One of Walt Disney's (NYSE: DIS) biggest theatrical duds of 2023 could be having a second chance at success on the media giant's flagship streaming service. Wish -- the full-length animated feature that failed to resonate with domestic moviegoers when it debuted at multiplexes just before the historically potent Thanksgiving holiday weekend -- premiered on Disney+ last week. It's finding an audience.
Wish has been streamed 13.2 million times in its first five days on the platform. The film disappointed investors and exhibitors alike when it generated just $64 million in box office receipts from stateside audiences. Based on the average U.S. ticket price of $11.23, you're talking about just 5.7 million customers. Even if you nudge that number slightly higher under the assumption that younger families will gravitate to cheaper matinee prices or children's tickets, it's fair to say that less than 2% of the country saw the film on the silver screen in the months that it was available at a multiplex near you.
A substantially larger chunk of the country has now been exposed to the film that Disney hoped would be a successful celebration of the studio's 100-year operating history. After all, it's not 13.2 million people that have now streamed the film since its April 3 launch on Disney+. Many of these screenings are taking place in homes or portable screens playing for more than a single viewer. Wish finally has a chance to be a star.
Something more for us than this
Wish was a box office bomb, but just two other Walt Disney Animation releases on Disney+, Encanto and Frozen 2, have attracted a larger audience on the service in its first five days of availability.
But the bronze medal isn't as shiny as it seems. Disney+ has only been around for less than five years. This is also a distinction limited to full-length features from Walt Disney Animation. It doesn't include Disney Pixar releases like last year's Elemental, which attracted double the audience of Wish in its first five days on the premium streaming platform.
It's still welcome news for a film that took a big financial hit on its theatrical release. Despite being far more successful overseas -- a whopping 75% of Wish ticket sales were generated internationally -- now more of the U.S. audience that bypassed the film at the local film house has on-demand access to the film. There are 46.1 million domestic homes with active Disney+ subscriptions. The film might not have been praised by movie critics with just a 48% approval rating of the professional reviewers tracked by Rotten Tomatoes, but 81% of the general audiences surveyed by the site are recommending the film.
Image source: Disney.
So I make this wish
Things should go a lot better for Disney's animated theatrical releases in 2024. Pixar's Inside Out 2 hits the big screen in June. The original Inside Out rang up ticket sales of $357 million domestically and $869 worldwide, and that's with lower ticket prices nine years ago.
This year's animated feature for the Thanksgiving holiday weekend will be Moana 2, a near certainty to exceed how Wish fared late last year. Some Disney purists may cringe at a pair of animated sequels out of Disney this year, but audiences tend to flock to a proven franchise.
Fresh from emerging victorious at last week's proxy battle -- even though activist Nelson Peltz did score a potentially problematic 31% of votes cast in favor of giving him a board seat -- Disney is riding high again. The stock hit a 52-week high two weeks ago, and the narrative has turned bullish for the media stock bellwether. Some wishes do come true.
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Rick Munarriz has positions in Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Walt Disney. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
