It looks like Disney is going to have a strong end to 2025 with the releases of Zootopia 2 and Avatar: Fire and Ash, but the company had an uncharacteristically down year at the box office. Lilo & Stitch remains the only Hollywood film this year to cross $1 billion worldwide, but several of the Mouse House's movies underwhelmed. Snow White had a particularly rough theatrical run, earning only $87.2 million domestically and $205.6 million globally. To put that figure in perspective, Snow White's total was eclipsed by Wicked: For Good in just a single weekend.
During its opening last weekend, Wicked: For Good set new records by posting $147 million domestically and well over $220 million globally. That debut was so big that the film was already the 15th highest-grossing film of the year in the United States after those three days, setting Wicked: For Good up for a lucrative run over the holiday season.
It's wild to think about how much Disney's fortunes have changed at the box office in just a handful of years. Back in 2019, the studio could seemingly do no wrong, as it distributed seven titles that grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Things were very different in 2025, with Snow White arguably being the most infamous of Disney's flops. Embroiled by controversies in the months leading up to its release and mostly negative reviews, the live-action remake failed to connect with audiences. To be fair, Snow White wasn't the only Disney movie to disappoint this year, but it was perhaps the one that best personified the studio's struggles. Disney's live-action remakes have never been critical darlings, but they've typically been reliable performers at the box office. Five have hit the $1 billion mark, with The Jungle Book just behind at $966.5 million.
Fortunately, Disney appears to be rebounding after seeing multiple Marvel movies, a Pixar film, and a soft Tron reboot fall short of expectations. Zootopia 2 is projected to be a massive draw over Thanksgiving weekend, with early estimates pointing to a $125+ million domestic debut over the five-day holiday frame. Zootopia 2 also looks like it will revive the Chinese marketplace for Hollywood films, a fantastic development for the industry at large. And December sees the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, which potentially will be the year's highest-grossing film by the time its run is done. The first two Avatar films earned over $2 billion worldwide, so it's expected the third installment will follow suit.
To its credit, Disney seems to have learned some lessons this year and are implementing changes to strategies to ensure 2025 was just a blip on the radar. As far as live-action remakes are concerned, the performance of Snow White forced the studio to hit the pause button on the Tangled remake for a period (the project has since been revived with Scarlett Johansson attached). Lilo & Stitch showed there's still an audience for Disney's remakes; the studio may just need to be more selective about which animated titles get this treatment. It's telling the more successful remake drew from a far more recent original.
It will be interesting to see how Disney's 2026 slate fares. On paper, the studio has a promising lineup, with the live-action remake of Moana being positioned as a big summer tentpole. If the likes of Moana, Toy Story 5, The Mandalorian & Grogu, and Avengers: Doomsday all hit, it'll be a nice return to form for Disney.
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