The magic of the Disney kingdom seems to be losing steam. It is the first time in nearly a decade that the company headed by Bob Iger has relinquished its place at the top of the global box office, surpassed by Universal in 2023 and affected by the poor performance of some of the titles it relied on most to maintain its grossing streak.
Among the major disappointments were titles like Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which barely grossed $383 million globally despite a $300 million budget; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, fell significantly short of targets at $476 million worldwide; and The Marvels, earning only $205 million compared to the more than $300 million it cost to make and promote.
Nor did the highly-anticipated remake of The Little Mermaid perform as expected. While it secured the seventh spot in the highest-grossing of 2023 list with $569 million, it remained far behind similar projects like The Lion King ($1.6 billion), Beauty and the Beast ($1.3 billion), and Aladdin ($1.05 billion).
Surprisingly, the big hits of the year did not come from Disney's vast empire. Warner Bros.' Barbie emerged as the year's blockbuster in the United States, amassing $636 million in revenue, surpassing the traditional dominance of superhero movies. It shared the podium with The Super Mario Bros Movie (Universal) and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Columbia). No Disney titles took the top spots on the podium for the first time in years.
The House of Mouse attributes this to a reduced number of releases — 17 compared to Universal's 34, including films like Oppenheimer and M3GAN—, which they claim explains the 80 million difference between the two studios. Universal ended 2023 close to the $5 billion mark.
But the truth is that Disney's centenary year has not gone as planned. Besides the string of box office letdowns, including the dismal performance of Elemental, marking the second-worst Pixar debut in history, the corporate landscape hasn't been ideal. Bob Chapek's dismissal in 2022 led to Bob Iger's almost forced return to the helm of the studio, which coincided with 7,000 job cuts as part of a cost-cutting plan. There was a slowdown in theme park performance, and Hollywood faced a six-month strike by writers and actors, halting thousands of productions.
Additionally, Disney+'s continual losses haven't helped. The last quarter of the year closed with $387 million in the red, down sharply from $1.4 billion in the same period last year. Iger opted to raise the monthly subscription price from $8.99 to $11.99, along with content removal to reduce costs — a less popular decision that might result in a substantial loss of subscribers.
The prodigal son's return has been far from smooth. Apart from a strained relationship with Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor where Disney operates several theme parks, Iger has had to grapple with attempts by one of the company's major shareholders, Nelson Pletz, who believes a change in direction is needed to revive the company's stock price.
Disney can still boast four titles among the top 10 box office hits in 2023. However, the pressure to reclaim the crown it solidly held for the last decade, driven by its infinite catalog of superheroes, galactic universes, and family-friendly films, is palpable.