Harrison Ford returns as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark and Tragedy of Destiny.
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disney The film has been struggling to regain its high box office record from 2019, which may have opened the door to its recent troubles with activist investor Nelson Peltz.
Just four years ago, the studio produced $7 billion in movies for Global box office exceeds $13.2 billion. That year, its studio entertainment division had revenue of $11.1 billion and operating income of $2.69 billion.
Recently, House of Mouse’s revenue fell below $9 billion in both 2022 and 2023, and its content sales business, which houses its box office and home entertainment divisions, has posted operating losses for six consecutive quarters. Disney’s theater business has endured a bleak period amid pandemic shutdowns, a double strike in Hollywood and a failure to connect with audiences.
Aside from 2022’s “Avatar: Waterfall,” which is part of Disney’s $71 billion deal to acquire a majority stake in 21st Century Fox, the studio hasn’t had a “Star Wars” movie since the last “Star Wars” movie in 2019. The movie grossed more than $1 billion at the box office, according to Comscore. Produced and distributed by Sony”Spider-Man: No Way HomeAlthough Disney-Marvel Studios did serve as co-producers, the film still made $1.9 billion.
Disney’s box office results are also close – 2023’s “Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3” has a global box office of nearly $900 million, 2022’s “Doctor Strange: In the Multiverse of Madness” ($955 million), “Black-ish” “Leopard: Wakanda Forever” ($859 million) and “Thor: Love and Thunder” ($760 million).
However, other big-budget franchises have flopped. “Raiders of the Lost Ark” will have a global box office of $378 million in 2023, and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum of Madness” will have a global box office of $476 million, which is an unusually low level for a Marvel movie (Until “Marvel” reached more than $200 million late last year), Pixar’s “Lightyear” had a global box office of less than $250 million in 2022.
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Disney’s recent struggles at the box office have become important fodder for Trian Fund Management as Peltz seeks board seats for himself and former Disney CFO Jay Rasulo. Peltz has been critical of Disney’s board, saying it “lacked focus, coordination and accountability” and failed to take action even as the company’s earnings, reputation and stock price suffered.
Disney shareholders will vote on board nominations at the company’s shareholder meeting on Wednesday.
As part of a white paper released by Trian in early March, the fund listed “Wish,” “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Lightyear,” “Marvel” and “The Amityville Horror” as examples of recent commercial disappointments. studio.
“We are concerned about the current state of Disney Studios and the creative process across the portfolio,” the white paper reads.
Peltz himself has publicly questioned what he calls Disney’s “woke” content strategy. The company’s creative team actively seeks to create films and TV shows that center non-white and non-male characters and explore narratives outside of heterosexuality.
“People go to movies or shows to be entertained,” Peltz says in the book. Recently interviewed by the Financial Times. “They’re not going to get information.”
He particularly praised the Marvel movies featuring the African prince-turned-king Black Panther and Captain Marvel, a female U.S. Air Force pilot who gains extraordinary cosmic powers.
“Why do I have to have an all-female Marvel movie? Not that I have anything against women, but why do I have to do this? Why can’t I have a Marvel movie that’s both? Why do I need to An all-black cast?” he later told the Financial Times.
The movie “Black Panther” did not have an all-black cast, and “Captain Marvel” and the “Marvel” movie starring Captain Marvel did not have an all-female cast.
Peltz’s comments echo previous comments from former Marvel Entertainment chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter. Ike Perlmutter, who was ousted from Disney last year, is a friend of Peltz and a supporter of Peltz’s proxy fight.
Peltz also took particular issue with Disney’s failed succession planning and what he said was a disjointed streaming strategy.
Disney here
Storytelling isn’t the only factor behind Disney’s recent box office performance, however.
During the epidemic, the company Parents have become accustomed to the idea of animated movies premiering on streaming media, thus denting box office revenue.
CEO Bob Iger said Disney has also diluted its Marvel brand with too many Disney+ spinoffs and theatrical sequels.
On top of that, Disney must also contend with a rapidly changing consumer who needs more than just nostalgic movies to lure them from their couch to the theater, especially as budgets tighten.
Iger has addressed the drama several times since taking back the helm of the company in late 2022.
Last March, he told attendees at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecommunications Conference that he wanted Marvel to have more fresh content and have fewer sequels, or at least be more selective in which sequels it greenlights. He reiterated that sentiment at the DealBook Summit in New York in November, saying he would no longer tolerate the company’s partners and creative teams prioritizing messaging over storytelling.
“We have to entertain first. It’s not about information,” he said.
Changes at Disney Studios will take time, especially after the studio shut down last summer when a writers’ and actors’ strike hampered production. However, box office analysts expect the company to make a solid turnaround in 2026.
The 2025 movie calendar will see the release of the third Avatar movie in mid-December, which means box office revenue will continue into the following year. Then that summer started an Avengers movie, currently titled “Kang,” and then a “The Mandalorian” Star Wars movie came out over Memorial Day weekend. Another Star Wars movie is set to round out Disney’s big year in December 2026.
These franchises have a track record that shows they can generate astonishing box office revenue.
“Disney is at its absolute peak in 2019…with a diverse slate of movies that seamlessly blend the disparate pieces of Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm and Walt Disney Animation into one non-stop hit machine “The result was a box office equivalent to a once-in-100-year flood,” said Comscore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “
The 2026 slate also includes three untitled Marvel films, an untitled Pixar film, a Disney animated film set to be released on Thanksgiving, and six other Disney films.
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