Here Are The 8 Recent Movies That Cost Disney Box Office Nearly $900 million

After spending a whopping $2.75 billion on the production of 8 movies recently, including Lightyear, The Little Mermaid, and Elemental, the Walt Disney Company has recorded a massive loss
While it may seem that their inclination towards ‘woke’ storylines may have been a factor, there are some other things that possibly contributed to his loss
The total grossing of the movies was pegged at $1.86, resulting in a loss of $890 million, one of the greatest shocks for the company

8 of Disney’s most recent movies were supposed to rake in at least $2.75 Billion (to cover production cost). Unfortunately, it only grossed $1.86 Billion.

Despite their perceived global successes, this low return cost the Walt Disney Company almost $900 million. This happened because they didn’t get enough audience as they should have.

Movies such as Lightyear, The Little Mermaid, and Elemental were even speculated to have given the company a lot more if only the production company had a deal with others like Amazon Prime.

The Movies that Cost Disney a Loss of $890 Million, Their Production Cost and Gross Earnings

Despite the release of these seemingly notable movies in recent times, the Walt Disney Company suffered direly. In the past 12 months, their releases have brought about more loss than they did, profit.

They released movies such as Lightyear, Thor: Love and Thunder, Strange World, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Little Mermaid, and Elemental.

The production and release of these 8 movies cost the company $2.75 billion. Unfortunately, they didn’t perform as projected and were only able to rake in, so far, $1.86 million.

As already stated, this cost Walt Disney $890 per calculation done by box office analyst, Valiant Renegade.

‘Lightyear’ and ‘Strange World’

A breakdown of the cost and earnings of these Disney animations saw Lightyear losing $106 million while Strange World lost $197 million.

A one-sided look at what cost Strange World so much could be the adaption of a gay character in the film. Another angel could come from the point of critics who suggest that the fantasy pic of the film was difficult to keep up with.

‘Thor: Love & Thunder’

Thor: Love & Thunder cost $250 million in production and another $100 million in its promotion. It made just $143 million the weekend it debuted and eventually reached $159 million and globally earned $302 million.

‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is the fourth most costly Marvel movie. It is also the most expensive Marvel movie featuring a Black lead, costing $250 million in production. It made $180 million in the first few days of its release.

‘Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was released with a budget of $193.2 million. This covers the cost of producing and filming. It has only been able to get $470.9 million in global sales since it was launched.

‘Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3’

According to The Collider site, Guardians of the Galaxy 3’s budget was $250 million. Upon its debut, it raked in $118 million that weekend. This was regarded as a very slow start in comparison to others of the franchise, even for the very first one released in 2014 which grossed $94 million.

‘The Little Mermaid’

Just like many of the already discussed Disney movies, The Little Mermaid cost a budget of $250 million. This movie also reportedly cost $140 million to market and promote.

The Little Mermaid was expected to gross over $550 million but only raked in $163.8 million worldwide. Its global opening brought in only $68 million and this was quite slow compared to many other films with such production and marketing budget. This is still an estimation as it is yet to run a complete course.

‘Elemental’

2023’s Elemental cost $200 million to produce but was only able to make a little over half of that at the box office. The movie grossed $121.1 million despite the high expectations that the film would make global waves.

Just like with The Little Mermaid, this is a very recent movie and has yet to run a complete course. As such, the figure for its gross box office is still an estimation.

Why Did They Lose So Much?

There have been so many plausible explanations for the failure of these 8 movies. For the likes of ‘Lightyear’, ‘Strange World’, and ‘Elemental’, the reason may have been their embrace of ‘woke’ storylines.

Elemental’s plot has something to do with Xenophobia and the evils of it. Lightyear featured lesbianism in its storyline with a lesbian kiss scene. Strange World also featured gay romance.

Some other critics however believe a lot has to do with the presentation of the movie plots and their understandability.

In a broader, more financial approach, many people agree that the huge loss suffered by the Walt Disney Company is owed hugely to inside decisions.

It is known that Disney consumes all its content first and would normally license their massive content to other companies. However, they didn’t, knowing the likes of Netflix and Amazon Prime would have been great third-party partners for them. This is in a bid to support Disney Plus.

When power switched hands yet again with the return of Bob Iger as the CEO of Walt Disney, things took a different turn. Iger replaced Bob Chapek in that capacity and took some drastic measures.

For starters, the company decided to stop all third-party deals and began to keep all productions within themselves. This alongside the downsizing of their staff by 7,000 as well as other internal decisions, cost the company a lot.

The major reason for her $890 million loss to the release of the already discussed 8 movies remains the lack of partners.

This isn’t their only loss though as they also lost about $1 billion to Economic Opportunity Costs. This loss comes from their insistence to keep every production and distribution within Disney. Their not signing a universal-type deal with other big production companies like Amazon and Netflix has cost them this much.

Luckily, they make most of their monies from funds from theme parks and resorts and linear broadcast television.