Another Disney Film Bombs At The Box Office

Disney is in some serious trouble.

The entertainment giant's issues started several years ago, as a surge of subscribers to Disney+ started slowing down. That culminated in a massive decline earlier in 2023, with the streaming service hemorrhaging viewers.

A very public battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the state's efforts to protect kids from inappropriate content in schools helped turn public opinion against what used to be the nation's primary family entertainment company. Suddenly, the film studio that seemed invincible started to show significant cracks in the armor.

Lightyear bombed spectacularly after incorporating political messages into its story. Strange World, another politicized Disney animated project, was an even worse box office disaster. The Little Mermaid lost money, Elemental was a historic flop. Haunted Mansion needed to make at least $300 million to break even. It made $117 million.

Theme park demand dropped. And now even Marvel studios has fallen prey to the Disney malaise, with The Marvels setting a new record as the studio's lowest opening weekend gross.

READ: ‘THE MARVELS’ MAY BE DISNEY’S BIGGEST BOX OFFICE FLOP YET

It then fell nearly 80% in its second weekend, setting up for another massive loss well into the hundreds of millions of dollars.

But that was last week. This week brought another new flop for Disney and CEO Bob Iger. Wish.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - The Walt Disney Company Chairman and CEO Bob Iger speaks onstage during "From 7 Dwarves to 140 Characters" at the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on October 9, 2014 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)

Disney Can't Get Out Of Its Own Way

Disney hoped that Wish, centered around an "Afro-Hispanic girl," would find a broader audience despite its lack of connected IP.

Pre-release tracking suggested, according to The Hollywood Reporter, that it would gross $45-50 million over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Instead, current estimates place the weekend total at around $32 million. Oof.

Disney spent roughly $200 million to make Wish, meaning that with the cost of marketing, it'd need to gross at least $400 million to break even. And it opened with $32 million.

The hits just keep on coming.

And the question becomes, how much longer can Disney continue losing money like this before making substantial changes? Returning CEO Bob Iger has already pledged to cut $7 billion in costs, but with The Marvels and Wish proving to be disastrous bombs, how much more in savings will he need to find? And where?

Priorities Need To Change

It's undeniable that the company's political stance and activism have played a role in their disastrous financial results recently. For decades, Disney had the benefit of the doubt from families and parents, knowing that they could expect quality entertainment that didn't have objectionable content.

That's no longer the case.

And once you lose the trust of consumers, it's nearly impossible to get it back.

There are other explanations, namely that Disney conditioned parents to wait a few weeks for movies to hit Disney+ instead of paying exorbitant movie theater prices. When there's no compelling reason to go to the theater, many potential viewers will stay home.

But Disney has to fix their mistakes, and fast. Refocus on producing the best family entertainment that doesn't preach left wing political priorities to children. Remove the obvious progressive agendas permeating through every facet of its business. Earn back the benefit of the doubt from consumers and parents in particular.

Admit mistakes and apologize for fighting against common sense legislation designed to protect kids.

It's not hard. Or at least, it shouldn't be. But everything's hard for Disney these days. And the disastrous release of Wish isn't going to make things any easier.