Strange Magic

Features, Shorts, Live-Action and Direct-To-Video
AV Team
AV Team
Posts: 6634
Joined: February 8th, 2005
Location: The US of A

Strange Magic

Post by Dacey » January 17th, 2015, 2:55 pm

Couldn't find a discussion topic. If we have one, forgive me...

Anyway, this one opens Friday with virtually no buzz around it, despite it coming from LucasFilm, which obviously made the Oscar-winning Rango. Also, Disney seems to pretty much be throwing it away. Anyone have any thoughts?
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift--that is why it's called the present."

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 376
Joined: March 19th, 2010
Location: Probably Cinemark

Re: Strange Magic

Post by LotsoA113 » January 17th, 2015, 3:31 pm

Well, the trailer was abysmal. Like, it almost shocked me how bad it was. Maybe the films better, but I'm not holding my breath.
I love all things cinema, from silent movies to world cinema to animated cinema to big blockbusters to documentaries and everything in between!

AV Team
AV Team
Posts: 6634
Joined: February 8th, 2005
Location: The US of A

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Dacey » January 17th, 2015, 3:51 pm

Gnomeo and Juliet ended up being pretty good despite a bad trailer. :)

Granted, I know Rand would disagree, but you can't please everybody. ;)
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift--that is why it's called the present."

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Ben » January 17th, 2015, 6:08 pm

This was obviously picked up within Disney's purchase of LucasFilm and was far too into production for them to shut it down. Consider it "collateral damage"...it's a film Disney doesn't want and is throwing away, even though it's directed by a Pixar alumni and you'd think they'd have more respect.

Unless it's awfully bad, in which case Disney is doing the right thing and following their late Jan/early Feb gameplan, where they successfully issued many of the DTV films and, yes, Gnomeo into the marketplace and built up a lot of awareness for the home video release.

They won't be expecting this to be another Frozen, obviously, but if they can make $100m (even worldwide) on a movie they didn't even pay for and a little on top from DVDs then it will have been worth a small release like this, even if we'd kind of hope it could have been treated a bit better.

It does look like an odd sell, though...

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 5192
Joined: September 27th, 2007

Re: Strange Magic

Post by EricJ » January 18th, 2015, 6:10 pm

Ben wrote:This was obviously picked up within Disney's purchase of LucasFilm and was far too into production for them to shut it down. Consider it "collateral damage"...it's a film Disney doesn't want and is throwing away, even though it's directed by a Pixar alumni and you'd think they'd have more respect.
So, it's sort of like Red Tails, then, the "Lucasfilm had a memo about it long ago, so just so it's not a total loss..." quick thrown-away production to establish completion?

I remember we were gushing how "beautiful" Epic looked in the trailers, even though we knew it was going to be as corny as most other third-party CGI's--
The trailers here look exactly like what we would expect Epic to look now, now that we've had a taste of the script....Yeesh. (Or "I guess they were originally imagining this one way back before Epic came out.")

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Ben » January 21st, 2015, 2:58 pm

Er...yeah, okay...it's how we thought it might be:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movie/ ... iew/765394

Of course, it could still turn out to be a little gem, but hope is low at this point.

And, wait...Irene Mecchi? :shock:

AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 7261
Joined: October 23rd, 2004
Location: SaskaTOON, Canada

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Randall » January 21st, 2015, 11:07 pm

Ouch. At least they had something nice to say about Paddington. :)

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Ben » January 22nd, 2015, 6:28 am

Paddington is super-sweet!

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 5192
Joined: September 27th, 2007

Re: Strange Magic

Post by EricJ » January 22nd, 2015, 9:55 pm

Ben wrote:And, wait...Irene Mecchi? :shock:
Is that a bad thing? :? I'm having the feeling I should Be Very Afraid after "Brave", but I'm not up on my industry refs.

With Gary Rydstrom directing (who did the Lifted and TS: Hawaiian Vacation shorts), they've got a fair number of Pixar expatriates, but that doesn't guarantee they'll bring the entire story Brain Trust with them.

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 1210
Joined: July 9th, 2008
Location: Australia

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Bill1978 » January 23rd, 2015, 5:55 am

Irene also co wrote The Lion King, Hunchback and Hercules.

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Ben » January 23rd, 2015, 7:36 am

I meant I was surprised to see Mecchi involved a) on something like this, and b) on something like this that isn't getting good word or a decent release. Brave maybe aside, I've liked her work so far...

And I mentioned Rydstrom in my original post. No, the Brain Trust isn't here, because this is a LucasFilm Singapore and ILM production, but I did say that "it's directed by a Pixar alumni and you'd think they'd have more respect" in regards to just dumping it out there (and again with Mecchi involved).

Then again, maybe Disney know what they're doing, again as I said with their Jan/Feb release strategy that worked for the DTVs and Gnomeo - Strange Magic is actually tracking quite well and is the only family film around right now...they could end up making a nice little sum on a film they had next to no outlay on.

If only they'd used the Lucas connection and played with it an even a slightly longer teaser for their next little film... ;)

AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 7261
Joined: October 23rd, 2004
Location: SaskaTOON, Canada

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Randall » January 23rd, 2015, 10:21 pm

My curiosity is building for this. Rydstrom calls it a rock opera, which gets my attention. Sounds like it's at least an intriguing kind of mess. Might have to check it out.

User avatar
AV Founder
AV Founder
Posts: 25294
Joined: October 22nd, 2004
Location: London, UK

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Ben » January 24th, 2015, 6:47 am

I'm expecting Moulin Rouge! crossed with Gnomeo And Juliet and Epic, with a bit of some other derivatives thrown in. It could go either way, but unless it's just bad moviemaking, which would be surprising coming from this bunch, then it could be a fun diversion. I'm just not expecting any groundbreaking originality...!

AV Forum Member
AV Forum Member
Posts: 376
Joined: March 19th, 2010
Location: Probably Cinemark

Re: Strange Magic

Post by LotsoA113 » January 24th, 2015, 7:22 am

What does appear to be groundbreaking about the film is its box office performance which is unspeakably terrible. It's set to have a $4.5 million opening weekend after Fridays dismal numbers, which is the third worst opening ever for a film released in over 3000 theaters, and the worst debut for an animated Disney feature, edging out the decade long record held by Valiant.
I love all things cinema, from silent movies to world cinema to animated cinema to big blockbusters to documentaries and everything in between!

AV Team
AV Team
Posts: 6634
Joined: February 8th, 2005
Location: The US of A

Re: Strange Magic

Post by Dacey » January 24th, 2015, 11:29 am

Oh, well. It's still a LOT more than Delgo made. ;)
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift--that is why it's called the present."

Post Reply