Surprisingly, Disney has very few new movies confirmed to release in 2024, which shows just how rough 2023 was for the company. In the last year, the House of Mouse has released 32 movies, including those from Fox, Pixar, Marvel, and more. This is pretty standard for the company, just as the eight major theatrical releases of 2023 are typical. However, what isn’t usual for Disney is that seven of these eight significant films underperformed at the box office. Now, Disney seems to be approaching 2024 with an abundance of caution, only confirming a few upcoming films, and this could be a good sign for the company’s future.
Disney has a well-earned reputation for its excellent movies, especially in the area of animation. Though the company has undoubtedly had some slow years in the past, recent years and decades have seen some of the most significant and most memorable projects of all time come from the House of Mouse. Marvel and Pixar could pretty much be counted on to consistently put out blockbusters, and with Disney+ allowing the company to dive into the streaming world, the road to continued success seemed unobscured. However, after a tough year in 2023, it looks as if Disney is slowing things down for 2024.
Disney’s Next 2 Years Of Movies Are A Bit Bleak
By looking at the next two years of scheduled releases for Walt Disney Pictures movies, the future of the production studio appears unpromising.
Disney Only Has 7 Movies Confirmed For 2024
As we approach the end of 2023, Disney has confirmed only seven movies for 2024—The First Omen, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Inside Out 2, Deadpool 3, Alien: Romulus, The Amateur, and Mufasa: The Lion King. These include films from all of Disney’s associated studios, including Marvel and Pixar, which makes the low quantity all the more surprising. Additionally, these are all sequels in some shape or form, which means Disney isn’t starting the year with any buzz surrounding brand-new projects.
Of course, these Disney movies won’t be the only ones released in the coming year—they are just the few titles with confirmed dates for 2024. Disney has nine other release dates staked out with no specified movies attached and a few more anticipated projects that could potentially be completed with enough time for a 2024 release. Still, the confirmed movies are far less than those Disney would typically start the year with.
Disney’s 2024 Release Slate Shows How Much The Company Has Struggled
Disney’s 2024 release slate reflects the company’s disappointing year in 2023. Though Marvel movies have been a shoo-in in past years, both Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and The Marvels underperformed at the box office, proving again that “superhero fatigue” is real. Then there were the company’s live-action remakes and sequels, including The Little Mermaid, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and Haunted Mansion. Each of these performed far lower than their predecessors and failed to break even for Disney. Finally, there was Pixar’s Elemental and Disney’s 100-year-celebratory project Wish, neither of which managed to turn things around.
Each of these major projects should have been huge for Disney, but it seems that audience interest has taken a significant turn in recent years, and the company can’t seem to figure out its new destination. It’s easy enough to say that the problem lies in sequels and reboots, but Elemental and Wish were both original stories, and neither did much better than the remakes that have commonly been deemed “unnecessary.” Ultimately, all that’s clear is that Disney needs to head back to the drawing board. Hopefully, the low number of confirmed releases for 2024 means that this is precisely what the company is doing.
Disney Having A Smaller Year In 2024 Could Be Good For Its Future
It’s certainly possible that the few confirmed 2024 movies mean that Disney is simply out of ideas, but a more optimistic possibility is that this is a sign that the studio is trying to regroup. It’s currently unclear precisely what audiences are looking for, and given Disney’s resources, there is a great opportunity here to take a step back and figure out what kind of project will resonate with the public. This could mean looking at what other companies have been up to—what’s working, what’s not, and why.
Going into 2024, Disney has given audiences a few solid projects to look forward to. 2019’s The Lion King was a smash hit, making the company $1.7 billion at the global box office. This makes the idea of Mufasa: The Lion King intriguing. Then there is Inside Out 2, whose trailer set a record on YouTube for the most views within 24 hours of dropping. Though there’s no guarantee, these movies have a high chance of turning things around for Disney. Then, as audiences enjoy these films, Disney can focus on its quality rather than cranking out quantity. Hopefully, this will be enough to set the company back on the right path.
