For the first time in a decade, Disney has failed to hit that magic billion-dollar number at the box office.
Disney failed to have a movie reach a billion dollars in 2023 which is the first time since 2014 (not counting the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021).
Both Marvel and Pixar failed to deliver, Star Wars didn’t show up, and the Disney movies also failed to move the needle.
Marvel dry for two years
Marvel has failed to deliver that billion dollars for two years in a row.
While the MCU is normally a big cash cow, Marvel has misfired and suffered massive casualties with the 2023 releases of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantimania and the even worse-performing sequel to the billion-dollar Captain Marvel movie, The Marvels, which lost Disney likely north of $200 million.
In 2022, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness also missed that magical billion-dollar number which was thought an easy thing to do following the billion-dollar success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, but DS2 turned out to be a disappointment and failed to reach a billion.
Star Wars MIA
Star Wars is even worse, as Star Wars is not even on the table.
A new Star Wars movie hasn’t been released since 2019, and no new Star Wars movie has been in active development going on six years, since Rise of Skywalker started filming in 2018.
Pixar’s light not shining so bright
How about Pixar? Disney’s animated studio hasn’t seen success since the release of Toy Story 4 in 2019 which made a billion dollars. Onward and Lightyear, all big bombs.
Elemental was the only Pixar flick released by Disney in 2023. It started off slow but at least had decent legs, but nowhere near Toy Story numbers, coming in under half a billion.
Disney films flop big-time
What about the Disney movies in 2023? Massive flops.
The Little Mermaid was released in 2023 and brought in $569 million. That’s not bad, right? Nope. Flop. It’s reported The Little Mermaid needed to bring in $625 million to break even.
Likewise, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at a budget of $400 million didn’t even make its budget back. The film bombed hard and lost Disney money bringing in only $384 million worldwide.
Haunted Mansion? Flop. Haunted Mansion’s budget was $150 million plus marketing and the flick only brought in $117 million.
Wish is another massive flop bombing big time over Thanksgiving. The flick cost well over $200 million but only brought in $127 million.
What about 2024?
Marvel: It looks as if Deadpool 3 will be the only Disney movie to possibly hit that billion-dollar number at the box office, so if Deadpool 3 doesn’t meet expectations, Disney could fail to hit a billion for three years in a row. No other Marvel movies are getting released in 2024 as they all have been pushed back to 2025 and beyond.
Again, no Star Wars movie will be released in 2025.
Pixar? Inside Out 2 gets released next year; however, it has nearly been a decade since the first one, which didn’t hit a billion.
Disney films? Maybe one could hit a billion, but there isn’t much to offer.
Releases include The First Omen (hopefully, they learned their lesson from Exorcist: The Beginning) and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (sounds like a Marvel approach to the Apes franchise) from Fox Studios, but no way will they hit a billion. The one that could possibly do it is Mufasa: The Lion King, the prequel to The Lion King in 2019 which made massive money; however, it doesn’t have Jon Favreau, Donald Glover, or Chiwetel Ejiofor. Will audiences show up?
