Disney celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2023, yet the occasion has turned out to be a disappointment given the studio’s poor box office showing throughout the year. Disney is one of the biggest, most recognizable, and most successful companies in the world, and, over the course of its 100-year run, its film studio has produced hundreds of movies, many of them classics. With 2023 marking such a big anniversary, Disney went all in to prove its worth, and, unfortunately, it didn’t pay off.
Since its beginning in 1923, Disney has released animated and live-action movies through various divisions and production labels. With the studio now including such blockbuster brands as Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars, among others, Disney has continued to rank as one of the top-grossing companies in the world in recent years. This is why, on top of the ill-timed circumstance of this also being Disney’s centennial celebration, its 2023 struggle to keep up with its success from previous years is especially disappointing.
2023 Has Been A Disappointing Year For Disney In The Box Office
Its Movies Didn’t Perform As Expected
Disney had a lot of surprises for Disney100, including the short film Once Upon a Studio, which gathered many of its iconic characters for a group picture. The studio also filled its 2023 slate with probable blockbusters, which failed to perform well at the box office. In fact, Disney turned out to be the big loser of the 2023 summer movie season. First, the live-action version of The Little Mermaid disappointed with a $570 million worldwide gross — low compared to similar remakes. The following month, the highly-anticipated action-adventure sequel Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny bombed with $384 million, while July’s Haunted Mansion only grossed $117 million.
Also, in the summer, the animated feature Elemental underperformed in theaters with a $495 million gross, further tarnishing the legacy of Pixar, which used to be relatively consistent with its output of enormously popular hits. Walt Disney Animation Studios hasn’t fared much better, either, even during the U.S. holidays, as Wish is already a box office flop with its opening weekend bringing in only roughly $32 million domestically over Thanksgiving.
One of Disney’s most successful subsidiaries, Marvel Studios, also had an underwhelming year. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, the third film in the Ant-Man series, grossed only $476 million and received mostly negative reviews. Even worse, the studio’s latest superhero movie, The Marvels, debuted in the U.S. with only $46 million, scoring the lowest opening weekend for the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever. The film has since been deemed a flop for the franchise.
The only real box office success for Disney among its 2023 titles was another MCU title: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which concluded its theatrical run with a worldwide gross of $845 million. Even so, it was expected to reach an amount closer to the $1 billion threshold or at least outperform the previous movie in its trilogy, which grossed $863 million. For Disney to have only one successful film in 2023 is a disappointment.
What’s Gone Wrong For Disney In 2023?
There Are Multiple Factors Involved
Disney recently revealed a staggering $965 million loss due to its major theatrical and streaming disappointments. Disney has always been a giant in the industry, owning the MCU, Pixar, Star Wars, Avatar, and many other popular brands and franchises, which would guarantee its success. This formula failed in 2023, and there have been a number of factors involved as to why Disney struggled to keep its momentum going this year. One issue was the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, which caused delays in production and scheduling and limited marketing and promotion.
Another problem for Disney’s 2023 slate was its over-inflated budgets, making it hard for a movie to break even, let alone earn a profit. Most of the studio’s theatrical releases needed to get close to the $1 billion mark to be successful. Also, despite these huge budgets, the quality of the movies isn’t on the level of what Disney has delivered before. Most of the films received mixed or negative reviews, causing audiences to skip them. The only exception with mostly positive reviews was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which was also a commercial success as a result.
2023 Disney Movies (In Order Of Release) | Worldwide Box Office Gross |
|---|---|
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania | $476.1 million |
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 | $845.6 million |
The Little Mermaid | $569.6 million |
Elemental | $494.7 million |
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny | $384 million |
Haunted Mansion | $117.4 million |
The Marvels | $188.8 million (so far) |
Wish | $48.9 million (so far) |
There is also a culture change at hand, and Disney doesn’t seem to have accounted for that. The market doesn’t seem to be that interested in remakes or overdone IPs like Indiana Jones and Haunted Mansion anymore. Plus, there seems to be an over-dependence on popular brands and a focus on an oversaturated market when it comes to superhero films. While Avengers: Endgame was a can’t-miss success, the MCU’s latest installment, The Marvels, is just the superhero film of the month. There was also the studio’s pandemic-era-induced reliance on Disney+, which has resulted in viewers growing accustomed to skipping the theaters and watching everything from the comfort of their homes.
Can Disney Get Back On Its Feet In 2024?
Disney Has A Lot Of New Titles Up Its Sleeve
Disney’s 2024 film slate is not as full as it could be due to the Hollywood strikes, but a smaller supply of movies could actually be better for the studio to get back on its feet. Regardless of prior disappointments, the audience is always curious about what’s coming next from Pixar, which animated classic is due for a live-action remake, and what sequels are on the way. The upcoming year’s releases have the opportunity to turn things around with a number of 2024 blockbusters being very probable hits, including the sequels Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, Alien: Romulus, and Deadpool 3 and the prequel Mufasa: The Lion King.
Disney will also continue to focus on its animated films, and the studio is making sequels its top priority in that arena as well. In 2024, the studio will premiere Pixar’s Inside Out 2, which has the potential to become a success for Disney and help it reverse its fortunes after a bleak 2023, given that the first Inside Out grossed close to $1 billion worldwide.
