Gruvi Weekly Digest #95 – Disney’s greatest competitor in 2018 is Disney

Gruvi Weekly Digest 95 – Disneys greatest competitor in is Disney
Ben Johnson
Updated on 22/08/2022

A weekly catch up on things we’ve found interesting over the past week.
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Disney’s 2018 film slate is so phenomenal that it must scare not just Disney’s competitors, but Disney itself
We’re used to seeing excellent research and analysis in ReDef features and this one is no exception. In his latest piece, Matthew Ball takes a look at how Disney is becoming its own biggest competitor.
A few key points from the article, which we definitely recommend you read in full, if you haven’t yet:
“In the last decade, only 29 films have crossed the $1B mark globally, 16 of which come from Disney – with half of those films released during the past two and half years. (…) Disney now commands a substantially higher share of ticket revenues from theater owners than any other film distributor (as much as 65% for The Last Jedi compared to the traditional 50-57%).”
Disney’s strategy of releasing 8-10 films annually (versus the standard studio average of 20+) aims to appeal to a larger audience pool for their massive budget titles. “This strategy puts more money on the line, but derisked this investment by focusing it only on content that could reliably persuade audiences to turn off Netflix, get in their cars and drive to a movie theater. However, American moviegoers now attend only 3.5 films per year – down from 5.1 films per year 15 years ago; there aren’t many tickets to go around.”
Read more here.
Other articles of note A radical smart move from A24 – Delaying ‘Under the Silver Lake’ Until December
Last week, Indiewire reported “with little fanfare, A24 announced that David Robert Mitchell’s sprawling film noir, Under the Silver Lake would no longer be released June 22. Instead, it’s been pushed to December 7.”
Mitchell is a Cannes darling, with both “The Myth of the American Sleepover” and “It Follows” having played there, to critical acclaim. But reactions were much more mixed for his latest movie. Raving Cannes reviews would have been excellent support for a release so close to the festival, but in the absence of that A24 has decided to instead listen. The consensus seems to be that “there’s a great movie in there”, so they are giving Mitchell enough time to go back to the editing room and find it. If they get it right, a December release would also better frame Under the Silver Lake as a major awards contender.
Read more here.
Social media strategy: How inside jokes helped Killing Eve to grow by word of mouth
The availability of entire seasons to binge has curtailed a sense of urgency in audiences when it comes to TV content. In absolute numbers, only a few people watched the final season of Killing Eve, AMC’s show starring Sandra Oh. However, unlike many shows on TV, Killing Eve has consistently increased its viewership since its series premiere in April. The past seven weeks have seen 47% growth in its so-called L+3 rating (aggregating viewership on the live airing and on-demand up to 3 days after). Those are better viewership gains than any scripted show has seen in a decade, according to BBC America. It’s due, in no small part, to the show’s timing (still airing when most of the other spring shows had already concluded) and to a clever online marketing campaign that made the show a constant conversation topic on Twitter- word of mouth was decisive in Killing Eve‘s week over week increase in audience.
Read more here.
Government costs go up without watchdogs: What happens when local newspapers shut their doors
An essential read in this age where we’re constantly questioning and re-examining the role of media in general and of news in particular.
“When local newspapers shut their doors, communities lose out. People and their stories can’t find coverage. Politicos take liberties when it’s nobody’s job to hold them accountable. What the public doesn’t know winds up hurting them. The city feels poorer, politically and culturally.”
Read more about the research here.

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Gruvi Weekly Digest 95 – Disneys greatest competitor in is Disney
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