For months now, 2023 has been described as Disney’s cursed year. While the next four months seem to have no plans of relinquishing that title, turns out the streak of bad luck — at least financially — kickstarted rather early on for the Mouse.
But, as the company’s fresh loss to a billionaire businessman points out, this year has hardly done Disney any favors as far as its theatrical and streaming ventures are concerned. Tragically, August has ended with the company also losing one of its great talents and “a beloved member” of two of its famous franchises.
A new report claims one of Disney’s controversial films in the last few years only made a profit of $67 million
In terms of box office bombs, Disney has been having a gala lately. But its Marvel ventures have always been the reliable winners… which is far from reality if a new Forbes report and its shocking claims are taken into account.
Black Widow, which came out in the middle of the COVID pandemic that severely hit the cinema theaters, was said to have made $379.8 million. At the time, it was revealed that the said gross included $67 million earned from its controversial simultaneous release on Disney Plus along with its box office haul. But as per the new report, which states its findings rely on “recently released filings” by Disney, the film’s total profit — via streaming plus theatrical release — was just $67 million.
To that, if we add the $40 million Disney paid to Scarlett Johnson in the wake of her lawsuit against them, it would see Black Widow losing its title as one of Disney’s most successful films in the pandemic era and getting stuck with the label of being one of its biggest losses.
Jamie Christopher, executive producer of Fantastic Four and a part of many Marvel and Star Wars films, dies at 52
Christopher, who frequently worked with the likes of Rian Johnson and James Gunn as well as been a part of Marvel and Star Wars films (Guardians of the Galaxy, Age of Ultron, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) as an assistant director (AD), has passed away at the age of 52 due to heart complications. As revealed by Marvel Studios’ co-presidents, Kevin Feige and Lous Esposito, in their statement (via Variety), Christopher was set to be one of Fantastic Four’s executive producers, after joining Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in a similar capacity due to his “hard work and diligence.”
“Jamie was a beloved member of our Marvel Studios family, and he will be dearly missed.”
Rian Johnson, James Gunn, and Mark Hamill have also expressed their condolences to his family and lamented about losing a talented personality like Christopher who was also an AD on all eight Harry Potter films.
Indian tycoon, Mukesh Ambani, pulls the rug from under Disney’s specific streaming plans
In a recent update, Viacom18 (owned by Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani) has nabbed the media rights to stream and televise India’s cricket team’s international and domestic matches from Disney by making a bid of $729.41 million. As per the new deal, Ambani holds the rights to air the games from September 2023 to March 2028.