theaters to watch the movie?
The latest tally on BoxOfficeMojo.com points to a global box office of $340.4 million as of June 4. Kingdom opened on May 10, by the way.
The production budget reportedly came in at $160 million. Marketing/promotion costs have to be considered, which can run anywhere from 50 percent to 100 percent of a production budget. If we assume a midpoint, then marketing/promotion costs would come in at roughly $120 million. That would equate to total costs of $280 million for Kingdom.
For good measure, the box office take has to get divvied up with theaters. As DisneyBizJournal has noted before, various industry reports note that studios take in about 55 percent of the domestic box office, and anywhere from 20 percent to 40 percent of foreign ticket sales. If we assume the best case scenario – that is, 55 percent of $142.5 million and 40 percent of the international take of $197.9 million, that tallies up to Disney's share of Kingdom’s box office at $157.6 million ($78.4 million domestically plus $79.2 million international).
Yikes. That would mean that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, at this late point in its theater run, ranks as a serious money loser for Disney – in the range of a theatrical loss of $122 million. Even if marketing/promotion costs came in at the low end, we’re still talking an estimated loss of somewhere around $82 million. The consequences of Disney’s inability to control costs rears its ugly head, once again, with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
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Ray Keating is the editor, publisher and economist for DisneyBizJournal.com; and author of the Pastor Stephen Grant thrillers and mysteries, the Alliance of Saint Michael novels, and assorted nonfiction books. Have Ray Keating speak your group, business, school, church, or organization. Email him at raykeating@keatingreports.com.
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