Why You Don't See Motion Capture Animated Films Anymore

I'm pretty sure you guys have all heard of The Polar Express, right? That Christmas film classic that will be remembered for many years to come. I'm pretty sure you've also heard of the 2009 remake of A Christmas Carol, too, and maybe The Adventures of Tintin? Ever since Sinbad: Beyond the Veil of the Mists was released in 2000, there have been a good few motion capture animated films, but they haven't been produced for a long time in North America. And what's the reason?

The sole reason is the gross of the film. The first theatrically released motion capture animated film was Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within in 2001, which flopped miserably, grossing $85 million against a budget of $137 million. The film ended up losing over $100 million and took Square Pictures down with it in the process. But, no, we were not done with that technology at ALL. Robert Zemeckis' The Polar Express was released in 2004, and although it most likely flopped during its original theatrical run, grossing only $286 million worldwide against a record-breaking budget of $165 million, it eventually grossed an additional $28 million with re-releases and a staggering $134 million in combined DVD and Blu-ray sales, assuring that it later turned a profit.

We got two theatrical motion capture films in 2006, Monster House and Renaissance. The latter was an abysmal bomb, grossing $1 million against a meager budget of $18 million. Monster House fared better slightly, grossing $142 million against a budget of $75 million, but was still a flop during its box office run. However, $80 million in video sales means that it eventually turned a profit. In 2007, Beowulf, another Zemeckis-directed film, was released to positive reviews but box office failure, grossing $196 million against a budget of $150 million, losing at least $50 million, and not even $36 million in video sales can help the film break even.

In 2009, Disney's A Christmas Carol was released, and without even looking at the budget, $325 million sounds like a box office smash to me. But then you see that it cost $200 million, and it actually lost $50-100 million, which not even $68 million in video sales can save. This and The Polar Express are actually very well received by audiences, and they continue to be remembered year after year.

2011 was an interesting year for motion capture. On one hand, Disney released one of the biggest box office bombs of all time, Mars Needs Moms, which grossed an embarrassing $39 million against a budget of $150 million and lost $100 million. A scrapped motion capture remake of the 1968 Beatles classic Yellow Submarine also lost $96 million for Disney, so its safe to say that closing down ImageMovers Digital was the right move. On the other hand, however, we got The Adventures of Tintin, a collaboration between legendary filmmakers Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson that received highly positive reviews and, despite performing poorly in North America, grossed $374 million worldwide against a budget of $135 million, making it the first box office success for motion capture in a long time, but it could be the first hit overall considering box office numbers and not counting video sales, where it grossed a respectable $30 million. However, Disney was done with this kind of technology and a sequel to Tintin has stalled in development hell.

In 2013, a new motion capture adaptation of Tarzan was released. The budget was a low $25 million and flopped anyway, grossing $44 million, although official losses have not been reported. It doesn't help that the film received largely negative reviews from critics, who mainly criticized the animation. In 2014, India dabbled their hands in motion capture and took them out soaked in failure. Kochadaiiyaan's critical reviews were mixed, and the film was a massive bomb, grossing only $5 million against a minuscule budget of $17 million.

2016 had two motion capture releases. One was Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV, which only grossed $6 million and received abysmal reviews. L.O.R.D.: Legend of Ravaging Dynasties received negative reviews as well but grossed $58 million, enough to spawn a sequel, although it was released as a streaming exclusive.

All in all, motion capture animation had a few wins, but it suffered loss after loss, and its probably good to leave this technology buried in the ground at the cinematic graveyard.