Six weeks later, Disney’s animated feature Frozen is once again holding strong at the first spot at the box office. The domestic box office for the weekend ending January 5 is estimated at $20.72 million. The films domestic total will soon cross $300 million as Frozen’s global box office total soars to nearly $640 million.
Frozen was recently also nominated for a Golden Globe for best animated feature bringing even more attention to the film. With upcoming releases in Asia, the film is expected to reach even higher box office dollars worldwide, and projections speculate it could be up to $900 million.
Disney has released a new teaser trailer for the upcoming sequel “Muppets Most Wanted” which hits theaters March 21, 2014. The sequel to The Muppets features The Muppets, Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, and Tina Fey in an action-packed adventure through Europe. Check out the teaser trailer above.
During the Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con this past weekend, the cast of the Guardians of the Galaxy was fully revealed. Up until recently, only Chris Pratt was officially on board as Peter Quill, aka Star Lord, but the rest of the cast “officially” appeared in person. They include Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Karen Gillian (with newly shaved head) as Nebula, Lee Pace as Ronan the Accuser, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Benecio Del Toro as The Collector, Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer and Djimon Hounsou as Korath.
The only one left to be announced is who will voice Rocket Raccoon. Many sources lead toward David Tennant being the VA for the crazy Raccoon.
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DisneyNature’s 3rd film, African Cats, is poised to ponce into theaters on Earth Day 2011 (April 22nd for those unaware). To get you ready for the film, we have assembled a video offering a 10 minute glimpse into the film a little early. While we are not allowed to post a review of the film until Monday, this should give you a pretty good idea what to expect:
I’m also proud to announce that Disney has been nice enough to provide us with a pair of African Cats books to give away to one lucky reader. If you would like a chance to win the books, just send us an email at wdwnewstoday@gmail.com with your name, email, and home address by April 17th at Midnight ET with the answer to the following question:
Which of True-Life Adventures film shares it’s name with a former land at a Disney theme park?
The winner will be chosen out of all the emails submitted with the correct answer to the above question. The contest is open only to U.S. citizens, my apologies to our international readers. Again, the winner will receive both Sita the Cheetah & A Lion’s Pride books based on DisneyNature’s African cats film.
While it doesn’t have much to do with the Disney Parks, we have always featured Disney film releases here on the site since we launched in 2007. We continue that tradition with the 50th Animated feature film, “Tangled”:
Here’s a sneak peek at the new film:
We usually try to keep opinions out of these reports, but I saw “Tangled” earlier today and wanted to leave a review and a bit of a disclaimer. First off, GO SEE IT! It is an incredible movie and a true Disney film. I had a warm fuzzy feeling walking out of the theater knowing this was the 50th film in the animated canon. It lived up to the tradition and might be the closest thing to the great films of the last golden age such as “The Little Mermaid” or “Beauty and the Beast”. I fully expect Rapunzel to become the favorite princess of many young girls and I even have a few new favorite Disney characters after seeing this one.
I know many fans were worried by the marketing campaign which reminded many of commercials for Shrek or some other Dreamworks animated films. Based on early projections right now, advertising like this might have been a good idea:
The movie was projected to make only $35-40 million over the 5-day holiday weekend, but early reports are claiming the film will make 1.5 to 2 times more over the first 5 days in theaters. If Disney needs to make shoddy ads that play to corny humor to get people to see great films like this, than I’m all for it. I’d hate to see another “Princess and the Frog” debacle, where a great animated film is lost because of lackluster trailers and horrible release dates.
For those deliberating between 2-D and 3-D shows, go for the 3-D if you can. For the first time, I felt like an animated film was made for Digital 3-D. There are actually a few sequences that rival moments from long-standing Disney 3-D attractions.
In summary, go see “Tangled”, it’s your duty as a Disney fan… and you’ll probably have a “hair-raising” good time. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Disney Tangled is now in theaters nationwide, in both Disney Digital 3-D and traditional 2-D.
The original Disneyland park attraction, the Haunted Mansion, that debuted in August of 1969 has now inspired a new film for The Walt Disney Studios by well-known filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. A new piece of artwork was also unveiled by the Studios and is featured below.
Announced at Comic-Con today, del Toro surprised thousands of fans with the news. In speaking about the new project, del Toro said, “I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of my own adaptation of the original theme park attraction Walt envisioned and that remains- for me- the most desirable piece of real estate in the whole world!”
Rich Ross, Chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, remarked “Millions of people from around the world visit The Haunted Mansion each year, but no one has ever had a tour guide like Guillermo del Toro. Guillermo is one of the most gifted and innovative filmmakers working today and he is going to take audiences on a visually-thrilling journey like they’ve never experienced before.”
WDWNT Reporter Banks Lee has provided us with his very first photo report, featuring the updated exhibit space inside the Magic of Disney Animation attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios:
The exhibit now features the upcoming Disney animated film “The Princess and the Frog”
Disneyland and Walt Disney World plan to add a Mardi Gras-style musical cavalcade called Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee for the 2009 holiday season, according to theme park officials. The jazz-infused “riverboat extravaganza” will debut at Disney World on Oct. 26 and Disneyland on Nov. 6. Both shows will run through Jan. 3.
Tied to the upcoming “The Princess and the Frog” hand-drawn animated movie, Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee will feature a procession of jazzy musicians and performers parading through New Orleans Square at Disneyland and Frontierland at Disney World.
As the “second-line” procession reaches the Rivers of America dock, a group of pre-selected theme park visitors will board the waiting riverboat (the Mark Twain at Disneyland and the Liberty Belle at Disney World) where Princess Tiana and other “The Princess and the Frog” characters will greet them. After departing, the riverboat will stop along the riverfront for a performance including songs from the film. The show will be repeated several times a day, with viewing areas along the waterfront.
Mice Age reports that the pre-selected riverboat riders will be able to pose for photos and get autographs from Princess Tiana, Prince Naveen and Louis the singing alligator after the performance.
“The Princess and the Frog,” a Jazz Age story featuring Disney’s first African American princess and set in New Orleans’ French Quarter, opens in theaters Dec. 11.
In keeping with tradition here at WDW News Today, I have collected a number of videos from across the web to promote Disney-Pixar’s tenth feature length animated film, “UP”, in theaters tomorrow, May 29th. The movie has already had stellar reviews, probably not a surprise to anyone who has seen the last nine Disney and Pixar co-branded films. Without any further delay, here are the videos (all of which are available in stunning High Definition by clicking the HD button at the bottom of each window):
