Disney’s dark fantasy film, “Maleficent,” starring Angelina Jolie as the title villainess, may be too dark and scary to be profitable, one Wall Street analyst wrote in a report on Monday.The $130-million-budget movie, which tells the “Sleeping Beauty” tale from the perspective of the evil Maleficent, is set to debut May 30 and will likely result in Disney being forced into a write-down, Wells Fargo’s Marci Ryvicker wrote in a report.“[E]xpectations for a ‘Maleficent’ write-off seem relatively widespread,” she wrote.With more than eight weeks to go before “Maleficent” unspools, few on Wall Street are ready to take such a bold stance.“It’s definitely in the ‘not a sure thing’ bucket,” a second analyst said of the re-imagined fairy tale. RBC Capital’s David Bank is penciling in a total US haul of $150 million.The movie appears to be pitched at young adults rather than at the more traditional audience for a Disney princess movie: small children.
Jolie appears in the movie with enhanced sharp high cheekbones and headgear with horns. The actress struck a deal with fashion designer Stella McCartney to create a capsule collection for children aged 4 to 14 based on the movie.It’s hard to deny strong interest in the movie — or perhaps simply Jolie.An official trailer posted March 18 has gained 4 million views on YouTube. A January trailer garnered 13 million views.“Maleficent” has 1.8 million Facebook fans, more than any other non-franchise film with a 2014 release date, according to Jason Klein, co-CEO and founder of Listen First Media.Whether that translates into a big box-office number is anyone’s guess.A write-down, while very much an open question, could slow the momentum of Disney, whose “Frozen” last week became the highest-grossing animated movie of all time.
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