How is Disney Feeling About Pixar Today?

Disney's Ratatouille opened number one this weekend, but as CNNMoney.com points out, its haul of $47.2 million was the lowest opening for a Pixar movie in nine years. Opening weekend estimates for the movie had ranged from $50-$65 million. Pixar's Cars opened last year to $60.1 million, a number that was then regarded as a disappointment, and went on to make $244 million domestically. If Ratatouille follows the same pattern, it should make about $189 million (with much less from merchandising), meaning it would be the third consecutive Pixar movie to make less money than its predecessor. It would also be the lowest total since Pixar's 1998 A Bug's Life opened at $33.3 million and went on to earn $163 million, calling into question if Disney's acquisition of Pixar for $7.4 billion was actually a smart play. BoxOfficeMojo is a little more sanguine about Ratatouille's prospects, quoting Disney's president of distribution Chuck Viane as saying that "In my opinion, Ratatouille will be one of the top grossing movies of the year," but Jim Hill Media questions that assertion (not believing that the film can buck the trend of virtually every major studio release seeing ticket sales fall off by more than 55-65 % over its second weekend in release) and wonders if Pixar can actually revitalize the studio. In my opinion, you can't judge this kind of deal from the opening weekend of one movie (which was already in production before Disney acquired Pixar). Ratatouille has obviously been tough for them to market and sell. I doubt this will be the case moving forward with future pics Wall*E, Up and Toy Story 3.