Despite being considered an entertainment powerhouse, Disney has fallen short of replicating the success of its earlier years, resulting in the conclusion of its remarkable box office streak that started in 2014. In a year with massive cinematic hits like Barbie, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and Oppenheimer, it is surprising that Disney has had no projects that have joined this lineup. Given that this has been the Disney’s 100-year anniversary celebration, it would be expected that it would deliver huge wins for them. Contrary to anticipated triumphs for the media giant, this celebratory year has turned out to be one of Disney’s most challenging and disappointing ones to date.
While all studios have their missteps, this decline in performance for Disney is raising questions about the company’s ability to adapt to evolving audience preferences. The content that it has been pushing out is clearly not resonating with moviegoers, and their historical dominance in the entertainment industry is being threatened, which is reflected in the fact that their impressive streak has been broken. The entertainment industry is an ever-changing landscape and, although Disney has a loyal fan base and massive brand recognition, the studio will need to develop and execute a fresh and compelling vision that allows them to, once again, secure their place as masters at storytelling.
2023 Is Disney’s First Without A $1 Billion Movie Since 2014 (Excluding The Pandemic)
Disney has not seen nearly as much box office success as prior years.
Disney has proven itself time and time again as being able to expertly craft stories that attract and captivate audiences. This year, however, served as an exception and led to the conclusion of its years-long streak. Year after year, since 2014, Disney has been able to put out films that have brought in $1 billion at the box office. The only time the studio didn’t reach this high bar it set for itself was during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was due to theaters being shut down globally. This was an incredibly impressive feat and showcased how well the studio was able to predict consumer preferences and deliver on them.
In 2019, for example, Disney produced 7 $1 billion hits, including Avengers: Endgame, the live-action Aladdin and The Lion King, Frozen 2, Captain America, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Toy Story 4. In 2022, Avatar: The Way of Water was able to secure a huge $2.3 billion. It would be understandable if this streak ended because Disney just had a slow year in releasing content. However, this was not the case, as the company released a total of 19 movies theatrically in 2023. From cartoons to superhero stories to live-action re-tellings of classic Disney tales, nothing was enough to secure a big win.
The Little Mermaid was expected to be a huge box office pull, considering the story’s built-in audience and the opportunity to witness Halle Bailey’s talents in action. Despite the anticipation surrounding the film, though, it ended up only generating $569.6 billion. Compared to the success of other Disney live-action projects, like The Lion King which hit $1.66 billion, this was a big loss. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny only brought in $384 million and Haunted Mansion did even worse, only grossing $117 million. Pixar’s movies typically do extremely well for Disney, but the animated feature, Elemental, was only able to pull in $495 million.
Marvel is also usually a huge win in terms of bringing audiences into theaters, but even it did not see huge success. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania generated only $476 million and had primarily negative reviews. On top of that, The Marvels has taken in just under $275 million as of late November and had the lowest-grossing open weekend in Marvel Cinematic Universe history. Their latest project, Wish, only brought in roughly $32 million domestically on its opening weekend, making it yet another box office flop.
The only film that saw real success this year was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. It was able to conclude its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of $845 million. While impressive, this figure was not enough to keep Disney’s streak and did not live up to the performance of the previous movies in the trilogy.
Disney Is Not The Only Studio Suffering At The Box Office In 2023
This year has been disappointing in terms of box office revenue for most studios.
The Flash, Fast X, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One were all films that faced the same fate as Disney’s projects. They were all expected to be big hits but struggled to make a sizable profit. It was initially speculated that 2023 would be the year of the post-pandemic return, with numbers returning to what is considered more typical.
However, this simply was not the case. The writers’ and actors’ strikes pushed back big releases, like Dune: Part Two and White Bird, which also hurt the studios’ bottom lines in 2023. The continued implications of streaming can also be considered a factor in every studio’s suffering, as viewers choose to hold off on seeing projects until they release them for their home viewing.
Where Did Disney Go Wrong?
Disney is struggling to reach high expectations.
Speaking to Variety, the chief analyst at Boxoffice Pro, Shawn Robbins, provided a possible explanation for this series of disappointments. He hypothesizes that Disney ended up setting an impossibly high bar for itself during the 2010s, as they utilized every tool in their arsenal to achieve success. The drawback of this lies in the expectation of consistent achievement. Disney now finds itself in a precarious position, as the sources of success begin to diminish. Disney films also have huge budgets, with production costs going up to $200 million. This means that there is a much higher threshold for Disney to mark something as a “success”.
Analysts also cited over-reliance on Disney+, which creates a need for a massive draw in order for viewers to see the value of watching movies on the big screen. Disney can also be known to rely on their popular franchises to create buzz but then audiences are left with the desire for fresh stories and characters. When they did deliver this, they did a poor job of marketing like in the case of Elemental.
Will 2024 Be Better Disney’s Box Office?
Next year boasts a strong lineup.
Although a tough year for Disney, it is far from time to write the studio off. Next year, 2024, is shaping up to redeem Disney, as a number of big-ticket films are slated. There will be a sequel to Inside Out, for example, and the original film grossed $858 million, indicating that there is a huge audience. Mufasa will also be released in 2024 and is following the smashing success of its predecessor, the live-action The Lion King, which grossed $1.66 billion. Disney also has a number of exciting projects coming out of 20th Century Studios, including the X-Men spinoff, Dark Phoenix and Deadpool 3.
While the aforementioned films will most likely bring in large numbers, it will be interesting to see how Disney’s other upcoming movie releases perform. Original projects like Elio and the remake of another princess film, Snow White, will likely set the tone for the future of the studio. Regardless of what’s to come, it will be fascinating to witness whether Disney will find a way to recapture the magic for viewers and re-start their awe-inspiring streak.
