The Walt Disney Company commemorated its 100th anniversary with another box office flop as "Wish," whose production costs are estimated at $200 million, grossed only $19.5 million domestically over the weekend.
According to CNBC, box office projections anticipated a minimum of $45 million in the film's initial five days in theaters, but it failed to reach $32 million. Comparatively, "Frozen 2" amassed over $125 million during the same five-day period in 2019.
As of Monday, global earnings for "Wish" stood at $48.9 million.
The dismal debut of the animated film "Wish" wraps up a year of box office disappointments for Disney. Other underperformers include "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," "The Little Mermaid" remake, "The Marvels," and "Haunted Mansion."
Despite this, "Wish" fared better than Disney's previous November release, "Strange World," which earned only $11.9 million over the post-pandemic Thanksgiving weekend, resulting in a reported loss of $197.4 million for the company, accoridng to The Blaze.
"Just like The Marvels, Wish is an emotionally inert and personality-free movie that appears to have been assembled from the outside in," Kevin Maher of the U.K. publication The Times wrote in an apparent reference to "Wish" director Jennifer Lee's statement that "when you manage characters from outside in, they don't resonate. And if it's not authentic, no one comes."
Meanwhile, Wendy Ide of the Guardian criticized the film as a "grimly cynical marketing exercise wrapped in the sparkly cloak of an escapist animated fairytale."
While critics have slammed the film for lacking personality, sincerity, and emotional depth, Deadline has suggested the movie's underperformance stemmed from a poorly conceived trailer that failed to convey a clear idea of the film's premise, leading to expectations of just another "plug-and-play princess movie" without a clear narrative hook.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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