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For Pixar, Hits Just Keep On Coming

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The Los Angeles Times

Published: June 28, 2008

HOLLYWOOD - HOLLYWOOD - Box-office flops are supposed to be unavoidable in the up-and-down movie business. Even Will Smith has an occasional "The Legend of Bagger Vance" on his resume.

But after eight features in 13 years, the gang at Pixar Animation Studios still hasn't gotten that memo. Pixar's streak of hits - starting with its 1995 debut feature "Toy Story" and continuing through last summer's "Ratatouille" - is about to become nine.

Disney-Pixar's animated "Wall-E," which opened Friday at about 4,000 theaters in the United States and Canada, should top this weekend's charts with more than $50 million in ticket sales, based on consumer tracking surveys. Some Hollywood executives, noting the industry's robust results this summer, say the film might even approach $75 million, setting a new record for Pixar. Projector isn't quite that bullish, but expects "Wall-E" to rank among Pixar's higher openers.

The G-rated movie, produced for an estimated $180 million, stands poised to flourish despite its considerable hurdles, including limited dialogue - the robots make noises but talk sparsely - and the backdrop of an environmental apocalypse on the future Earth. The hero is Wall-E, a rubbish-collecting robot left behind on the planet in the year 2700 who falls for a sleek search robot named Eve.

Mark Zoradi, president of Disney's motion picture group, doesn't think the atypical aspects of "Wall-E" will hurt and thinks audiences will find the humorous, love-struck Wall-E character appealing and fun.

"'Wall-E' combines a very comedic element attractive to both kids and adults as well as a very emotional and engaging story, and when those two elements come together animation really excels," Zoradi said. "Pixar has done this for the past eight movies and 'Wall-E' looks to have accomplished the same level of creativity."

Each Pixar picture has ranked No. 1 in its first weekend of wide release. "The Incredibles," the fall 2004 superhero send-up, opened to a studio-best $70.5 million (equal to $80.4 million at today's ticket prices).

"Ratatouille," Pixar's rodent chef comedy, posted the label's softest U.S. opening in recent years, at $47 million.

Disney, which bought Pixar in 2006 for $7.4 billion, has been marketing the new film by humanizing Wall-E, as it were, showing off his quirky charms in its trailers and sending him out to be interviewed by giggly hosts on morning TV talk shows.

Tracking surveys show keen interest from across the demographic spectrum. What could keep the film from posting Pixar's top opening, however, is the fierce competition: the new Angelina Jolie thriller "Wanted," from Universal Pictures, and "Kung Fu Panda," from DreamWorks Animation SKG and distributor Paramount Pictures, a holdover hit in the family genre.

The R-rated "Wanted," which Universal rescheduled from March into the heart of summer, has been picking up buzz from film geeks since the first trailer ran last fall with "American Gangster." The stylized, over-the-top adaptation of a graphic novel stacks up as an ideal alternative to the wholesome "Wall-E."

"Wanted" got its hard-earned R for "strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality." In the ratings board code, "pervasive" means a whole lot of cursing.

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