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

[Disney Irish]

Now that you mention it, I don't think I've ever watched Wind in the Willows, even once.

You're missing out, its a Disney classic.

Really? Every Halloween I watch for blue aliens that never show up at my door.

Well keep watching, I'm sure you'll see it happen eventually.

 

[DKampy]

But to be fair to that utterly charming little dark ride; it's smack dab in the middle of the park at the confluence of two major thoroughfares in an extremely popular iconic land, it has a pitiful hourly capacity of 500-ish riders per hour, and it sits (again) smack dab in the middle of the busiest theme park on the planet.

As a lifelong WDW visitor…I am still bitter that Pooh evicted Toad…. After finally visiting Disneyland for the first time last year…. Finally got to take a wild ride again…. Did so a few times… I don’t think my wife( who was introduced to Disney through me)was impressed

 

[Nevermore525]

Looks like despite rave reviews from critics and an A- Cinemascore, Bone Temple will not overtake Avatar 3 this weekend.

 

[sedati]

The real question is is this something that is of concern for the overall franchise, ie fatigue, or just an interesting tidbit that is tied to the overall domestic box office trend we've seen over the last couple years.

Probably a little bit of both, but not really anything that can be answered in this thread.

The broader problem may be something I'd call "Domestic Fatigue".

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

The broader problem may be something I'd call "Domestic Fatigue".

I was just reading an article about the Golden Globes viewership being down again and am starting to wonder if the “box office” issues aren’t really “Hollywood” issues.

We have unlimited options now, with YouTube, reels, TikTok, etc we are no longer dependent on Hollywood for our entertainment. YouTube is the #1 way people watch “TV” now, actors simply don’t have the same appeal they did decades ago when they had a monopoly on entertainment.

I think that’s why we’re seeing traditional TV struggle, theaters struggle, traditional news struggle, traditional late night struggle… people have other options and they’re choosing them over Hollywood/actors.

 

[DKampy]

I was just reading an article about the Golden Globes viewership being down again and am starting to wonder if the “box office” issues aren’t really “Hollywood” issues.

We have unlimited options now, with YouTube, reels, TikTok, etc we are no longer dependent on Hollywood for our entertainment. YouTube is the #1 way people watch “TV” now, actors simply don’t have the same appeal they did decades ago when they had a monopoly on entertainment.

I think that’s why we’re seeing traditional TV struggle, theaters struggle, traditional news struggle, traditional late night struggle… people have other options and they’re choosing them over Hollywood/actors.

One possibility why some of the awards shows have lost some audience that no one ever really mentions… with every year that passes more people are ditching traditional cable for streaming…. Last year for the first time there was a higher percentage streaming over cable watchers…. The Golden Globes was streamingl live on Paramount +… but that is one of your least popular Streaming services

Which would explain why Award shows are moving exclusively to streamings these…. The SAG or Actors or whatever they call themselves these days is on Netflix….. while The Academy Awards have new contract exclusively with YouTube beginning in 2029

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

I quit watching years ago, when they started preaching their political views and other controversial views on things Not to do with movies. I want to be entertained (like they used to be) and not preached to.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Zootopia 2 has now passed $1.7 billion worldwide. $390 million domestically so far. Highest grossing animated movie ever for Disney or Pixar, or any made in the USA [not ever, because this year Ne Zha 2 made more]

Avatar 3 is about $400 million behind, globally, and now I'm doubting if it will reach Zootopia's numbers

Marty Supreme is now A24's highest grossing movie ever domestically with about $80 million to date

 

[Chi84]

I quit watching years ago, when they started preaching their political views and other controversial views on things Not to do with movies. I want to be entertained (like they used to be) and not preached to.

Didn’t that start in the early 70’s? Either you really hold a grudge or there’s another reason you don’t watch.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Zootopia 2 has now passed $1.7 billion worldwide. $390 million domestically so far. Highest grossing animated movie ever.

...made in 'merica.

Zha 2 is at $2.3B.

 

[Disney Analyst]

 

[Figments Friend]

Bring on the announcement for green lighting ‘ Avatar 4’…..!



-

 

[sedati]

Bring on the announcement for green lighting ‘ Avatar 4’…..!



