"Ratatouille" seen as test of Disney-Pixar deal

By Gina Keating

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Walt Disney Co.'s animated movie "Ratatouille" opens on Friday against strong competition from better-known franchise films, drawing early industry skepticism that it can match its predecessors' success and posing a challenge for Disney.

Yet, as the film has debuted and positive reviews have poured in, the sentiment has seemed to be growing that "Ratatouille," about a cuisine-loving rat who risks his life to indulge in French cooking, could prove another box office hit.

Disney is still proving to investors that last year's acquisition of Pixar Animation is worth its $7.4 billion price tag, and "Ratatouille" is the first Pixar film to be released that was still in production when the Disney-Pixar deal was sealed.

Pixar's seven previous films all opened at No. 1 at U.S. and Canadian box offices, but "Ratatouille" faces stiff rivalry for that headline-grabbing spot from Bruce Willis action film "Live Free or Die Hard" and second-weekend audiences of family film "Evan Almighty."

"They are in a super-competitive time frame," said Paul Degarabedian, president of box office tracker Media By Numbers.

The most recent four Pixar movies have generated huge opening-weekend ticket sales, ranging from $70.5 million for "The Incredibles" in 2004 to $60.1 for "Cars" last year, according to Media By Numbers. Predictions for the three-day debut of "Ratatouille" vary widely from $50 million to $65 million.

But industry and Wall Street analysts said the film could perform well in the long run if it could appeal to families and stay in theaters longer, giving it "legs" at the box office.

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