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Disney suffered the biggest loss of 2022 with its nearly $200 million deficit from Strange World. An animated film revolving around a family of explorers, Strange World is largely an attempt to mimic popular pulp science fiction books. Unfortunately for Disney, it ended disastrously and left the company with little to show from years of effort.
According to a report by Deadline, Disney lost $197.4 million on the project, earning a mere $73.6 million against its $317.4 million budget. The second-biggest loss was from another Disney project, Amsterdam which lost $108.4 million after earning only $63 million. While Strange World is now enjoying major success on Disney+, its box office numbers will make it one of Disney’s biggest failures regardless.
Why Strange World Was Such A Flop
Amsterdam and Strange World weren’t entirely alone. Disney had a bad year for its movies, after Lightyear also proved to have a $106 million loss at the box office. Lightyear likely even contributed to Strange World‘s disappointment, given that much of Disney’s focus went to promoting their proven IP in Lightyear, rather than encouraging the development of the original concept Strange World. Still, Lightyear isn’t the only reason for the flop.
Despite owning both Marvel Studios and Walt Disney Animation, Disney chose to place Strange World in direct competition with the highly anticipated Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Releasing only two weeks after the Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster, Strange World was inevitably going to struggle. It needed more time and opportunity to spread through word-of-mouth, given Disney’s lackluster marketing efforts, yet too much attention was dedicated to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Strange World becoming a box office bomb is bad news for Disney, who could once rest comfortably on the idea that its movies will at least earn back their budgets. After a middling year, the numbers show that it can’t rely on its reputation and animation to draw audiences into the theaters. The pandemic has changed the game, and it is far too easy to wait for a movie to go to Disney+. Potential viewers waiting for streaming releases could be another way to explain the disappointments that Strange World and Lightyear have become. If Disney wants to avoid suffering another Strange World, it will need to adjust its strategy going forward.
Source: Deadline
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