Disney (and others) at the Box Office - Current State of Affairs

[Disney Irish]

Disney haven’t been able to make content that really grabs the attention of Gen Z. Netflix has been able to do it with their content (Stranger Things, One Piece, Wednesday) while Disney has struggled in this regard. If you’re going to spend $200m on a movie or series you have to have Gen Z accounted for.

Again a point I don't necessarily disagree with. Gen Z in general I think is the lost generation to many companies as their trends tend to change very quickly.

I think movies like Inside Out and Inside Out 2 did appeal to Gen Z, which is why they both did so well. Same with Moana and Moana 2. So I don't think Disney is completely gone to Gen Z, I just think most saw traditional Disney as for "babies" and Pixar more to their liking which is why Pixar has had such a following in the 2010s to today.

 

[Agent H]

Disney haven’t been able to make content that really grabs the attention of Gen Z. Netflix has been able to do it with their content (Stranger Things, One Piece, Wednesday) while Disney has struggled in this regard. If you’re going to spend $200m on a movie or series you have to have Gen Z accounted for.

Speaking as a younger member of gen z I can tell you that we do have Disney things We are nostalgic for. Most of my peers aren’t Disney animation fans but they do like Pixar. Marvel especially the spider man movies are very popular. certain Disney channel shows are very popular too like phineas and ferb. gravity falls. Kim possible. Star vs the forces of evil. Edit. Stitch is big too and I personally have a soft spot for the clone wars and it’s spin offs.

 

[Serpico Jones]

Again a point I don't necessarily disagree with. Gen Z in general I think is the lost generation to many companies as their trends tend to change very quickly.

I think movies like Inside Out and Inside Out 2 did appeal to Gen Z, which is why they both did so well. Same with Moana and Moana 2. So I don't think Disney is completely gone to Gen Z, I just think most saw traditional Disney as for "babies" and Pixar more to their liking which is why Pixar has had such a following in the 2010s to today.

The question is what do Star Wars and Marvel bring to the table? SW holds no interest for Gen Z and Marvel is a major question mark.

 

[Disney Irish]

The question is what do Star Wars and Marvel bring to the table? SW holds no interest for Gen Z and Marvel is a major question mark.

Now I can't speak for Gen Z as I'm Gen X, and based on the age listed on your profile you're a Millennial. But having been around forums like this and others interacting with Gen Z for a long time I can say that they actually do care about both, albeit probably not as a whole but specific content within each franchise.

With SW I've found that many Gen Z care about the Clone Wars series and the Filoniverse characters in particular. Which is why I think you've seen LFL focus so much on them and given Filoni almost unlimited free rein to tell whatever stories he wants. Some good some bad, but overall ok for the most part.

With Marvel, I think most care about Spider-Man and the Avengers. Which is why those do so well. And why you see a focus back on those characters and trying to bring back together an Avengers level team.

Overall I think both will be ok in the long term, even if in the short term both have stumbled. But such is life, not everything is going to hit with every generation.

 

[celluloid]

Speaking as a younger member of gen z I can tell you that we do have Disney things We are nostalgic for. Most of my peers aren’t Disney animation fans but they do like Pixar. Marvel especially the spider man movies are very popular. certain Disney channel shows are very popular too like phineas and ferb. gravity falls. Kim possible. Star vs the forces of evil.

The Pixar films the Gen Z have helped make succesful were really ones that were from Gen Y that had sequels so it was largely supplimented with audiences already loving the familiar and going to go see the sequels.
Nothing of original theatrical release of Pixar has shown a strong since Gen Z has been around.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Speaking as a younger member of gen z I can tell you that we do have Disney things We are nostalgic for. Most of my peers aren’t Disney animation fans but they do like Pixar. Marvel especially the spider man movies are very popular. certain Disney channel shows are very popular too like phineas and ferb. gravity falls. Kim possible. Star vs the forces of evil.

This lines up with what @BrianLo said about Gen Z growing up during Disney animation's slump in the 2000s

But also makes sense that the same age group would like peak Pixar and Disney Channel at the height of the same time.

 

[brideck]

Snow White notably added 1,020 theaters for this weekend. But judging by the fact that increased theater count only produced a per theater box office haul of $52 per theater, the results weren't great. 1,330 theaters nationwide netted Burbank an extra $70,000 (there isn't a zero missing from that, Kurt double checked) for yesterday.

I'll continue my effort to be remembered by you forever. When you enter the 2nd-run period of a release (aka cheaper tickets -- $7 vs $12 near me), you're probably not going to magically increase your per theater haul. Disney's just looking to squeeze as much blood out of the stone as possible, and they're getting more than they would have under the previous trajectory. This will still be gone (more or less) in another week or two.

 

[Disney Irish]

I'll continue my effort to be remembered by you forever. When you enter the 2nd-run period of a release (aka cheaper tickets -- $7 vs $12 near me), you're probably not going to magically increase your per theater haul. Disney's just looking to squeeze as much blood out of the stone as possible, and they're getting more than they would have under the previous trajectory. This will still be gone (more or less) in another week or two.

Especially since it goes digital on the 13th.

 

[Tha Realest]

Sinners is the most impressive hit of the year. Coogler stands alongside Nolan as the most impressive of this vanguard of newer filmmakers.

