The Walt Disney Company has become a juggernaut in the entertainment industry. And in 2023, the company is looking to continue its growth and expansion across the board. The company has an array of films on its horizon, including live-action remakes and original tales that will be released in theaters and on streaming platforms. Let's look at which will generate the most revenue in 2023.
The Little Mermaid is a popular Disney story that has been told in several media, including films, ballet, and opera. It tells the story of a young girl named Ariel, who dreams of becoming a human. It was first published in 1932 by Hans Christian Andersen and was later adapted for film and other media. The classic story features a mermaid princess who dreams of becoming a human and falling in love with a prince.
The original 1989 movie was one of Disney's most successful hits. It won various awards and made nearly $600 million at the box office. Marvel's Avengers: Endgame decimated every box office record imaginable last weekend. Among the many accolades it racked up was the largest global opening ever.
It topped the entire global theatrical run of 17 of the 21 Marvel Cinematic Universe films. It also smashed the box office record set by James Cameron's Avatar, earning $US2.797 billion worldwide. Adding to its record-breaking impact was that it opened in more theaters than any other Marvel film. The Walt Disney Company released the sequel to last year's blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War in more than 4,662 theaters nationwide, a significant expansion from its earlier releases.
Advance ticket sales crashed the websites of AMC and Fandango, and some theaters kept showtimes open 72 hours straight. The massive demand for tickets at the box office matched those early sales. If that continues, the film will topple Infinity War's opening weekend record and become the studio's first superhero movie to earn a billion dollars.
Disney's latest superhero release, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, generated $17.5 million in Thursday night previews last week, putting it on pace with other recent Marvel Studios titles. In addition to 2015's Ant-Man, which debuted with $6 million, last year's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever pulled in $28 million in previews before generating an opening weekend haul of $76 million.
Director Peyton Reed's sequel is bringing back Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michelle Pfeiffer as Ant-Man and Hope van Dyne and introducing actress Kathryn Newton as Scott Lang's daughter, Cassie. It also features Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, the MCU's newest big bad, in a pint-sized superhero flick that looks like an epic start for Phase 5.
The ragtag team of intergalactic heroes has been on a long journey to the big screen. The film was originally scheduled to be released in 2020, a combination of factors, including director James Gunn's firing and rehiring and the coronavirus pandemic, caused repeated delays.
The film's cast includes Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper. Also returning are Sean Gunn, Elizabeth Debicki and Sylvester Stallone.
It's also got a star-studded ensemble of new characters. Will Poulter is playing Adam Warlock; Maria Bakalova will play Cosmo the Space Dog, and Peacemaker actor Chukwudi Iwuji has been cast as The High Evolutionary, a major Marvel Comics character.
The Guardians of the Galaxy movies have been a hit at the box office, and this third movie will likely do even better than Vol. 2. As such, it is predicted to be one of the Disney films that will generate the most revenue in 2023. Director James Cameron's long-in-the-making sequel to Avatar finally arrived at theaters worldwide on Dec. 16, 2022, and it's performing just as well as the original, if not better.
This weekend, Avatar: The Way of Water earned $82 million over the extended four-day holiday period, according to Box Office Pro. It's just 2% lower than the $87 million 4-day average that it earned last weekend, and that shows that it has some of the legs that made the original so successful back in 2009.
The film has now passed $2 billion at the box office worldwide, eclipsing Top Gun: Maverick to become the highest-grossing movie of 2022. It also joins the original Avatar and Titanic in the top three. This will be a lucrative franchise, with three more films slated for release in the next five years!