Disney’s Strange World movie was a total disaster, losing the company nearly $200 million and becoming 2022’s biggest box office flop. The animated film, about a family of explorers, was supposed to emulate the popular pulp science fiction genre, but unfortunately, it didn’t go as planned. Despite the movie’s major success on Disney+, it was still one of Disney’s biggest failures at the box office. According to a report by Deadline, Strange World had a budget of $317.4 million, but only earned $73.6 million in revenue, resulting in a loss of $197.4 million.
This loss is the biggest of 2022, with the second-biggest loss coming from another Disney project, Amsterdam, which lost $108.4 million after earning only $63 million. To make matters worse, Lightyear also proved to be a box office flop with a loss of $106 million. It’s clear that Disney had a tough year for movies. In fact, Lightyear may have contributed to Strange World’s disappointing performance since much of Disney’s focus was on promoting their proven IP in Lightyear, rather than encouraging the development of Strange World’s original concept.
However, Lightyear isn’t the only reason for Strange World’s failure. Disney made the mistake of releasing Strange World in direct competition with the highly anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Strange World was released just two weeks after the Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, so it was bound to struggle. Disney’s lackluster marketing efforts didn’t help either. Strange World needed more time to spread through word-of-mouth, but too much attention was dedicated to Black Panther 2.
The pandemic has also changed the game for movie releases. Potential viewers may be waiting for streaming releases instead of going to the theaters, which could be another reason for Strange World’s poor performance. Disney can no longer rely solely on its reputation and animation to draw audiences to the theaters. They need to adjust their strategy going forward if they want to avoid another box office flop like Strange World.
All in all, Strange World’s failure is bad news for Disney. They used to be able to rely on the idea that their movies would at least earn back their budgets, but this is no longer the case. They’ll have to come up with a new plan to get audiences back into the theaters and avoid making the same mistakes they did with Strange World.
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