Let’s be honest: 2023 was not a good year for Disney. Ad revenues in the television industry tanked, attendance at Walt Disney World was down, the actors and writers’ strikes stopped all productions, and the company was dragged down by its fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. But the worst part of the year was quite possibly Disney’s movie releases. Disney Animation Studios, Marvel, Pixar, LucasFilms, and Disney Studios released seven films in 2023. Of the seven, five have already or are on track to lose more than $100 million. So, with a track record like that, Disney is stretching to find any positive news, and it may have just found something.
According to Fandango’s research, Disney and Marvel have the most anticipated film of 2024 in, Deadpool 3 (2024). The film sees Ryan Reynolds return as Wade Wilson and adds Jennifer Garner as Elektra and the triumph return of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. Reynolds and Jackman are friends in real life and have been teasing their collaboration for what seems like years, and now it’s finally here.
Beatlejuice 2 (2024), Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024), Dune: Part Two (2024), and Venom 3 (2024) round out the top five most anticipated films of 2024. Pixar’s Inside Out 2 (2024) came in seventh place. The common theme among Fandango’s most anticipated films is that they are all sequels or part of a larger franchise. This familiarity breeds anticipation, but as Disney learned this year, that does not necessarily lead to box office success.
Deadpool 3’s release was delayed after a significant shakeup of Disney’s release calendar. It was initially scheduled for release on May 3 but will be released on July 26. Disney CEO Bob Iger blamed the delay on the SAG-AFTRA strike, but the delay was more likely caused by Marve’s low box office numbers and the need to reshape the MCU. As a result, Deadpool 3 will be the only Marvel Studios release in 2024.
Despite the excitement for the Ryan Reynolds/Hugh Jackman movie, that doesn’t necessarily guarantee box office success. Last year’s most anticipated movie was Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3 (2023), Disney’s highest-grossing film of the year at $845 million. But Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) were in the top five and lost more than $100 million each.
The year’s runaway hits Barbie (2023) and Oppenheimer (2023) were not in the top 10 of last year’s most anticipated films, and only The Super Mario Bros Movie (2023) made the list and made more than $1 billion. It was 10th last year.
With Jonathan Majors out and the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe in question, fans have high hopes for Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman to deliver redemption for Marvel Studios and Disney. With only one Marvel movie coming out, this will be the only chance to show fans a quality story and engaging film. Otherwise, questions will linger about the future of the franchise and its viability moving forward.
But there are still seven months of anticipation before Deadpool 3 hits the big screen. We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.
