Recently, a new report has listed the top five box office disasters of 2023, with Disney surprisingly occupying four spots, resulting in a loss of $628 million (NTD 20.28 billion). The biggest loss was from “The Marvels”, also known as “The Marvels”.
According to a report from “Deadline” on the 2nd, the top box office losers last year were “The Marvels” with a loss of $237 million, “The Flash” with a loss of $155 million, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” with a loss of $143 million, “Wish” with a loss of $131 million, and “Haunted Mansion” with a loss of $117 million.
Aside from “The Flash” being distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, the other four films are all distributed by Disney. It was reported that Apple’s original films were not included in the ranking as Apple is a tech company and its films only account for a small portion of its revenue. Essentially, any reputation loss caused by Apple’s films is considered as advertising expense.
According to foreign media reports, the box office flops will not have sequels. 2023 not only marked a poor year for Disney at the box office, but Disney+ also faced challenges. The price hike of Disney+ led to a decrease in subscriptions. While there are several exciting projects set to be released by Disney in 2024 and 2025, 2026 is poised to be an important year for Disney with the release of multiple major films.
The major films in 2026 include sequels with box office revenues exceeding $1 billion such as “Toy Story 4”, “Frozen III”, and “Avengers: Kang Dynasty”. The simultaneous release of these major films in the same year is expected to generate the largest box office revenue for Disney in years.
Below are the top five movies with the biggest losses in 2023 and their audience ratings:
Fifth place, “Haunted Mansion”
Estimated Revenue: $143 million
Estimated Expenditure: $260 million
Total Loss: -$117 million
Received a “B+” rating on CinemaScore in North America, and fresh ratings of 37% from critics and 84% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb rating of 6.
Fourth place, “Wish”
Estimated Revenue: $231 million
Estimated Expenditure: $362 million
Total Loss: -$131 million
Received an “A-” rating on CinemaScore in North America, and fresh ratings of 48% from critics and 81% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb rating of 5.6.
Third place, “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
Estimated Revenue: $373 million
Estimated Expenditure: $516 million
Total Loss: -$143 million
Received a “B+” rating on CinemaScore in North America, and fresh ratings of 70% from critics and 88% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb rating of 6.5.
Second place, “The Flash”
Estimated Revenue: $250 million
Estimated Expenditure: $405 million
Total Loss: -$155 million
Received a “B” rating on CinemaScore in North America, and fresh ratings of 63% from critics and 88% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb rating of 7.5.
First place, “The Marvels”
Estimated Revenue: $218 million
Estimated Expenditure: $455 million
Total Loss: -$237 million
Received a “B” rating on CinemaScore in North America, and fresh ratings of 62% from critics and 82% from the audience on Rotten Tomatoes. IMDb rating of 5.5.