Box Office Analysis: Voyage of the Dawn Treader

April 17, 2011 Mike Narnia Film News, Prince Caspian Movie News, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader Movie News, Twentieth Century Fox, Walden Media 68

Now that home video sales of “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” have begun, it is not surprising that the film is still playing in only a handful of theaters.  The exception is Japan, where VDT is still in release.

That makes it a good time to take a look at the film’s box office performance.  How did VDT perform at the box office compared to its predecessor, “Prince Caspian”?

Hit the jump to find out.

In general, the answer to that question is “pretty well.”  Worldwide grosses for both films are right next to each other: $419.6 million for PC versus $415.6 million for VDT.  Of course, VDT’s gross will continue to grow as the film is still open in Japan.  But it won’t, like PC, come close to LWW’s impressive worldwide haul of $745 million.

The only major disappointment in comparing VDT and PC is their respective performance in the United States.  While PC grossed $141.6 million in the US, VDT managed just $104.4 million – a significant drop.  Yet, VDT had much more staying power in theaters than PC.  Whereas PC debuted strong and quickly dropped, VDT opened smaller but continued to perform well throughout the Christmas and New Years holidays.

Outside of the US, VDT ($311 million) performed much better than PC ($278 million).  In fact, the film posted solid gains in most areas.  Take a look:

Those are some nice increases in Brazil, China, Russia, Italy, and several European countries.  And the pickup in Japan is remarkable, given that country’s considerable challenges at the moment.

All things considered, things look hopeful for the Narnia franchise.  With possibly enhanced marketing efforts in the United States and a few other areas, it is entirely possible that “The Magician’s Nephew” could do better than both PC and VDT.  If so, the films will continue.

Click here to visit the VDT page at BoxOfficeMojo

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68 Comments

  2. As much as I love “The Magician’s Nephew” and look forward to eventually seeing it on film…wouldn’t “The Silver Chair” be the *only* logical next step? Eustace returns to Narnia? Like the sequel hook suggested??

          • That’s really logical of you (Paul Martin) to say that if they would apply logic for business or story. But i really think that they would apply it for the business…as we are getting news of The Magician’s Nephew….! And that’s the story which was 2nd popular among the 7 classics after The Lion, The witch and The wardrobe…!!! I really thought that they would follow the sequence but this really isn’t happening…!!! Of course they are using logic for business…..:)

    • I also wish the same that whatever the sequence be….all movies could get huge amount of business and popularity….:)

  4. Although the gross is about the same, VDT’s film budget was lower than PC’s — so will profits be higher, or did they spend all the spare money on advertising?

    • It’s not that simple. Studios always spend a lot of money on advertising. It’s not included in the budget. So even if they did spend the difference on ads, if you take that into account, then you have to do the same for PC.

  5. Another thing to keep in mind is that VDT was made in 3D, whereas PC was not. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing as far as its effect on the box office take. 3D might be a draw for some people, and it gives an excuse for theaters to make more money off the tickets, but what I have been hearing more often is that 3D movies are too expensive, and that can drive people away (especially families who are faced with buying a bunch of tickets for their kids). I know that I, personally, didn’t go to see the most recent Alice in Wonderland film because it was only available in 3D in my town, and it just plain cost too much. So when (if?) they do Magician’s Nephew, I hope they give some serious thought to whether it should be in 3D or not.

  6. I think one of the reasons why the US is down is because everyone bought PC in hopes that it would be as good as LWW, but when it didn’t meet the expectations they decided not to by the VDT…but anyway, it’s not over till it’s over! I STILL haven’t bought my copy yet…UGH…it’s on my agenda, but I’ve been sooo busy with Easter and Spring Break…

  7. I think doing MN is silly, since they have a very capable actor who played Eustace in VDT ready to leap into Silver Chair where he belongs. Besides, Silver Chair is more action and high adventure like VDT, whereas Magician’s Nephew would slow things down considerably like PC.

    • I think you’re right. In my opinion, the only reason that MN sells more than SC is because it’s marketed as the first in the series. It seems to me that MN goes against everything fantasy films are “supposed” to be. Little action, somewhat weaker story… I just don’t know. I’m still excited to see MN as a film, but I just don’t know if it’ll live up to their expectations.

      • Yeah right..I want SC and let’s for now finish the Caspian trilogy. And they need to quicken things in MN in a movie..But still I hope SC comes next..People would relate more to it if they saw VDT

        • MN is reeeeally short. So actually they could expand on the story and still have nearly the entire book on film.

          I’m with you, though, about SC. I want that one next.

      • Yes, and it’s the not the “US domestic numbers”. That term, though widely used, is incorrect. It’s the “North American domestic numbers”, and that’s why Canada and the US go together at the box-office.

        • But “North American” isn’t correct, either: Mexico is separate from the US and Canada.

