It appears that Disney is preparing to lose nearly $150 million over their animated feature Strange World. The new film was just released in theaters, and unfortunately, it already looks like a box office flop. The production and marketing costs are said to have reached $274 million, so with those numbers in mind, it’s certainly a disappointing outcome for the studio.
This information comes via Deadline, where they also questioned why the film wasn’t relegated to Disney Plus instead. After all, Disney took that route with quite a few of their animated features lately. Well, firstly, they note that “Disney has a history of launching a family animated title over Thanksgiving. Audiences come to expect that.” So, with that in mind, Disney chose to release the film regardless to meet the demands of fans. Furthermore, they expected that there’d be a large amount of backlash if they pulled the film from its intended theatrical release.
Additionally, this would have been “a PR nightmare for the studio,” as they note, “particularly in the wake of Chapek’s Florida ‘Don’t Say Gay’ quagmire.” Because, as they put it, “a strict Disney+ release for Strange World would indicate that the Burbank, CA studio is giving a lesser release and a lesser profile for a big movie with a gay character versus a global theatrical launch.” So, in terms of keeping their fanbase happy, they made the decision to release the film in theaters regardless.
It’s certainly a bold move and it’s expected that Disney might continue placing focus on theatrical releases over Disney Plus. After all, Bob Iger has replaced Bob Chapek to take over as Disney CEO once again. It should be an interesting time of change for the major company. As always, we’ll have to see what happens going forward, even if there are a few flops along the way.
The newly-released film Strange World was directed by Don Hall as well as written and co-directed by Qui Nguyen. The cast for the film includes the voice talents of Jake Gyllenhaal, Jaboukie Young-White, Gabrielle Union, and Lucy Liu.
Stay tuned to ScreenGeek for additional updates on Strange World and other such Disney projects as we have them. In the meantime, Strange World is currently playing in theaters.