A June comment from Patricia Heaton has proven to be an accurate summary of the mood of movie-goers who have been less than enthused with the new Pixar film “Lightyear.”
Disney made a big deal about reinserting a scene featuring a same-sex kiss in the film, which made headlines as 14 foreign nations banned it. And now, those who have other options for entertainment are taking advantage of them.
According to Forbes, the movie earned $6.57 million over the first part of the Fourth of July holiday weekend for what it called a “miserable $105.4 million 17-day total.”
“That’s less than Minions 2’s $108.5 million Fri-Sun opening weekend. The $200 million flick has earned $191 million worldwide for a likely under-$240 million global finish,” Forbes reported.
Heaton said the film made a mistake in not using Tim Allen to be the voice of Buzz Lightyear.
Saw the trailer for Buzz Lightyear and all I can say is Disney/Pixar made a HUGE mistake in not casting my pal @ofctimallen Tim Allen in the role that he originated, the role that he owns. Tim IS Buzz! Why would they completely castrate this iconic, beloved character?
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) June 14, 2022
“Saw the trailer for Buzz Lightyear and all I can say is Disney/Pixar made a HUGE mistake in not casting my pal @ofctimallen Tim Allen in the role that he originated, the role that he owns. Tim IS Buzz! Why would they completely castrate this iconic, beloved character?” she tweeted.
In an interview posted on Decider, Allen offered his comment on the movie, noting that “The short answer is I’ve stayed out of this ’cause it has nothing to do [with my Buzz].”
Is this just a movie that should not have been made?
“We talked about this many years ago, it came up in one of the sessions, I said, what a fun movie that would be. … the brass that did the first four movies is not this,” Allen said. “
“This is a whole new team that really have nothing to do with the first movies. I thought it was a live action, when they said they were doing a live action … you know, real humans, not an animated thing,” he said.
Allen noted that the new movie broke with tradition by not having Tom Hanks serve as the voice of Woody.
“And as Hanks and I — there’s really no Toy Story Buzz without Woody,” Allen said.
He called the new movie a “wonderful story.”
However, he said, “[i]t just doesn’t seem to have any connection to the toy, and it’s a little…I don’t know. It just has no relationship to Buzz. It’s just no connection. I wish there was a better connection to it.”
Allen’s absence was noted, one commentator wrote.
“[O]ne thing that fans of the franchise seemed to be missing was actor Tim Allen, who is deeply associated with the character of Buzz Lightyear,” Ryan Scott wrote on Slashfilm, adding that “absence of the voice that anchored four ‘Toy Story’ films was felt.”
As noted by the Hollywood Reporter, the film had a lower-than-expected turnout from families.
“[‘Lightyear’] is running into the limitations of the spin-off form,” David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research, said, according to Variety.