-

They should throw in "Alita Fallen Angel" and "Alita Avenging Angel" while they're at it.

 

[BrianLo]

Because the word disappointment indicates that someone at Disney had a specific box office goal in mind and it didn't hit it. Which none of us can actually say, at least with any certainty.

Well, technically they gave a rare bit of quarterly forward guidance. Even if Zoo 2 flopped, they seemed to have set a pretty low bar on Avatar 3, that it seems to have surpassed.

The diminishing returns of Avatar box office and the almost entire lack of merchandise sales to any demographic begs the question, why did they build Avatar Land at DAK?

Avatar land at DAK remains the highest rated land at the entire WDW resort to this day. It has been perceived internally as more successful than Galaxies Edge.

We can of course say that’s more to do with the quality of what they built, but there is no regrets on their having done so. It’s a reason there’s another 2-3 (lands) in the works.

 

[LSLS]

Zootopia 2 has now passed $1.7 billion worldwide. $390 million domestically so far. Highest grossing animated movie ever.

Avatar 3 is about $400 million behind, globally, and now I'm doubting if it will reach Zootopia's numbers

Marty Supreme is now A24's highest grossing movie ever domestically with about $80 million to date

So, we went to Zootopia 2 this weekend in our smaller town. I was SHOCKED at how packed it was. It was well over 75% full for a 1:30 Saturday showing.

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

Didn’t that start in the early 70’s? Either you really hold a grudge or there’s another reason you don’t watch.

Yep, it probably was the 70's. It's been a long time and I am not interested anymore.

 

[TP2000]

Happy (4 days belated) Birthday to the good Reverend King!

It's a federal holiday weekend, so we've still got today's domestic box office to tally, but here's how things looked as a first pass through Sunday. Not much change, but that 28 Days sequel fell flat and couldn't knock Avatar 3 out of first place. More data tomorrow after the full holiday numbers come in!

The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for January 23, 2026

Weekend Domestic Box Office Chart for the weekend of January 23, 2026

www.the-numbers.com

 

[BrianLo]

So, we went to Zootopia 2 this weekend in our smaller town. I was SHOCKED at how packed it was. It was well over 75% full for a 1:30 Saturday showing.

It currently has the strongest week 8 of the lot. It enjoyed quite nice legs for something that was ~80-100M behind peers domestically on day 10. Wicked the first probably would have held as well but now it’s into its PVOD release window and that killed its box office tail.

It won’t catch the top two of course, but it did a great job maintaining and now closing the gap.

 

[Nevermore525]

Netflix official bid updated to all cash:

Netflix Switches To All-Cash Bid For Warner Bros.

Netflix has switched its agreement for Warner Bros. Discovery to an all-cash deal of $27.75 per share.

deadline.com

 

[Disney Irish]

Netflix official bid updated to all cash:

Netflix Switches To All-Cash Bid For Warner Bros.

Netflix has switched its agreement for Warner Bros. Discovery to an all-cash deal of $27.75 per share.

deadline.com

"WBD today gave a price to the spinoff Discovery Global after advisors applied three different metrics. The first values the company at a low of $1.33 per share and a high of $3.24. Should Discovery Global become involved in a “potential future transaction,” this could rise to as much as $6.86, per a proxy filing made in the past few hours."

Street had this one right, whomever said it was worth more was not realizing the market in which we live now, which means that both suitors valued the linear assets basically the same. Meaning that the offer from Paramount for the entirety was at worst the same as Netflix when valuing the linear assets properly. WBD was gambling that they could get more for linear, but the Versant collapse after spin-off from Comcast likely has them coming back to reality, which is why the filing is more realistic.

Also the switch to an all-cash offer is going to require Netflix to take on a bunch more debt, to the tune of almost $10B more in bridge loans, something that WBD claimed was one of the reasons why they didn't go with Paramount. So a bit hypocritical if you ask me, if the cash/stock was better why not stick with it? If debt load was the reason not to go with another suitor then why stick with the one who just said they will have to raise even more debt to switch to all-cash? Shows that Netflix now feels its stock is not valued as highly as they first thought, and given the almost 30% drop since this all started, the market doesn't either.

If Netflix does end up with WB, so be it, but to me the Paramount deal was still better overall for all the reasons I stated previously.