Posted in: Box Office, Movies | Tagged: box office, illumination, Migration

Migration Is Original Animation's Last Box Office Hope

Migration is now playing in theaters, and may be the last gasp for original animation at the box office for a good long time.

Migration opened in theaters this weekend, a holiday offering from Illumination that has had major success opening around the Christmas season. They are doing a full blitz to compliment this film, including the trailer during the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade this past November and a Taylor Swift song on another trailer. With good reason, too, as it is another chance to build a franchise for the company, which can already count Mario, Minions, Sing, and more in its stable, but it is also a chance to prove something else, and that is that original concept animation can still make money and break out at the box office.

Migration Won't Be The Last, But It Can End The Trend

Since the pandemic theater closures, animated films have been a bit of a roller coaster at the box office. When theaters welcomed back patrons in 2021, people were still a bit nervous to go, especially as a family, and that showed in the top five animated films from that year:

1. Encanto- $96 million
2. Boss Baby: Family Business- $57 million
3. Addams Family 2- $56 million
4. Raya and The Last Dragon- $54 million
5. Demon Slayer: Mugen Train- $47 million

Now, of those top five, three also debuted on streaming services the same day, which took away some dollars. But still, not a single animated film grossed over $100 million. Of those films, only two were original IPs, and one could argue that since they were Disney films, they could also be considered a franchises. 2022 saw an uptick, of course, as vaccines were introduced and more and more people returned to theaters.

1. Minions: Rise of Gru- $369 million
2. Sonic 2- $190 million
3. Lightyear- $118 million
4. The Bad Guys- $97 million
5. DC League of Super-Pets- $93 million

So, like always, franchises rule in animation, but they are so dominant now that the highest-grossing original animated film was Strange World, with $36 million. Let that sink in. That film was a complete failure, but at least they tried something new. 2023 has not faired much better for original animated films leading up to the release of Migration, either:

1. The Super Mario Bros. Movie- $574 million
2. Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse- $381 million
3. Elemental- $154 million
4. Trolls Band Together- $89 million (still in theaters)
5. Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie- $65 million

Besides Elemental, Disney's Wish was the only original animated film to finish in the top 50 at the box office this year. Everything else was a franchise.

There have been bright spots, like Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, The Boy and The Heron, which opened in the top spot at the box office a couple of weeks ago and is now the highest-grossing original anime in domestic history. It's not a blockbuster by any means, but it's a landmark release. Elemental had to leg out to its domestic gross but became a sensation overseas, grossing just under $500 million worldwide. Wish should have done better, but a Disney backlash is currently affecting all of their films. That one will prove to be a fan-favorite as the years tick by.

But Migration has been the one most have pointed to all year long, at least since we found out it was set up as the big animated film for the Christmas holiday box office season. Reviews for it have been good, though that has not been the problem. Original films rely on word of mouth from moviegoers who have seen it, and people seem to be saving their family moviegoing dollars for the franchise fare only at this point. No, Migration is the film many will hold responsible for curbing the "original animation is dead at the box office" talk before it picks up steam.

Hopefully, it legs out to a good run entering 2024; as of this writing, it is expected to earn around $18 million for the holiday, a good start in a crowded market. Illumination is probably the one studio right now that can meaningfully get things back on track at the box office.

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