Disney’s Historic Box Office Streak Ends

A staggering box office run will officially come to a close in 2023.

The atrocious second-weekend performance of Wish ensures that a Disney streak will end on New Year’s Eve.

Here’s why Disney’s box office Wish won’t come true.

Disney Misses a Milestone by $144 Million

Photo: Marvel

For the first time since 2013, no Disney film will earn one billion dollars at the box office.

The last year Disney failed to release a $1 billion hit was 2014, the year that started the Guardians of the Galaxy phenomenon.

While that film proved a jaw-dropping success, the film’s box office finished at $774 million.

Disney was thrilled with that result, but it represented a downturn after Frozen and Iron Man 3 had both crossed $1 billion in 2013.

Starting with Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, every year from 2015 to 2019 included a $1 billion blockbuster.

While Spider-Man: No Way Home was technically a Sony release, Disney could take credit for it in 2021 and then Avatar: The Way of Water in 2022.

Source: 20th Century Studios

So, ignoring the pandemic year of 2020 when movie theaters closed for much of the year, Disney films always reached this milestone…until now.

In 2023, the best Disney performer of the year is Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which has finished its theatrical run with a total of $846 million.

Disney has fallen $144 million short with this title, and nothing else is even close.

Photo: Disney

Depending on your perspective, Disney’s next-most successful title is either Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – which I wouldn’t count – or The Little Mermaid.

As usual, Sony distributed the hugely successful Spider-Man animated film, while The Little Mermaid claimed $568 million.

Photo: Disney/The Nerdy

Realistically, Disney only came close to $1 billion once, and it wasn’t even that close.

Meanwhile, films like Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Haunted Mansion, and Wish have failed at the box office.

Wish Is a Bomb

Image: Disney

Speaking of Wish, its second-weekend performance puts the UGH! In ugly.

According to Exhibitor Relations, Wish earned $7.4 million at the box office this past weekend, which was only good enough for fourth place.

After 12 days in theaters, the Disney animated film has grossed only $42 million domestically and $82 million worldwide.

Image: Disney

Wish has surpassed 2022’s animated release, Strange World, in terms of global box office…but not by much.

That film finished around $70 million, and Deadline calculated its financial loss at $147 million.

Wish will perform only marginally better, barring something unforeseen.

Image: Disney

So, this looks like another bomb for Disney, possibly one that loses $100+ million.

Iger recently stated that he felt Disney was making too many sequels and that his film division should emphasize quality over quantity.

Image: Disney

The problem with original intellectual properties is that they’re less reliable than sequels. Disney has struggled with both this year.

For this reason, the company must wait until Deadpool 3 next summer to start a new streak of billion-dollar blockbusters…at least, I hope it does.

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