Take a quick look at how little the 2023 Disney flops made: https://collinsrace1.wordpress.com/2023/12/29/disneys-long-year-of-2023-box-office-flops/
Yes, you read that right….Disney is releasing at least 20 new movies over the next year!
Some live action, some animated. Some will be streamed on Disney+, most released in theaters first. Some look good, some are a pass for us.
Interested in what’s coming to the theaters this year and next?
Be aware that Disney CEO Bob Iger isn’t a fan of the super-charged movie production schedule and is cutting way back. With the ongoing Hollywood writers and actors strikes, expect all future movie release dates after October 1st to start moving into 2024 and even 2025.
Here’s Disney’s updated movie release schedule for 2023 and 2024, subject to change of course:
1. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Release Date: February 17, 2023
Marvel’s third Ant-Man movie introduces new villains (Kang, MODOK), and explores more of the mysterious Quantum Realm. This initially did not do well at the box office with just a $106M opening weekend, but ended up with a $464 million global box office before leaving the theaters.
2. Next Goal Wins
Release Date: April 21, 2023, moved to November 17, 2023.
Taika Waitii is directing this Rugy sports drama comedy. It’s a pass for us.
3. Peter Pan and Wendy
Release Date: April 28, 2023
Straight to Disney+. Peter Pan & Wendy was the 2nd most streamed film across all platforms in the United States during the week of April 30, 2023, and the 4th during the week of May 5, 2023. We haven’t watched it yet, but it has a 63% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Release Date: May 4, 2023
The third and final installment of James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy. I didn’t even know this was in production!
Huge, huge global mega hit with a box office tally of $838 million as of July 24, 2023.
You can watch it now on Disney+.
5. The Little Mermaid (2023)
Release Date: May 26, 2023
Disney’s live action re-imagining of The Little Mermaid. Lots of backlash on this, but the trailers look good.
This was a box office hit despite grumblings over the casting with a box office tally of $561 million as of July 25, 2023. We saw it and liked it. It has a 94% audience approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
It will be available on Disney + starting on September 6, 2023.
6. Elemental
Release Date: June 16, 2023
“The film journeys alongside an unlikely pair, Ember and Wade, in a city where fire-, water-, land- and air-residents live together. The fiery young woman and the go-with-the-flow guy are about to discover something elemental: how much they actually have in common.”
This was one of the best movies we’ve seen in 2023! 4 1/2 Stars out of 5. It has a 93% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Global box office: $484 million. Go and see it!!!
Since debuting on Disney+ on September 13th, Disney announced that the film became the streamer’s most watched movie premiere of 2023 in just five days. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/elemental-is-hit-disney-1235593326/#!
7. Indiana Jones 5: The Dial of Destiny
Release Date: June 30, 2023
Harrison Ford’s fifth and final Indiana Jones movie. He’s 80 years old now.
This is the least performing Indiana Jones movie with a box office tally of just $340 million as of July 24, 2023.
We saw it and liked it. 3 Stars out of 5.
December 1st: It’s now streaming on Disney+. We’re going to watch it again this weekend.
8. The Marvels
Release Date: July 28, 2023, now pushed back to November 10, 2023.
The Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and WandaVision properties all collide in this superheroine team-up film.
11/13/2023 Update: ‘The Marvels’ had the worst opening weekend ever for any MCU film at $47 million. Ouch!!! We saw it and thought it was OK.
December 5th Update: After four weeks on the big screen, the comic book tentpole is running out of steam with $80 million in North America and $197 million globally. The superhero sequel is officially the lowest-grossing installment in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
9. Haunted Mansion (2023)
Release Date: August 11, 2023, was moved up to July 28th.
The next live action adaptation of the theme park ride stars Jared Leto, Winona Ryder, Jamie Lee Curtis, Danny DeVito, Owen Wilson, Rosario Dawson, Tiffany Haddish, Dan Levy, and LaKeith Stanfield.
Supposed to be a mix of horror and comedy, more scarier than Eddie Murray’s ‘Haunted Mansion’ version 20 years ago. We have tickets to see it opening weekend.
