Will ‘The Pixelators: Level Two’ Be Another Break Out Sequel and Hit For Disney?

*Variety*

February was once considered a box office dead zone. Conventional wisdom mandated that studios release all their tentpoles during the summer or around the holidays to sell tickets. But commercial triumphs like 2015’s “Fifty Shades of Grey,” 2016’s “Deadpool” and 2018’s “Black Panther” helped buck that notion over the years and encouraged studios to take chances in months far removed from popcorn season and Christmas.

With “The Pixelators: Level Two,” a sequel to 2016’s “The Pixelators,” Disney/Fox (which is its last release before its name change to 20th Century Studios) will bank on audiences’ appetite for the heroes of Pixel City. "Birds of Prey” isn’t expected to debut to numbers like “Black Panther” ($202 million), “Deadpool” ($132 million) when it launches this weekend, but strong word of mouth could help it thrive over coming weeks and make it become the next break-out sequel after 2019's Paradoria 2.

“The Pixelators: Level Two” is on pace to earn $55 million to $70 million when it touches down in 4,300 theaters with the higher projections rivaling The Lego Movie's opening of $69 million to become the biggest animated opener of February. Disney/Fox is hedging expectations, projecting an opening closer to $50 million, due to opening against Warner Bros' superhero movie "Birds of Prey" and relying on legs for it to earn its money. The film cost $175 million to make, the usual amount that Fox Animation would use to produce a film and is higher than the original film's budget of $160 million but animated films usually have a longer life at box office than any other type of film so a lower opening weekend wouldn't be scary.

Four years after The Pixelators had defeated Lord Hex and his army, he ends up plotting revenge against the Pixelators, leading to a comical war that seemingly does not end until a time-traveling powerful supervillain named Dr. Silverclaw from an abandoned 80s video game that kidnaps Bryce's friends and plans to threaten to destroy Pixel City and the entire video game universe. To save the universe, Bryce and Lord Hex may have to make the impossible choice to forge an uneasy alliance against Dr. Silverclaw and embark on an new dangerous adventure.

After the undisputed financial successes of “Alaina Gleen: Imaginary Vacation” ($891 million), “Cool Spot” ($1.145 billion), and “Puppet Pals: Forever After” ($1.295 billion), Fox Animation has been on a critical and commercial upswing. However, the studio had its first box office flop after “Havoc on the Planet of the Apes” brought back $208 million last May against a $200 million budget. Excluding Havoc, Fox has been successful in the animation industry and will be even more successful under the ownership of Disney who promoted the film on all of it's channels as well.

“The Pixelators: Level Two” comes at a crucial time for the studio. Fox had an unwieldy 2019 at the box office as even their high profile films like "Havoc on the Planet of the Apes", "Dark Phoenix", and "Ad Astra" all flopped at box office due to their high budgets. However, this film will change that as it is being highly anticipated it and if the word-of-mouth holds, the film could even rival the opening of “Fifty Shades of Grey” ($85 million).