Harrison Ford returns as Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Dial.
disney
disney has struggled to regain its box office record in 2019, which may have helped open the door to its recent troubles with activist investor Nelson Peltz.
Just four years ago, the studio had $7 billion in movies produced; World box office revenue exceeds $13.2 billion. In the same year, the Studio Entertainment division had sales of $11.1 billion and operating income of $2.69 billion.
Recently, the House of Mouse reported six consecutive quarters of operating losses in its content sales business, which includes its box office and home entertainment divisions, with those revenues falling below $9 billion in both 2022 and 2023. ing. A combination of pandemic shutdowns, two Hollywood labor strikes and a failure to connect with audiences has put Disney’s theatrical business in a dark spot.
Aside from 2022’s Avatar: The Way of Water, which Disney acquired as part of its $71 billion deal for a majority stake in 21st Century Fox, since the last Star Wars movie in 2019. Disney has never made a movie that made more than $1 billion. , according to ComScore data. Produced and sold by Sony,Spider-Man: No Way Home‘ made $1.9 billion and was co-produced by Disney’s Marvel Studios.
Disney is coming close, with 2023’s “Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3” earning nearly $900 million at the global box office, and 2022’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse.” ‘Of Madness’ ($955 million), ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ ($859 million) and ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ ($760 million).
But other big-budget franchise films have failed. 2023’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial” grossed $378 million worldwide, while “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumia” secured $476 million worldwide. That’s an unusually low mark for a Marvel movie (until Marvel’s hit $200 million-plus at the end of last year); Pixar’s “Lightyear” will earn $250 million worldwide in 2022. Collected less than revenue.
trian fodder
Disney’s recent box office struggles are a key factor for Trian Fund Management as Mr. Peltz seeks board seats for himself and former Disney chief financial officer Jay Laslo. Mr. Peltz criticized Disney’s board, saying it “lacks focus, coordination and accountability” and has failed to act as the company’s revenue, reputation and stock price have declined.
Disney shareholders are scheduled to vote on director candidates at Wednesday’s shareholder meeting.
As part of Tryon’s white paper released in early March, the fund announced that recent box office disappointments include “Wish,” “Indiana Jones,” “Lightyear” and “Marvels.” , “The Haunted Mansion.” studio.
“We are concerned about the current state of the creative process across Disney’s studios and portfolio,” the white paper reads.
Peltz himself has publicly questioned what he calls Disney’s “woke” content strategy. The company’s creative team has been active in producing films and television shows that center non-white and non-male characters, as well as exploring stories outside of heteronormative boundaries.
“People go to movies and shows for entertainment,” Peltz said. A recent interview with the Financial Times. “They’re not going to get the message.”
He specifically cited Marvel movies featuring Black Panther, an African prince-turned-king, 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? I’m not against women, but why does it have to be that way? Why can’t I have both Marvels? ?Why do we need an all-black cast?” ? ” he later said in an interview with the Financial Times.
The movie “Black Panther” did not have an all-black cast, and “Captain Marvel” and “The Marvels,” in which Captain Marvel is the central character, did not have an all-female cast.
Mr. Peltz’s comments were previously made by former Marvel Entertainment chairman and CEO Ike Perlmutter, who was ousted from Disney last year and is a friend of Mr. Peltz and supporter of the proxy fight. It’s the same as
Peltz also takes particular issue with Disney’s failed succession plan and what he calls a disjointed streaming strategy.
Disney side
But storytelling isn’t the only factor in Disney’s recent dismal box office performance.
During the pandemic, the company Animated movies debuted on streaming, but box office sales slumped as parents got used to the idea.
Disney has also diluted the Marvel brand with too many spinoffs and theatrical sequels on Disney+, CEO Bob Iger said.
On top of that, Disney has had to contend with a rapidly changing consumer who needs more than nostalgic titles to lure them from the couch to the theater, especially as budgets tighten.
Iger has addressed these theatrical concerns several times since returning to lead the company in late 2022.
Last March, he told attendees at Morgan Stanley’s Technology, Media and Telecom conference that he wanted Marvel to offer more fresh content and produce fewer sequels, or at least decide which sequels to greenlight. He said he would like to be more selective. He reiterated that sentiment at November’s DealBook Summit in New York, where he also said he would no longer tolerate the company’s partners and creative teams prioritizing messaging over storytelling.
“You have to entertain first. The message isn’t important,” he said.
Changes at Disney’s studio will take time, especially after production has been hampered since last summer’s writers’ and actors’ strike shut down the studio. However, box office analysts expect the company to see a solid turnaround in 2026.
The 2025 movie calendar concludes with the third Avatar movie in mid-December, so ticket sales will spill over into next year. And the summer kicks off with the Avengers team-up movie, currently titled “The Kang Dynasty,” followed by the Star Wars movie “The Mandalorian” on Memorial Day weekend. In December 2026, another Star Wars movie is scheduled to cap off a big year for Disney.
The track record of these series suggests that they have the potential to deliver incredible box office returns.
“Disney reached its absolute pinnacle in 2019… boasting a variety of films that perfectly aligned disparate puzzle pieces from Marvel, Pixar, Lucasfilm, and Walt Disney Animation into a nonstop hit machine. , resulting in box office revenue comparable to 2019’s “once-in-a-century flood,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at ComScore.
The 2026 schedule also includes three untitled Marvel movies, one untitled Pixar movie, one Disney animated movie scheduled for Thanksgiving, and six other Disney titles.
