The Walt Disney Company has encountered significant financial setbacks with its last eight studio releases, resulting in losses nearing $900 million, according to renowned box office analyst Valliant Renegade. Despite a string of notable movie releases, Disney struggled to turn a profit, as these losses unfolded during the release of high-profile films such as “Lightyear,” “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Strange World,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” “The Little Mermaid,” and “Elemental.”
Valliant Renegade’s analysis reveals that these eight movies incurred a total cost of $2.75 billion, but only managed to generate $1.86 billion in revenue, culminating in a staggering loss of $890 million. Specific figures reported by Deadline indicate that “Strange World” accounted for a loss of $197 million, while “Lightyear” suffered a loss of $106 million.
Interestingly, recent Disney movies have incorporated what some critics deem “woke” storylines. For instance, “Strange World” featured a gay romance, while the animated children’s film “Lightyear” included a lesbian kiss. Additionally, “Elemental” delved into themes addressing the evils of xenophobia and introduced Disney’s first non-binary character.
Renegade underscored the significant impact of Disney’s decision to retain exclusive control over its content for its streaming service, Disney+. The analyst highlighted the missed opportunity for lucrative third-party contracts, citing previous licensing agreements with platforms like Netflix that resulted in billions of dollars for the company. Renegade stressed the need to consider not only the box office losses but also the economic opportunity costs associated with this shift in strategy.
These recent challenges for Disney coincide with the return of Bob Iger as the company’s CEO, taking over from Bob Chapek in November last year. In February, Disney announced a “strategic restructuring,” and just last month, the entertainment giant confirmed the termination of 7,000 jobs. The layoffs represent approximately 3.2% of Disney’s global workforce of approximately 220,000 as of October 2022.
Variety reported that Disney aims to achieve $5.5 billion in cost savings, with $2.5 billion attributed to “non-content costs” including labor expenses. Moreover, the company is targeting a reduction of $3 billion in non-sports content costs over the next several years, as part of its efforts to streamline operations and optimize financial performance.
Disney lost over 890 million dollars this year after most of their woke films completely bombed at the box office.
They lost 1 billion dollars overall due to their failing Disney plus exclusive app.
Don’t tell me that We the People aren’t rejecting their woke agenda. pic.twitter.com/csPdcciM0i— Dennis Ortiz (@DennisOrtiz3) June 26, 2023
