Disney Made More Than $7 Billion From Remakes In The Last 9 Years
Rage all you want againstDisney’s endless slew of live-action remakes of its animated classics, but you can’t deny the sheer box office power of those “re-imaginings.” Ever sinceBeauty and the Beastshattered box office records in 2017, the Disney remake box office numbers have almost always crossed the $1 billion threshold. WithThe Lion Kingset to join that billion-dollar club soon, that brings the Disney remakes total box office to over $7 billion — a jaw-dropping number that the House of Mouse reached in less than a decade.
According to aCNBCreport, Disney’s remakes have collectively raked in more than $7 billion since 2010. The era of endless Disney remakes that we’re currently trapped in began with Tim Burton’sAlice in Wonderlandin 2010 and continues through this year’sAladdinandThe Lion King. Although there were two live-action remakes based on101 Dalmatiansin 1996 and 2000, the current era of nostalgia-fueled remakes began withAlice in Wonderlandin 2010, which was quickly followed by 10 more movies since then, includingMaleficent, Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Alice Through the Looking Glass,Dumbo, Aladdin, and most recently,The Lion King.
And as long as these movies continue crossing the billion-dollar threshold (asAladdinhas already done this year and asThe Lion King, at $962.7 million worldwide, is expected to soon do), that era will continue with no end in sight. Already, we’re getting (admittedly impressive)trailersfor aMulanremake, and casting has been set for aLittle Mermaidremake. More titles planned in the future include the Angelina Jolie-led sequel,Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, as well asHunchback of Notre Dame,James and the Giant Peach, andLilo and Stitch.
Hoping against hope that Disney will be dissuaded from recycling their animated classics to exceedingly worst creative returns? Just see the list of Disney’s top “live-action” reimaginings at the worldwide box office so far, perBox Office Mojo:
Aside fromAlice in Wonderland, the top 5 are almost exclusively populated by films released in the past three years, with two films from 2019 already towering over the rest (despite theirmiddling-to-poorreviews).
Therein lies the problem: No matter how bad these movies are, no matter how much they’re derided for being soulless, shot-for-shot shadows of the animated originals, the Disney live-action remakes are proving to be surefire box office hits. And that inevitably means that, once Disney runs out of its own animated films to remake, we’re getting what we deserved all along: a photorealisticCarsremake.
