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It turns out there is such a thing as failing upwards, with Disney becoming the first studio to reach a major box office milestone this year, despite an alarming number of the Mouse House’s costliest releases conspiring to lose an absolute fortune.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was purported to be the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest-ever theatrical money-loser, The Little Mermaid still hasn’t been guaranteed to turn a profit despite netting north of half a billion dollars, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny remains on track to go down as one of the heftiest flops in the history of cinema, all while Haunted Mansion continues free-falling on its way to the worst run an entire genre has experienced in 20 years.
Despite all of that damning evidence, though, Disney has cracked $4 billion in total ticket sales for the year, because even a litany of commercial catastrophes – and the odd success like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – continues to draw in enough of a crowd to keep the company’s credentials as the biggest entity in all of entertainment intact.
It’s the profitability we’d love to know, seeing as the titles listed above are expected to lose at least $300 million if not significantly more when the dust has settled, never mind the fact the majority of them cost $150 million (plus additional marketing and distribution costs) apiece. Making money is no indicator that anybody gets to keep it, but it’s classic Disney that its worst year in multiplexes for a decade has nonetheless failed to dislodge it as the biggest game in town.