Credit: Edited by Inside the Magic
2023 is about to draw to a close, and it’s been a tough year for the Walt Disney Company to say the least. However, the studio might have done better than most suspect.
Reports continue to drag Disney’s name through the muck, as critical and financial reception for most of the studio’s releases this year has been anything but magical. As the year ends, however, the House of Mouse is down but certainly not out.
2023 has certainly been an interesting year for the motion picture industry, as movies like Barbie (2023) and Oppenheimer (2023) made for an interesting double-feature at the theaters, but the magical cinematic juggernaut hasn’t been living up to expectations (at least according to critics). So why is it that out of the ten most successful features this year, Disney made four of them?
The Walt Disney Company Proves the Movies Still Belong to the Mouse
Disney has been embroiled in a lot of hot water this year, as scandals involving its live-action remakes, actors like Jonathan Majors and Rachel Zegler steeped in controversy on and off set, and underwhelming box office flops from its theatrical releases truly set the studio back. However, there have been some big wins for the mouse this year as well.
According to sources like Box Office Mojo and The Numbers, the ten most successful films at the box office this year were:
- Barbie (2023)
- The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)
- Oppenheimer (2023)
- The Little Mermaid (2023)
- Avatar: The Way of Water (2023)
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantummania (2023)
- John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
- Sound of Freedom (2023)
Out of ten different movies of different genres, ratings, and studios, Disney released four. The studio even beat out the critically-acclaimed Oppenheimer’s domestic total of $326 million with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 at $358.9 million at the box office.
It should be stated that box office dollars don’t define whether or not a movie was good or well-received, only that it was a financial success. That said, Disney is clearly doing better than many might think.
Related: ‘Wish’ Proves Major Disney Disappointment, Reportedly Even Worse Than ‘Strange World’
2023 was far from the studio’s greatest year, there’s no getting around that, but its not as if Disney is in dire straights. This year was a stumbling block, but it only serves as a learning opportunity for those involved.
What was your favorite movie of 2023? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!