Although it has long dominated the global box office and positioned itself as one of the most successful film companies in history, Disney has also faced dark days. Bad decisions, terrible marketing campaigns and stories that nobody asked for have become the causes of the worst failures in Disney history. Here we present some of the most notorious in its recent history.
John Carter: Between Two Worlds (2012)
The complex adaptation of the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels was planned to be the start of a new franchise. Disney chose a group of strangers as protagonists and did not know how to sell the story. For some it was a strange mix between Dune and Star Wars, a situation that led to its terrible failure at the box office. The production of $263 million dollars barely collected $284 million all over the world. Although it has now gained some appreciation from moviegoers, originated losses between $160 and $200 million dollars.
The Lone Ranger (2013)
Johnny Depp, director Gore Verbinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and Disney all looked forward to this film becoming their new Pirates of the Caribbean. Wow deluded. What in other times could become a success, became the biggest failure of his year. Neither its good cast, nor the supposed appreciation for its protagonist managed to make this a success, since the collection barely equaled the budget ($250 million dollars). The Hollywood Reporter estimated the losses at more than $150 million dollars.
tomorrowland (2015)
For some, this Brad Bird film is almost a masterpiece of science fiction. For others, it is one of the biggest disappointments of the genre. Even with the participation of George Clooney, impressive visuals and a good release date (summer 2015), the public simply had no interest in this original story. It is, so far, one of Disney’s worst flops, with losses of more than $150 million dollars. Ouch!
a strange world (2022)
The studio’s most recent animation has drawn more attention for its failure than for its story or characters. The film racked up a series of catastrophic factors, including a non-existent marketing campaign, mixed reviews, and zero audience interest. Wow, it didn’t even debut at number one at the box office during one of America’s most lucrative weekends of the year (Thanksgiving). Disney will lose, according to some reports, between $100 and $150 million dollars.
mars needs moms (2011)
Does anyone remember this 2011 movie? If the answer is no, no one would blame them. Few dared to see this animation made through motion capture. Neither the backing of the company nor the presence of Robert Zemeckis in the production helped this science fiction story. At the time, it was the biggest flop in Disney history, with losses exceeding $100 million.
A travel in the time (2018)
It was the adaptation of a well-known novel, it had Ava DuVernay in the direction and Oprah Winfrey as one of its protagonists. Everything pointed to a new success among the family audience, but nothing could be further from the truth. Even though his budget was not that big ($100 – $130 million), A travel in the time it was virtually ignored by audiences outside the United States. That rejection led to the colorful production lose between $85 and $130 milliontaking into account all expenses and income.
lightyear (2022)
If someone had told us at the beginning of the year that this animation would be a complete failure, we would have called them crazy. Today is a sad reality. Very few were interested in this spin-off of the franchise toy storyand even though Disney gave it a big marketing campaign marketing and hired Chris Evans himself to voice the protagonist, all efforts were in vain. Its meager box office of just $226 million is inferior to that of lower caliber animations such as Sing 2: Come and sing again! either The bad guys. The losses for Disney and Pixar are located at $100 million dollars.
a big dinosaur (2015)
Although it has top-notch animation and a beautiful story, a big dinosaur is one of the worst flops in Disney history. Perhaps the lack of recognized actors in the dubbing or a discreet marketing campaign dug its grave, but it is one of those cases where the film deserved better luck. In 2015, Disney faced losses of between $85 and $100 million thanks to this movie.
The giant good friend (2016)
This fantasy-filled film was directed by Steven Spielberg and adapted from one of Roald Dahl’s best-known novels. Unfortunately, his dark and unfamiliar appearance alienated the target audience from this production, so he became a real money-losing machine. Around $80 million They were the ones who were lost in telling this story.
Alice through the mirror (2016)
After the impressive success of Alice in Wonderland ($1 billion), it was obvious that a sequel would go into production. Unfortunately for the creators, it seems that the audience was only curious once, and they didn’t like what they saw. Six years later, the second part of the story barely raised 70% less than its predecessor, a brutal drop by all accounts. According to some reports, the losses of this sequel amount to $70 million dollars. Nobody saw it coming.
Did you see all these movies? Which of the upcoming releases do you think will be added to the list of the worst Disney flops?
Juan Jose Cruz I am one of those who always defended Robert Pattinson as Batman and can see the same movie in the theater up to 7 times. My guilty pleasure? Low budget horror movie.