This year has not been kind to the Walt Disney Studios. Its usual reliable slate of Marvel and Pixar films has fallen flat, and even its movies have failed at the box office. And now, with the actor’s and writer’s strikes, it seems the year is about to get much worse.
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Fortune is reporting that Disney is looking at its lineup of films for the remainder of 2023 and is considering delaying the release of those films because there will not be any actors to help promote the movie. Disney is still releasing Haunted Mansion (2023) this week, as it was too far along to delay. At the premiere, rather than have actors walk the red carpet, Disney had some of its characters walk instead.
Among the films this delay could affect is Disney Animation’s latest, Wish (2023), scheduled to be released on November 22. Disney hoped that Wish could revive its struggling box office numbers after The Little Mermaid (2023) did not meet expectations.
The other films that could be affected by this delay include Poor Things starring Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo, Next Goal Wins starring Michael Fassbender; and Magazine Dreams starring disgraced Marvel star Jonathan Majors.
Disney recently released a trailer for The Marvels, scheduled for November 10 and expected to be Marvel’s biggest film of the year. Disney did not comment, so there is no way of knowing if The Marvels will also be delayed.
Despite leading all studios in worldwide box office revenues, 2023 has been a disappointing year for Disney, Marvel, and Pixar. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol 3 led the way for Marvel, bringing in $837 million. But Marvel’s other release this year, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, only brought in $476 million.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny might be Disney’s biggest disappointment of the year, only bringing in $131 million. While the live-action Little Mermaid made $525 million at the box office. This year’s only $1 billion movie came from Disney’s rival Universal Studios with The Super Mario Bros Movie.
Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger has called the strike “unfortunate” and called the actor’s demands “unrealistic.” SAG President Fran Drescher blasted Iger for his comments.
Disney has already delayed some of its most anticipated new films from its biggest franchises, including its three new Star Wars films. With no end to the strike and production shutdown throughout Hollywood, there’s telling what else Walt Disney Studios may have to delay.
We will continue to update this story at Disney Fanatic.
