Disney Admits Live-Action Moana and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu 'Underperformed', But Says The Movies Still Helped Shift Plenty of Merchandise
Disney's live-action Moana and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu both underperformed at the box office, but their ticket sales are only part of the story, the company has argued.
Disney has admitted that its live-action adaptations of Moana and Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu underperformed at the box office. However, the company maintains that these movies still helped generate sales for merchandise related to the franchises. Moana has a box office total of $263 million against a $250 million budget, while The Mandalorian and Grogu's theatrical run reached $345 million against a $165 million budget.
Despite these underwhelming box office results, Disney emphasizes that merchandise sales have compensated for the films' disappointing ticket sales. The company sees the live-action Moana movie as a strong title for Disney+ and anticipates it will continue to contribute to the franchise's global merchandise business. However, a sequel to Moana appears unlikely, while the future of The Mandalorian and Grogu remains uncertain.
Disney also celebrated the $1 billion box office success of Toy Story 5 and noted that The Devil Wears Prada 2 performed well, especially internationally. Additionally, the streaming giant announced a new initiative to incorporate user-generated TikTok content into Disney+, replacing their earlier plans to use AI-generated slop videos.
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