Why Did Disney Release Strange World in Theaters?
With Disney’s Strange World now officially a flop, Disney’s decision to release the film in theaters has come under fire.
While established franchise films like Disenchanted and Hocus Pocus 2 have premiered on Disney + this year, Disney moved forward with their plan to release the relatively unknown Strange World in theaters.
While Disney’s newest animated film’s box office return is certainly a disappointment, it may have been the lesser of two evils for a company that is currently going through a major shakeup.
With a global opening of $28 million dollars, Strange World is now projected to lose nearly $150 million dollars. Despite this however, releasing the film in theaters may have still been the best option Disney had.


Photo: Disney
Disney has long had a history of releasing a major family film over Thanksgiving. In the past, films such as Frozen and Tangled have become worldwide successes for the company and helped Disney become synonymous with the holiday for many movie goers.
By releasing Strange World in theaters, Disney was able to keep that tradition alive. They also will continue to lay the groundwork for future films.
Likewise, Disney has often faced backlash from fans when films with theatrical release dates were moved to Disney +. Under previous CEO Bob Chapek, the studio’s live action remake of Mulan, and the Marvel blockbuster Black Widow, were moved to streaming. By keeping Strange World in theaters Disney may have skidded by another controversy.
Iger Returns
The balance between theatrical releases and streaming will be sure to shift now that Bob Iger has returned to the helm of the company.


Photo: CNBC
Since his return, Iger has promised to put more control in the hands of the Disney’s creative talent again. What this means exactly for Disney’s theatrical slate however, remains to be seen.
In the end, Disney will recover from Strange World’s failure. The massive success of Black Panther: Wakanda forever will sure soothe some of the pain caused by Strange Worlds flop.
We will continue to monitor all Disney theatrical releases, so be sure to check back with MickeyBlog soon!