As 2023 nears its conclusion, it’s becoming clear that Walt Disney Studios, a titan in the film industry, is experiencing a notable shift in its box office performance. For the first time since 2014, Disney is set to end the year without a single film reaching the once routine benchmark of $1 billion in global ticket sales.
This year marks a stark contrast to the company’s staggering success in 2019, when seven of its releases crossed the billion-dollar threshold. The highest-grossing Disney movie of 2023, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” amassed over $845 million worldwide. Despite this impressive figure, the film fell short of the coveted billion-dollar mark and did not surpass its predecessor’s earnings, contrary to some analysts’ predictions.
Shawn Robbins, an analyst at Boxoffice Pro, commented on Disney’s situation, noting, “Disney set an impossibly high bar for itself during the 2010s, firing every cannon in its arsenal.” He added that the level of success Disney achieved in the past decade had become a tough act to follow, with expectations sky-high for each subsequent release.
Disney’s 2023 lineup, which included titles like “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” “The Haunted Mansion,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “Elemental,” and “The Little Mermaid,” witnessed considerable earnings but did not match the blockbuster successes of previous years.
Notably, “The Marvels,” released in November, had the slowest start in MCU history. Even Disney’s latest animated offering, “Wish,” opened to modest numbers over the Thanksgiving weekend.
To provide further context, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” a 2022 release, continued to draw substantial revenue into 2023, outperforming several of Disney’s 2023 releases in the U.S. market.
Despite the dip in box office numbers, Disney’s outlook for 2024 appears promising. The studio’s upcoming releases include anticipated titles such as “Inside Out 2,” “Mufasa,” “Deadpool 3,” and “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.” These films represent a mix of sequels, new chapters in beloved franchises, and fresh narratives, potentially setting the stage for a return to Disney’s former box office glory.