Chicken Little is one of those projects that I catch myself really looking forward to that no one else seems interested in. I remember a few months back I put up a couple of posts with some Chicken Little news and most of the comments and feedback were neutral to negative about the whole thing.
Chicken Little represents Disney’s first full blown venture into 3D animated films. What was once the absolute King Pin of the animation world has quickly fallen out of relevance at all with companies like Pixar, Dreamworks and Sony pushing ahead of them. Getting back into the animation game is a good move on Disney’s part… the question of “can they compete?” is another issue… but they at least have to get into the fight.
Having said all that, I came across an interesting article on Guardian where it seems that expectations for Chicken Little are a little unrealistic. Here’s what they had to say:
Investors are looking for worldwide box office of around $350 million from “Chicken Little” according to David Miller, an analyst at brokerage firm Sanders Morris Harris.
The film’s performance could affect ongoing talks between Disney and Pixar. After an ugly public split last year, in which Pixar chief executive Steve Jobs called off talks for a new distribution deal, the two sides have been negotiating again. “I think Steve Jobs is watching ‘Chicken Little’ very closely,” Miller said. “If the film underperforms relative to his, he may use that as a nugget of leverage.”
Are they serious? $350 million at the box office? Honestly folks, I have no idea what they’re thinking. Personally I’m looking forward to Chicken Little… but the fact of the matter is that I haven’t heard much excitement about the film from the wider film fan base at all. The trailers frankly have not been that good, and the overall marketing campaign hasn’t been very creative. It seems like Chicken Little to most people is just an afterthought.
So what do you think? Can Chicken Little hit say… $120 million domestically? Damn I sure hope so… if it’s any good.
