4
Credit: DreamWorksDreamWorks is having a weird year.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish came out at the end of last year, receiving endless praise for its innovative animation style, pulling inspiration from Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). Shrek 5 was also announced, and fans thought the studio finally posed a major threat to Disney. the announcement of a live-action How to Train Your Dragon was met with mixed reviews, but it’s DreamWorks’ latest animated film that’s torn down the momentum they had built.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is set to release at the end of June, and tells the story of Ruby Gillman as she discovers her Kraken ancestry and fights for control over her powers. The film has been notedly quiet in its marketing, although fans were quick to point out the focus on Ruby’s rival, a mermaid who looks suspiciously similar to Disney’s own Ariel.
At this point in time, it seems as though its lack of marketing may hurt the film’s opening weekend. Matt Belloni, host of The Ringer, reported to Twitter that Ruby Gillman’s current expected opening box office numbers are around $8 million. If true, that would make it the second worst opening weekend of a DreamWorks picture, just behind Spirit Untamed (2021).
These numbers do shift quite a bit, as Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Little Mermaid, and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts were all predicted to be much lower than they ended up being. However, this is the lowest projected opening of 2023 so far, and the marketing has been decidedly absent. In response to the Tweet, the comments were flooded with people asking who or what Ruby Gillman is. As @MrTobyCook points out, “the business has changed so much that there is very little buzz for any non-superhero or non-sequel films.”
Ruby Gillman is facing a similar problem to Pixar’s Elemental, another animated film coming out this week, with the lack of marketing. While promo for The Flash and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3 seemed to be everywhere leading up to their respective releases, the original animated films seem to be swept under the rug. Elemental seems to be expecting better numbers than first projected, so it’s possible Ruby Gillman will too.
Have you noticed a lack of marketing around non-superhero films lately? Let Inside the Magic know what you think in the comments below!