Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro admitted on last week’s earnings call that Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and the live-action Moana remake both underperformed at the box office, although they contributed to merchandise sales and drove theme park attendance.
“Even when our franchise films don’t meet our box office expectations, as with the ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ and the live-action ‘Moana,’ our investments in these core properties fuel other parts of our company,” D’Amaro said.
“‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ drove healthy growth in retail sales for the ‘Star Wars’ franchise and drew guests to the updated Millennium Falcon attraction at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, and led to significant engagement in gaming as well,” he explained. “And the live-action ‘Moana’ is expected to be a strong title on Disney+, building on the success of the original film, which is one of the most-streamed movies of all time.”
Disney summed up its outlook on these box office disappointments by writing in its earnings release: “These franchise investments contributed to value creation beyond their theatrical releases.”
“The Mandalorian and Grorgu” opened over Memorial Day Weekend and earned $81 million at the domestic box office during its debut, an underwhelming start for a “Star Wars” movie. The film went on to earn $345 million worldwide, far below the billion-dollar grosses of the previous “Star Wars” film releases “The Rise of Skywalker” and “The Last Jedi.”
