2023 should have been a festive year for Disney, as the studio celebrates its centenary this year. But the studio has little reason to celebrate, almost every film Disney released this year was a flop.
In 2023, no Disney film grossed more than $1 billion. In 2019, 7 more films reached this milestone. In fact, since 2014, the studio has had at least 1 billion-grossing film every year (not counting the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021).
Big-budget flop
For Disney, 2023 is the year of the big-budget flop, films in which Disney invested hundreds of millions, but failed to make a profit. Marvel films, Pixar films, a new Indiana Jones and a live-action remake of an animated classic all disappointed at the box office.
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny ($384 million), Haunted Mansion ($182 million) and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania ($467) all posted losses. The Little Mermaid grossed a tidy $569 million, but with a budget of more than $250 million, that wasn’t enough to make a profit. The remake of The Lion King grossed $1.6 billion in 2019.
Marvel
Marvel is also in trouble. While a few years ago almost every Marvel film made a billionaire, the studio is now losing more and more money. With the latest film, The Marvels, the studio has suffered its first real flop. With a budget of $270 million dollars, the film has grossed less than $200 million.
The latest Disney animated film, Wish, is also having difficulty getting off the ground. The new animated musical grossed just under $48.9 million worldwide in its opening weekend.
What is going on?
We can only speculate about the reasons why Disney films are doing so poorly. The popularity of streaming, the questionable quality of recent films, fans tired of superhero movies, and the Hollywood strikes are some of the reasons that have undoubtedly contributed to Disney’s bad year.
Yet Disney has still achieved a few successes. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 raked in $845 million this summer. Despite a disappointing opening, the Pixar film Elemental still managed to raise a tidy $495 million.
2023-11-29 16:17:59
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