If only Disney had a project produced by its creator in the can, ready to drop in a little more than a month. Would be great to promote such a project, especially if it ties in to the future of the MCU.

I mean, surely they wouldn’t be giving such a project the Echo treatment.

 

[TP2000]

Hi gang, I hope all our Moms here still have a Mimosa that's being topped off in early afternoon today. And if you are here online instead of topping off your Mom's Mimosa, shame on you! Here's the first pass at weekend box office.

Thunderbolts fell by 55% in its second weekend, not disastrous but also not great. Shall we call it "middling"?

The Amateur continued its late season slide with a $1.1 Million domestic haul, and it's going to lose at least $25 Million for Disney (AKA the money it would cost to mount, open and operate for two years a major new musical show in DCA's abandoned 2,000 seat Hyperion Theater. But who in Burbank cares about park capacity and guest experience?).

Also this weekend, Rachel Zegler tried to squeeze blood from a stone with 1,330 theaters for Snow White. Did it work?

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for October 3, 2025

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of October 3, 2025

thenumbers.com

 

[Phroobar]

Too bad they can't release Lilo & Stitch a week early.

 

[TP2000]

$700 million is not an unrealistic expectation for an MCU movie, even a 1st character intro (which Thunderbolts technically isn't, as some characters were introduced prior).

Here's how those six pre-Covid Marvel first offerings you mentioned compare adjusted for inflation.

Their average production budget was $193 Million, and their average global box office total was $1.119 Billion (with a B).

The most analogous movie to Thunderbolts in that list is Ant-Man. It's more modest production budget and its domestic opening weekend lines up nicely with Thunderbolts. Here's how that comparison looks, and on its current trajectory there is no way Thunderbolts will get to the Ant-Man global box office of $700 Million. This is a good reminder that the overseas market for Marvel has declined a great deal more than their domestic market.

Again, few here have said that Thunderbolts is a flop, or won't turn a profit, but $500 million globally is not blockbuster status for an MCU movie in 2025, nor likely Disney's expectation for success. Even accounting for outliers like The Marvels and changing movie habits, we know how much No Way Home, GotG 3, Deadpool 3, Black Panther 2 and Doctor Strange 2 did.

$500 Million globally for Thunderbolts isn't even a guarantee that it will break even. Depending on how its box office skews domestic vs. overseas, it could still lose a lot of money even if Thunderbolts claws its way to $500 Million globally.

Here's how those post-Covid sequels you listed did. Just the opening weekend numbers alone offer a stark reality check for how Thunderbolts did last weekend...

The Numbers - Where Data and the Movie Business Meet

The Numbers provides detailed movie financial analysis, including box office, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, and release schedules.

www.the-numbers.com

 

[Eric Graham]

Hi gang, I hope all our Moms here still have a Mimosa that's being topped off in early afternoon today. And if you are here online instead of topping off your Mom's Mimosa, shame on you! Here's the first pass at weekend box office.

Thunderbolts fell by 55% in its second weekend, not disastrous but also not great. Shall we call it "middling"?

The Amateur continued its late season slide with a $1.1 Million domestic haul, and it's going to lose at least $25 Million for Disney (AKA the money it would cost to mount, open and operate for two years a major new musical show in DCA's abandoned 2,000 seat Hyperion Theater. But who in Burbank cares about park capacity and guest experience?).

Also this weekend, Rachel Zegler tried to squeeze blood from a stone with 1,330 theaters for Snow White. Did it work?

View attachment 858160

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for October 3, 2025

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of October 3, 2025

thenumbers.com

Actually, my niece saw the movie and she enjoyed it. I haven't watched it but enjoy some of the music on XM.

 

[TP2000]

Looking at this weekend's numbers, I'm taken aback at how well A Minecraft Movie has done globally. It appears on track to just touch $1 Billion globally by Memorial Day. And with its $150 Million production budget, that will do nicely for Mr. Warner.

Here's how that looks compared to Disney's most recent animated stuff, or live action remakes of animated stuff.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

Looks like TB is revised down to $33m. I guess we’ll know for sure in a couple of days.

Maybe they should have shoehorned one OG Avenger into it.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The most impressive movies this year so far…are Minecraft, sinners and Sonic 3 (or is it 4?)

There’s just no legitimate argument otherwise

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Looks like TB is revised down to $33m. I guess we’ll know for sure in a couple of days.

Maybe they should have shoehorned one OG Avenger into it.

Revised down? That’s pretty much in the middle of the Estimates, no?

It’s not gonna cover…turn; turn, turn

 

[Disney Irish]

The most impressive movies this year so far…are Minecraft, sinners and Sonic 3 (or is it 4?)

There’s just no legitimate argument otherwise

It was Sonic 3, and it didn't even release in 2025, that was 2024. And if you're counting that then you have to count Mufasa (which released at the same time) which torn the legs off Sonic overall.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It was Sonic 3, and it didn't even release in 2025, that was 2024. And if you're counting that then you have to count Mufasa (which released at the same time) which torn the legs off Sonic overall.

Right…drop that one

 

[Disney Irish]

Right…drop that one

Yes, it shows that all of Hollywood has pretty much slept on Q1 and Q2 of 2025.