This fall has been surprising for a couple of reasons. The first reason is that several films that have been highly touted by critics have crashed and burned at the box office. Films like Contagion, Warrior, Drive, Moneyball and 50/50 have debuted to glowing reviews and wide acclaim from both mainstream critics and the blogosphere, while being greeted with varying degrees of indifference by the wider movie-going public.
The second surprise this fall has been the dominance of family films. Disney’s re-release of The Lion King in 3D has been a smash success and Dolphin Tale has also shown surprising strength. Throw in the Christian themed Courageous and family friendly fare finished the month with three of the top four films at the North American box office. Meanwhile, overseas, The Smurfs finished in first over the last four weeks.
These developments might be best summed by a post on Nikki Finke’s Deadline Hollywood from a commenter named Jake that read: “I don’t get it – adult comedies and dramas should be doing well in the fall – not family fare – since kids are in school – isn’t this a change of the norm?”
Is this really such a surprise? There’s a reason that some of the brightest minds of our time have been involved with making family entertainment. Walt Disney, Steven Spielberg and Steve Jobs at Pixar were all involved in driving technology and innovation while working in the realm of family entertainment. While it was certainly mentioned by some, I actually found it odd so few mentioned, in their articles related to the recent passing of Steve Jobs, the fact he built a visionary staff at Pixar and helped re-invent the way animated films were made up in Emeryville. Part of that vision was the crafting of great stories.
Expect both trends to continue this weekend when the family friendly robot flick Real Steal goes up against Oscar bait heavyweight The Ides of March. Real Steal will easily win the one on one battle and Ides may struggle to end in front of Dolphin Tale‘s third week total if it continues to have a strong hold. With that in mind, I present five tried and true methods for families films to succeed at the box office.
5.
Make sure the kids know the film is out there
One advantage that family films have over regular fare is that they can target their ad buys in ways few other films can. Mom and Dad might be distracted at work while young adults are busy doing schoolwork and protesting Wall Street. Children, on the other hand, are watching one or two cable networks so film companies simply have to blanket the Disney Channel, Nickelodeon and ABC Family with TV spots and the word will get out about coming attractions.
Once the kids are aware of a film the parents will no doubt hear about it; many times over in the case of a film like Real Steel. I haven’t seen a single ad for Real Steel yet, but when I asked my friends with children about the film they told me their kids, especially the boys, have had the film on their radar for the last month.
4.
Be inclusive
I believe one of the differences between a so-so family film and a breakout family film is the number of adults you can rope into the theater along with the kiddies. Some family films are strictly for the kids and it shows on opening weekend. There is a difference between the films where one unlucky parent is chaperoning 5-6 kids in a mini-van and the ones where you see full families with Mom, Dad and maybe even teenage brother and sister attending along with the little ones.
I also think this is one of the greatest strengths of family film producers. All too often filmmakers from other genres, whether it’s the makers of slasher movies, fanboy flicks or Sundance favorites, fail to even try and engage the broader audience. That is not the case of the very best makers of family films. They actually make films that are audience friendly and it shows.
In the case of The Lion King, the fantastic quality of the film brought in crowds of all ages. Dolphin Tale used a strong cast including Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd to entice adults, while Real Steel is using the one-two eye candy punch of Hugh Jackman and Evangeline Lilly to bring Mom and Dad along to the theater. Any time you can add a couple of extra full price tickets to the standard kiddie matinee fare you can help your BO totals.
He continued, “When you watch, no matter who you are, you’re going to fall in love with every single part. It’s put together so well. Both the real robots and the CGI ones.”
He went on to praise his co-stars as well as the robots, “It was an honor to work with Hugh Jackman. When people say he’s a nice guy it isn’t just because he’s Hugh Jackman. And having Kevin Durand and Evangeline was an honor as well.”
3.
The Smells Like Teen Spirit factor
Twenty years ago Kurt Cobain explained it best. “Here we are now. Entertain us.” That works for film audiences just as much as it does for indie rock teenagers. Give ’em a show and they’ll come back for more. In the case of family films that is especially important because kids and parents will come back to the neighborhood and tell their friends if they were not satisfied.
The Lion King has no doubt fit this bill over the years. So does Dolphin Tale with its strong hold from week one to week two while Real Steel with its Rocky meets Transformers theme is definitely pulling out all the stops to thrill audiences. That’s why it will most likely finish number one at the box office this weekend, making it three out of the last four weeks that a family friendly movie will sit on top of the US box office.
2.
Don’t insult your audience
There used to be a Sunday morning show called “Kids Are People, Too”. The point was obvious and yet many people still talk to children the way they talk to their pets. I’ve never understood that because children tend to be more aware of what’s happening than most adults. They know when someone is trying to con them.
That’s why the best family films always tell a good story. More than almost any other genre the producers of family stick to solid story conventions. I’m not sure if it is because families are more demanding than casual film fans but rarely do you walk out of a good family film wondering about some gaping plot hole.
In terms of Real Steel, I think Roger Ebert summed it up best in his review when he stated, “Real Steel is a real movie. It has characters, it matters who they are, it makes sense of its action, and it has a compelling plot. This is the sort of movie, I suspect, young viewers went to the Transformers movies looking for.”
1.
Have a message
Good family films of all stripes contain positive messages and that is a good thing. There are big differences in the way a child develops and how a young adult develops and the best family films are aware of those differences. Even a throwaway family flicks like Beverly Hills Chihuahua featured a strong message about tolerance and overcoming obstacles in life. Sometimes those themes are on the simplistic side, but they are always there. That doesn’t mean that good family films can’t have depth. The very best ones always do as the opening fifteen minutes of Pixar’s Up proved that two years ago.
If you’ve ever watched Pete Doctor’s masterpiece with a bunch of kids you’ll know that children are able to accept dark and difficult themes just fine but having a very strong message is important when making a family flick. Drive was one of my favorite films to come out this fall. Having said that, I wouldn’t want to explain what it was trying to say with its ambiguous and borderline amoral themes to a carload of kids on the way home from the multiplex.
So what do you think makes a family film successful? And why do you think these films are so successful so far this year?
