The Future of Lost Continent

[ChrisFL]

I agree, but to be fair, Avatar made billions of dollars at the box office with its movies... its the reason why Disney wanted it at their parks, and still want to build more lands (cough Paris)
Wicked preformed great, Wicked for Good however won't even make what the first movie grossed, it's a couple hundred million behind the first movie... and that one didn't even reach a billion.

I bet Wicked gets more merch sales tho

 

[UPSguy]

I bet Wicked gets more merch sales tho

Oh 1000%!
I've been told Pandora- The World of Avatar moves such little merch, its one of the worst preforming areas in any WDW park

 

[HandsomePete]

I agree, but to be fair, Avatar made billions of dollars at the box office with its movies... its the reason why Disney wanted it at their parks, and still want to build more lands (cough Paris)
Wicked preformed great, Wicked for Good however won't even make what the first movie grossed, it's a couple hundred million behind the first movie... and that one didn't even reach a billion.

Box office figures need to be taken with some nuance:
1) WFG faced a lot better competition than the original - Zootopia 2, Avatar, and FNAF versus Moana 2, Sonic, and Mufasa.
2) Wicked does basically nothing in China where Avatar and Zootopia crush it.
3) This is probably lost on FL people, but the weather has been awful in the Northeast so far this winter. The two snowstorms where I live were on a Friday and Saturday evening… I struggle to drag myself to the grocery store, let alone the movie theater that’s only one metro stop away.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I see Wicked as sort of Universal's Avatar Land.

Whether or not the IP continues to be popular (or people remember), the land will become a major draw from a visual perspective.

It's been on Broadway and touring for 20 years, what are you talking about "will continue to be"?

*edit*

My dad put on the movie so we were discussing things and I realized I should probably share the Broadway World financials page for the Broadway show. Wicked is a popculture staple that's just been recently validated in the form of a movie. Successful movie musicals are VERY hard to do and have laregly been a bust since the 1960s.

WICKED Broadway Grosses

View all the grosses for WICKED on our complete WICKED box office report including tickets sold, revenue & more...

www.broadwayworld.com

 

[Henny]

Wicked is a quintessential musical with iconic characters and songs that have been in the American and global imagination for more than two decades. A fad it's not.

 

[BensExoticFlorida]

I'm a little late but I did some digging into the Notice of Commencement that some people incorrectly reported to be for Lost Continent. As others here figured, it does in fact appear to be support areas for the new RRR replacement coaster. But the provided property description confirms it's not Lost Continent as I discuss:

 

[yankeetrex]

Both Domestic and Internationally historically. I never was comparing Jurassic World Rebirth to Wicked domestically. Domestically Rebirth had a ton against it and still was the biggest movie of the summer(Stitch came out in the spring), i doubt it would have made 480 million domestically like wicked did. However If rebirth had premium large format screens for longer then a week, an IMAX run AT ALL, and a better received predecessor we'd possibly be looking at another billion dollar + movie in the franchise.

My statements have always been about comparing the two franchises overall historically and the future prospects of popularity in the parks for the future. I'm all for a WIzard of Oz land with walking characters from wicked, but a Shiz themed land with little to do with the original Wizard will feel too much like potter 2.0 and won't have universal appeal.

If I'm wrong I will gladly own up to it, but comparing the longevity of something like Jurassic World to Wicked is just really off to me.

Checking back in on this debate, its not looking great for wicked for good. Would they still want to commit an entire land to this?

 

[Brian G.]

Checking back in on this debate, its not looking great for wicked for good. Would they still want to commit an entire land to this?

I suggest reading the past 10-15 pages. It’s been discussed to death.

 

[Alicia]

Pretty sure the folks who I tend to believe are still saying Pokemon, so I am sticking with Pokemon.

It's probably just Pokemon, yall.

 

[Tobias]

I suggest reading the past 10-15 pages. It’s been discussed to death.

And in all honesty, the sheer fact that Universal has given the green light to work on attractions for Wicked makes a lot of the hemming and hawing rather pointless. Obviously, they wanna' make stuff for it, so whatever their personal requirements for being able to do so is being met. That's all that matters.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

It's been on Broadway and touring for 20 years, what are you talking about "will continue to be"?

Should have specified,I was referring to if the IP remains popular as a beyond broadway media franchise (TV, films, etc.).

I think the IP deserves a presence in the parks, such an easy fit.

 

[Acandrews12]

Pretty sure the folks who I tend to believe are still saying Pokemon, so I am sticking with Pokemon.

It's probably just Pokemon, yall.

If this is true, I would be excited. I would love Pokémon in the parks. I’ve always felt like Springfield was a better place for Pokémon, but I’ll take what I can get.

Edit to not double post:

I had never really given much thought to the male versus female IP argument until recently. My daughter is 3. Up until about a year ago, she was all about Disney and princesses. Her last two major IPs that she has been really into are Gabby‘s Dollhouse and Wicked. We are taking our first trip as a family to Universal only next weekend. She is so excited to meet Gabby and to do the Wicked experience. So I think a wicked theme area would do very well for that demographic. It does give universal a bit of a leg to stand on with girls in regards to IPs they want to see and meet and greets.

 

[cdogsumo]

I suggest reading the past 10-15 pages. It’s been discussed to death.

I was checking back in on this thread to see if it was still the “is Wicked a big enough hit to be a theme park land” thread lmao.

Thanks for keeping us in line, sheriff.

 

[illumination]

I have no clue what a One Piece is besides a swimsuit but (generally speaking now, this is not directed at you personally) it’s starting to get to a point where we’re gonna have to address the elephant in the room: this website is mostly used by people who are not in Wicked’s demographic, which is why some of y’all just don’t get it.

It’s totally fine to not be a fan of something, I get it, I’d guesstimate 70% of the IP’s Universal uses in its parks I couldn’t care less about, no hate generally just apathy, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not successful enough to earn a spot in some way/shape/form in the parks.

A very good point was made here; the huge Wicked fandom is not necessarily represented well on this forum. However there’s still plenty of support for wicked here which I am pleased to see. Anyone can rationally view the performance of the franchise and also the steps universal has already taken to move it into the theme parks and determine it’s inevitable at this point. They already did pop up tests in the US and Singapore.

It would be interesting to hear from someone connected to universal’s marketing department. I’m guessing most of their marketing budget goes towards acquiring families and females. They don’t need to do as much to keep the boys attending. Wicked will be printing money just like Harry Potter. It’s a universe people want to spend time in (and spend money on).

 

[JohnHammondsCane]

Feels like there is overlap potential here, like the NFL has been trying for a couple years: stop leaving half of the population (female audience) on the sidelines. Start directly marketing to them and getting them interested in theme park experiences/rides...

Not that rides are entirely male-coded, but I'd argue a lot of experiences are geared toward traditional male interests..? Happy to get pushback that I'm wrong, but feels like Wicked represents a huge opportunity for Universal to attract female park goers that may be drawn to WDW for the female leads/princesses