Speaking on the studio’s latest earnings call, Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro admits that both “The Mandalorian and Grogu” and the live-action “Moana” remake underperformed at the box office this Summer.
The “Star Wars” film opened over Memorial Day Weekend to just $81 million for its domestic box office opening weekend – the lowest for a major “Star Wars” cinematic release. It ultimately earned $345 million worldwide – a far cry from the over $1 billion grosses of the sequel trilogy.
Costing a reported $250 million to produce, the live-action “Moana” has only earned $262 million worldwide, with the trades previously reporting that the movie stands to lose $100 million in theatres for Disney.
D’Amaro was quick to add that neither film was a bomb, as the movies contributed to ancillary revenue sources such as merchandise sales, theme park revenue, and more. He says (via Variety):
“Even when our franchise films don’t meet our box office expectations, as with the ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ and the live-action ‘Moana,’ our investments in these core properties fuel other parts of our company.
‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ drove healthy growth in retail sales for the ‘Star Wars’ franchise and drew guests to the updated Millennium Falcon attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and led to significant engagement in gaming as well.
And the live-action ‘Moana’ is expected to be a strong title on Disney+, building on the success of the original film, which is one of the most-streamed movies of all time. These franchise investments contributed to value creation beyond their theatrical releases.”
Disney CFO Hugh Johnston walked the line with D’Amaro’s views, saying:
“Theatrical performance is important to us, of course, and we certainly aspire to deliver consistent financial results for our films. But the nature of the film industry is such that it is more of a portfolio game. The good news for us is our diversified business helps us basically cover the volatility that comes out of the film business… the theatrical window in a lot of ways is just one data point, and the real value of that IP is the cumulative benefit of decades-long storytelling and our ability to take that IP and lay it into the entirety of the Disney flywheel.”
The news comes as the Walt Disney Company and TikTok today announced a first-of-its-kind global deal that will bring curated Disney-centric fan-created content from TikTok to the Disney+ app.
At launch, short-form videos from participating creators who opt in to the program will live on both TikTok and in verticals on Disney+ and feature characters and stories from across Disney’s brands. TikTok will offer its creators access to assets related to hundreds of films and series from Disney’s vast library of enduring franchises and beloved IP.