          • I hadn’t thought of it like that, but NA is still more correct than just saying US gross. Mexico is separated. I’ve no idea why Canada and US go together but as they are, it’s unfair to just call is US.

  9. The numbers aren’t bad. They could have been better. Voyage is my favorite book in the series. As for the movies, I like the first two better. Voyage isn’t a bad movie, but it could have been better. It’s such a magical book. But I am glad for the box office numbers.

  10. I just want all the books to be made into a movie, I don’t care what order they make them in, or how well they do. As long as they all get made and are made well I really don’t care. although it will need to do good for them to continue the series, so I guess I do want them to do good. Also to show Disney that they made a mistake 😛

  11. Malaysia, Monaco and Colombia are included but not Canada in that list?
    We’re not exactly chopped liver up here above the United States… VDT in 2D & 3D played for weeks and weeks at our local theatre so I wouldn’t say there wasn’t Canuck support of it.

    • DITTO!!! i dragged almost my entire family to the theater to see VDT in 3d on opening night, and we don’t even get recognition for it??

    • Canada isn’t a large enough market to justify anyone breaking out separate numbers apart from the US totals. This list is based on each country’s performance. I didn’t pull it from thin air, nor did I ignore Canada on purpose.

      So, think a little and pause a lot before charging ahead with complaints.

  12. VDT had beaten ‘HP:Deathly hallows part 1’in India and come up on 1st in box office 🙂

  14. Good for VDT. It’s good to see some numbers. Personally, VDT wasn’t my favorite movie, but I’m very happy for the franchise.

    And yeah, with this in mind, MN really *should* be next. I’m excited to see it, and I really want to see how The Wood Between the Worlds plays out.

    I’m just curious about what people think about continuity; if Silver Chair is after MN, does that mean Will Poulter will be too old? Or since he’s older in SC anyway, maybe it’ll work out alright.

    But then that leaves me wondering about The Horse and His Boy (my personal favorite book)… after all, Eustace is an important character in The Last Battle, and his story will be interrupted again if HHB comes between SC and LB. I’m not worried about it by any means, just curious how it’ll play out and what people think.

    • I agree with you entirely. MN is definitely the smarter next step. My only worry I’d that this might confuse a lot of the people who go to see this movie and are too lazy to read the fantastic books. And also, they WILL have to expand the story, because it’s too short, but then we’ll have people complaining that they change he story a bit. It’s hard.

      • They’ll have to expand it, but IMO it’ll be easier to expand than the exceedingly-episodic VDT. MN is more of one consistent story instead of several closely related incidents.

        People will always complain no matter what Walden Media does. I’m no purist; even though I hope they get as close (or closer) as they did to the theme, message, characters, overall story, and feel that LWW did to the book, they will always have to change books a little to put them in movie form. They’re different mediums.

        And people who don’t read the books are just missing out on a lot of things… haha.

    • I am Brazilian and I am very happy that TVM did in my country!
      Pátria amada pra sempre!

  17. SC should be next!!! i think MN will have less appeal to audiences…it’s the most disconnected book of the series as far as people who don’t read the books. plus there’s the major point of will poulter…will he be too old?? i def. would rather see SC, but as a fan of narnia, all i really care about is that they keep making em!!!!!

  19. “Prince Caspian” suffered a bigger drop in the U.S. from “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” than “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” did with PC.

  23. I think that Voyage of the Dawn Treader ticket sales may have been hurt by being a 3D movie. I feel the extra cost in this economy was a bad thing. I saw it 3 times in 3D only because I love Narnia. If it was any other movie I wouldn’t have paid the extra money to see it in 3D. I would have done what I think alot of people do, Just wait for the DVD.

  24. According to Box Office Mojo.com “Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is no longer showing in Japan. Why would this be? It was something like the number six highest grossing movie of the weekend before it went away. That doesn’t make sense to me. Anybody know what’s going on?

  25. I loved Prince Caspian. I wish people would stop putting it down. It was an exciting and touching movie and I cry in several parts when I watch it. I really enjoyed VDT as well but frankly, if you haven’t read the books or seen the other movies I don’t think you would be able to follow it. But so far I love all of the movies and watch them as often as I can. I was disappointed that VDT only stayed in our local theaters for a short time. I would have probably seen it 6 more times (like I did Caspian) if it had. Maybe that’s why the box office tallies were low. In any case, I am looking forward to the Magician’s Nephew. I love that story.

  26. the reason VDT and PC did not do as well as LWW is due in large part because of the lack of promotion and marketing as well as merchandising!!!!!!! what is up with VDT being nowhere in merchandise????? it’s as if the producers decided it was not going to be big and did nothing to promote and merchandise it. absolutely disappointing in these respects because the movie was terrific. unbelievably short sighted work of the movie marketing and merchandising folks! pitiful.

  27. uhh im frm mauritius and i really like the magicians nephew…watevr happen hpe it will be released and mayB i will have the chance to watch it in 3D

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