Disney’s ‘Wish’ Is Another Critical And Commercial Disappointment After ‘The Marvels’ Flop Earlier This Month

Disney’s new animated film, “Wish,” failed to perform well at the box office over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. This is especially tough for the studio following the massive flop of “The Marvels” earlier this month.

“Wish” debuted in third place at the box office, grossing just $19.5 million in its three-day opening weekend and $31.7 million over the five-day Thanksgiving weekend. This was significantly less than forecasted and doesn’t come close to recouping the $200 million production budget.

The fantasy musical stars Ariana DeBose as the main character, Asha, and Chris Pine as the villain, King Magnifico.

The synopsis says: “Young Asha makes a wish so powerful that it’s answered by a cosmic force, a little ball of boundless energy called Star. With Star’s help, Asha must save her kingdom from King Magnifico and prove that when the will of one courageous human connects with the magic of the stars, wondrous things can happen.”

“Wish” currently has a 49% critics review on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the lowest of any Disney movie. Critics call it boring, uninspired, and forgettable, plus accuse the film’s creators of borrowing heavily from other more popular Disney movies to create the storyline.

“Just like The Marvels, Wish is an emotionally inert and personality-free movie that appears to have been assembled from the outside in,” Times U.K. reviewer Kevin Maher wrote. 

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“It follows the studio’s fairytale formula: plucky heroine, villainous magician, talking animals, and big songs. Yet the story brings no new life to the parade,” the Sunday Times reviewer wrote. 

“The movie is so busy referencing the classics, it makes itself an afterthought,” a third reviewer agreed.

“Wish” has an 81% audience score, but this higher number hasn’t helped the bottom line much so far.

This latest poor performance comes on the heels of “The Marvels” absolutely bombing for Disney. The newest Marvel film failed to meet expectations on its opening weekend, earning just $47 million at the box office and being called the worst debut in MCU history, as The Daily Wire previously reported. 

The female-led sequel to 2019’s “Captain Marvel” also represents a financial failure for Disney. This was blamed on a general sense of superhero movie fatigue and the writers and actors strikes in Hollywood, forcing the studio to adapt their promotional plans.