Disney looks set to have another flop on its hands, as animated adventure Strange World proves to be a dud at the box office as moviegoers criticize the film for what they see as a progressive ideology in a children’s film.
The cartoon, starring a voice cast including Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu, and Daily Show contributor Jabuki Young-White, has been announced as Disney’s first openly gay character.
Strange World doesn’t even clear $20 million at the Thanksgiving weekend box office on a whopping budget of $120-130 million.
It may also finish below the studio’s 2002 flop Treasure Planet, which grossed only $16.6 million.
The film seems to have stuck with the audience despite the mildly positive critical responses.
Disney looks set to have another flop on its hands, as animated adventure Strange World looks to flop at the box office as moviegoers criticize the film for forcing progressive ideology into a children’s film.
The cartoon, starring a voice cast including Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid, Gabrielle Union, Lucy Liu, and Daily Show contributor Jabuki Young-White, has also been announced as Disney’s first openly gay character.
While the film has a 73 percent critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, it is only 60 percent with audiences and the film has a ‘B’ rating on CinemaScore from opening day audiences, according to The Wrap.
If that grade holds up, the film will be the first Disney animated film to drop below an A-minus.
Many have used the box office numbers as an example of Disney’s attempt to ‘go wake, get broke’.
One Rotten Tomatoes reviewer wrote: ‘If I wanted to teach my kids about sex and/or sexual preferences at age 7 and 8, I would do it in my house. I don’t need a Disney movie to help me with this one. Stop sexualizing everything, this is unbelievable.’
One tweeter explained: ‘Light years first and now a strange world. Disney and Pixar’s ‘Walk’ are flopping one after the other. How many box office bombs will it take before Disney finds out?’
Lightyear, which depicts the origins of beloved Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear, flopped on its opening weekend in the United States, grossing just $51.7 million after weeks of controversy over a gay kiss.
Patrick Bet-David wrote: ‘Took the kids to the movies today to see a Disney cartoon called Strange World. Within 10 minutes of watching the movie, my 10-year-old son said, ‘Papa, I have no desire to watch this movie. can we go?’ we have left. Disney leaders have forgotten who the paying customer is.’
Another wrote that Strange World over-promised and under-performed at the box office during its Thanksgiving holiday release. They should have sold records, but failed miserably. Disney Proves Again That Woke=Broke!’
Eric July said: ‘Disney’s new movie, Strange World is going to flop at the box office. Mainstream creatives don’t care if these projects succeed as long as they do, despite audiences and their ideological enemies.
However, one self-styled Democrat film critic said the problem lay with Disney and outgoing CEO Bob Chapek.
Jordan Woodson wrote: ‘Disney is 100% going to blame Strange World’s inevitable poor box office on the fact that there’s an openly gay character in the movie when really, it’s going to flop because they didn’t make it at all. Did not do marketing. They will use this as an excuse to never have gay representatives again.’
Abigail Disney, a major Disney shareholder and relation to Walt Disney, gave a damning judgment on Chapek’s time as CEO in an interview with Time, repeatedly calling him a ‘newbie’.
Disney said: ‘He made a lot of rookie mistakes right out of the gate and then he made a whole series of rookie mistakes during his tenure. I don’t think he ever went out of the rookie error zone.
He continued: ‘The bottom line is that this was very poor succession planning and the responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of Bob Iger as well as the shoulders of the board of directors.’
Meanwhile, a former Disney executive told the FT: ‘Iger has never forgiven Chapek for the way Chapek distanced himself and took control of the company. In some ways, Iger thought he would still be a coach. Chapek was not agreeable.
Bob Iger came out of retirement to retake the reins of Disney this past Sunday
The company’s poor performance under Chapek has been blamed on factors ranging from a failed pivot to the streaming sector with Disney+, and his reluctance to speak out against a Florida bill banning LGBTQ discussions for students under 10 Have given.
Her indictment echoes allegations that Iger allegedly made about Chapek. Business Insider reported this week that Iger called his successor a “novice.”
Following his return to the role, Iger is being paid $27 million, of which $25 million is vested in stock options.
In 2021, Iger was paid $45.9 million for his role as executive chairman.
Tom Gosling, Executive Fellow at the London Business School, said of the deal: ‘Essentially they’ve cut 40 per cent. , , to come back. He must have fallen in love with the job, loved the company or seen a huge jump in the share price. Maybe all three.
Regulatory filings showed Chapek, who was named CEO in February 2020, was paid $32.5 million in 2021. According to Bloomberg, Chapek could walk away with a golden handshake worth more than $23 million.
Earlier this week, it was reported that Chapek was fired after receiving multiple internal complaints from senior employees that the executive was running the company into the ground.
