For all the backlash Disney gets for its live-action remakes, movies like The Lion King and The Little Mermaid have proven to be successful at the box office. However, the company has not found that same success with its original live-action and animated films. Disney released several new films over the summer — Haunted Mansion, Elemental, and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny — and they all failed to perform.
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Disney was particularly disappointed with how Elemental performed in the US market. The movie was released worldwide on June 16, 2023, but only grossed about $153 million at the domestic box office. Thankfully, it performed much better overseas, making more than $325 million. Elemental even became the most successful Pixar film ever released in South Korea.
In addition to its box office struggles, Disney has also been struggling with the financial black hole that is Disney+. Disney’s streaming service is not even four years old, but has already lost The House of Mouse more than $10 billion. Things are so bad that Disney is canceling a ton of original programming and cutting the budgets on the shows that are left.
However, there is now a huge light at the end of the tunnel.
According to a new report, Disney is back on top of the streaming charts. And all it took was one movie and one television show. That’s BIG news for Disney, which usually finds itself falling behind Netflix.
“Elemental,” the feature-length theatrical release from Pixar, rises to the top spot this week, up from second a week ago. Meanwhile, “Ahsoka,” the latest Disney+ original “Star Wars” series, continues to be a major hit, sitting in second place this week. These big wins are proof that Disney’s well-established brands still bring in loads of viewers.
Related: Disney Quietly Removes Popular Streaming Feature
Elemental tells the story of Ember Lumen (voiced by Leah Lewis) and Wade Ripple (voiced by Mamoudou Athie). They are two young elements who live in Element City. For years, those who live in Firetown — including Ember and her family — have always been treated as outcasts by the rest of the city. Ember almost never interacts with anyone outside Firetown, until she meets Wade Ripple.
Wade and Ember shouldn’t work, as fire and water don’t go together. However, they prove to themselves and to the people of Element City, that it doesn’t matter where you come from. It matters who you are.
Also on the top of the streaming charts is the Disney+ original series, Ahsoka. The series stars Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka, a former Jedi Knight. After the fall of the Galactic Empire, Ahsoka must investigate a threat being made against the vulnerable galaxy.
Ahsoka made her first appearance in the Star Wars universe in 2008, with the release of The Clone Wars. She was the padawan of Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi who would later become Darth Vader. Fans were thrilled when Dawson returned to the role in the hit Disney+ original shows, The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. The Ahsoka series premiered on Disney+ on August 22, 2023.
