Disney is experiencing an unprecedented crisis. The entertainment giant is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, but it has little reason to celebrate. Its last four movie releases were failures and caused the company to lose almost $1 billion.
The reason behind the crisis may lie in Walt Disney Studios' decision to apply woke culture in its latest films. It is no secret that the decision to change Ariel's race in the live-action "The Little Mermaid" did not sit well with many viewers.
Nor that "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" was released and only a month before one of its main characters, Jonathan Majors, ended up arrested, putting Marvel's phases five and six in peril. In last installment of the Harrison Ford archaeological action saga, "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," the movie did not have a good run in theaters either. The same is happening to the feature film based on one of Disneyland's most popular attractions, "The Haunted Mansion," which is struggling at the box office, as well as "Elemental," Pixar's latest project.
Marvel's decline begins
The movie starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lily, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," was the first to feel the effects of the crisis. With a pre-production and shooting cost estimated by Forbes at $193.2 million, the feature film was a box office flop.
To this budget must be added the almost $100 million that, according to Variety, Marvel spent on promoting the film. The figure is somewhat lower than what the film grossed in theaters. According to Box Office Mojo, the third installment of "Ant-Man" grossed just over $476 million, a far cry from the more than $600 million that the film needed to make to earn a profit.
"Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3" had better luck. The latest film about the intergalactic outlaws led by Chris Pratt is the only success that Disney can boast of and, even so, it did not manage to obtain $1 billion during its theatrical run. According to Box Office Mojo, it remained at around $845 million. According to Screenrant, the film cost a total of around $250 million. Another $100 million was added to the budget for promotion, but its box-office run doubled the investment made by Disney, showing that there was still hope for the company’s superhero flicks.
Live-action not as profitable for Disney as in the past
Woke culture also affected Walt Disney Studios classics. Since 2010, the company has decided to remake several of its animated hits and, although they were initially successful, they are no longer as profitable as before. The latest remake, "The Little Mermaid," only managed to gross $566 million at the box office.
Criticism of casting Halle Bailey, a black Ariel, as well as other decisions that audiences did not support, led to the film's poor box office performance. Collider estimated the budget to make the film at around $250 million and another $140 million to promote it worldwide. Thus, the new version of the underwater classic managed to be profitable, earning $6 million more than the $560 million it needed to break even, but its gross fell far short of the estimates that the company had originally predicted.
However, box office results have not prevented Walt Disney Studios from continuing to make live-action versions of animated classics. The company recently announced that it will make a new version of "Tangled," while "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" was canceled. That, Disney expert film critic Josh Spiegel tells Variety, demonstrates the company’s lack of creativity:
Disney desperately needs to create something new. It does a good job at cannibalizing itself. They remake their movies and echo what they’ve done in the past. At a certain point, there won’t be a whole lot for them to echo.
Neither Indiana Jones nor Pixar can save Disney
This sentiment was also expressed by audiences who failed to come to theaters to support the fifth installment of "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny." With a budget of $294 million (not including promotional expenses estimated at between $100 million and $200 million), the film has currently grossed just over $368 million.
Pixar's latest film, "Elemental," was also unlucky. With one of the highest budgets for an animated feature (around $200 million, including the cost of promotion), the film only earned $424 million at the worldwide box office, although some theaters are still screening the movie.
Among the reasons that could explain its failure could be the fact that it is the company's first film to feature a non-binary character. Many viewers did not look favorably upon this, as it is a film aimed at all audiences.
"The Haunted Mansion," the film based on the popular Disneyland attraction, is faring even worse at the box office. With a budget that Collider puts at $150 million, the feature film only managed to gross $60 million in the near three weeks it has been in theaters, making it the company's worst opening so far this year and proving, once again, that Disney’s latest decisions are affecting not only its reputation, but also its finances.
