Disney's Four Flops in 2023

Disney may be losing their magic. They have revealed that they spent $965 million on four of their most high-profile streaming and film flops this year. 

 

This ignominious list kicked off in February with Disney's Marvel Studios superhero caper “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”. The movie opened to lukewarm reviews but no expense was spared as Disney spent a total of $193.2 million on pre-production and filming. 

 

The sci-fi movie was the third instalment in the Ant-Man series and was widely derided for its CGI. It grossed $476.1 million worldwide which was lower than both of its prequels. However, it may well end up in the red when its next financial statements are filed as they will show the colossal cost of post-production. 

 

May's live action fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" seemed set to make a bigger splash but ended up floundering. The movie was branded 'woke' for updating the story of Disney's classic 1989 cartoon and was also criticised for its CGI which made once-cute characters look like eerie aliens. 

 

It is calculated that Disney will make a $70 million profit on their $282.1 million share of the box office. However, it doesn't stop there. Like Quantumania, its costs are set to swell in its next financial statements as the movie was only a month and a half into post-production at the date of the latest filings. 

 

Disney had yet another bite at the blockbuster cherry with the premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” in June. There were high hopes for the fifth film in the Indiana Jones series after the trailers showing a de-aged Harrison Ford were well-received – although it didn't come cheap. 

 

So far, the movie has only made $357.9 million and as its costs are set to surge in its next set of financial statements, Disney may end up making a loss on what seemed to be a sure-fire hit. 

 

Then came “Secret Invasion”. Based on a beloved Marvel Comics series about a race of shape-shifting aliens secretly invading the corridors of power, this Disney+ streaming show also had great potential. However, its serious tone, gaping plot holes and poor CGI put off fans leading to its crescendo becoming the single lowest-rated episode of any Marvel streaming series with just a 7% score on Rotten Tomatoes. 

 

And the show bafflingly had a budget of $211.6 million despite the shortcomings of its visuals. 

 

Altogether, the total bill on these four productions came up to $965 million and that largely doesn't even include post-production costs. 

 

No wonder Disney’s chief executive Bob Iger (right) who returned to the helm of the company in November last year is going all out to slash spending. 

 

As he told investors in May, the studio needs to "reduce costs on everything that we make because, while we're extremely proud of what's on the screen, it's gotten to a point where it's extraordinarily expensive". And that is no exaggeration.