Update: We saw it and it was fun! 4 stars out of 5. It has a Rotten Tomatoes audience rating of 84%. Our theater was sold out.
Box office after 2 weeks: $86 million including international theaters. A flop. We don’t know why Disney didn’t save this until October and closer to Halloween. It’s not a summer movie, it’s a fall/Halloween movie!
Coming to Disney+ on October 6, 2023. We predict it will be a success on Disney+.
10. True Love/The Creator
Release Date: Was October 6, 2023, moved to September 29, 2023 with movie name change.
Rogue One director Gareth Edwards is taking on a new sci-fi film starring John David Washington, Gemma Chan, Allison Janney, and Ken Watanabe.
20th Century Studios/New Regency movie, True Love, has had a title change to The Creator. The release date was moved up from October 6th to September 29, 2023.
It’s one month box office is $80 million. It’s up against Taylor Swift’s blockbuster Eras Tour movie.
11. Blade
Release Date: November 3, 2023, new release date: 2025
Blade reboot will star multi-Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali as Blade.
Update: At the moment, according to Variety, Blade is set to come out on Friday, February 14, 2025.
12. Wish
Release Date: November 22, 2023
Disney Animation Studios’ Wish has a Thanksgiving 2023 release date.
This looks good to us. We’ve seen the trailer 2x now and are looking forward to seeing the movie.
Update: We saw this over the weekend and LOVED it! Highly recommend.
13. Elio
Release Date: Original release date of March 1, 2024 has now been pushed to June 13, 2025
In this Pixar feature starring America Ferrera. “A boy named Elio finds himself transported across the galaxy and is mistaken for the intergalactic ambassador of our planet Earth.”
We expected this release date to move into 2025 due to the Hollywood writers and actors strike.
14. Snow White (2025)
Release Date: Original release date of March 22, 2024 has now been pushed to March 21, 2025
Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb and Greta Gerwig directed and wrote (respectively) this live action Snow White starring Rachel Zegler and Gal Gadot as the Evil Queen. The inclusion of the Seven Companions (no longer dwarves) has sparked huge controversy.
We expected this release date to move into 2025. A lot of negative press surrounding this live action remake.
We think they’ll be reshooting major parts of this movie in 2024.
15. Captain America: New World Order
Release Date May 3, 2024
Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson will be the new Captain America, in a story that pits him against the diabolically brilliant villain The Leader (Tim Blake Nelson), whose origin goes all the way back to The Incredible Hulk.
16. Inside Out 2
Release Date: June 14, 2024
The Inside Out sequel has an official release date. This is a maybe for us. Expect this to be pushed out to December 2024 because of the strike.
17. Mufasa: The Lion King
Release Date: July 5, 2024
A prequel to the story of The Lion King. This is a yes for us.
18. Thunderbolts
Release Date: July 26, 2024
The Thunderbolts will bring together shady operatives from Marvel’s espionage underbelly for a mission. This is a yes for the men in our lives.
19. Fantastic Four
Release Date: November 8, 2024
Marvel’s long-awaited Fantastic Four will kick off Phase 6 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Really hard to keep the Marvel universe straight with all the characters and different timelines.
20. Avatar 3
Release Date: December 20, 2024, now moved to December 19, 2025! (It’s been moved out 9x so far!)
After Avatar 2: The Way of Water raked in huge bucks at the theaters this year, expect Avatar 3 to do the same whenever it gets released.
Avatar 4 won’t make its big screen debut until 2029, with the fifth installment expected to land sometime in 2031.
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We’ve written two books about our time working – and playing – as Disney Cast Members at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Both are available on Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle: Two Girls and a Mouse Tale and Adventures in the Animal Kingdom.
If you’d like to follow our daily Disney blog, here’s the link: https://collinsrace1.wordpress.com/
Have a magical day!
Two Disney Sisters
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Our Magical Disney Moments 
I Think Disney’s Wish will be a Big Hit Of 2023
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