Disney just hit an unfortunate streak with three consecutive box office letdowns. As a powerhouse known for its theatrical hits, the studio has now seen several of its 2025 releases underperform commercially. These back-to-back disappointments signal a challenging period for Disney's film division, yet the future remains bright.
Disney's magic touch at the box office has started to fade in 2025, as the studio faces a rare string of theatrical misfires. The most alarming aspect of these letdowns is the source of the failure. Marvel Studios and Disney's live-action animated branch have been some of the most successful in modern cinema. Just six years ago, Marvel's Avengers: Endgame earned over 2.7 billion at the global box office, while The Lion King remake brought in $1.65 billion a few months later.
That juggernaut of the year, the biggest in overall box office history, is a fleeting memory, especially when one of the biggest distributors hasn't had a major hit so far this year.
3 Disney Box Office Misses To Start 2025
Captain America: Brave New World
Once the crown jewel of Disney's cinematic empire, the MCU has been in flux since 2021, and Captain America: Brave New World didn't help stabilize things. As the first Captain America film to star Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson in the lead role, the project had the potential to usher in a bold new chapter. Instead, it landed with a thud. With a worldwide gross of $415.1 million, the film failed to energize audiences or critics.
The movie's lackluster reception raised questions about Disney's current approach to Marvel storytelling. Critics pointed to a muddled tone, extensive reshoots, and unclear creative direction, issues that have become increasingly common in the studio's recent Marvel offerings. While Brave New World wasn't a catastrophic failure, its middling performance added another dent to the MCU's once-impenetrable armor.
Snow White
Disney's 2025 Snow White remake was already facing an uphill battle long before its release, plagued by production delays and ongoing controversy. The film sparked backlash over changes to the original story, recasting confusion around the iconic dwarfs, and comments made by star Rachel Zegler, which generated significant online discourse.
Snow White ultimately hit theaters on March 21, 2025, and flopped. The film grossed just $204.8 million worldwide, making it one of the worst-performing live-action remakes in Disney history. For comparison, even 2023's The Little Mermaid (at the time considered a mild disappointment) earned a far stronger $569.6 million globally. The failure of Snow White reportedly caused Disney to rethink its future remake slate, allegedly putting plans for a live-action Tangled adaptation on hold.
Thunderbolts*
Disney has relied on Marvel Studios' early May release slot as a box office launchpad since it began with Iron Man on May 2, 2008. Unfortunately, five phases and 17 years later, Thunderbolts* proved that even a well-made Marvel movie, released in the studio’s most trusted window, isn't immune to muted returns.
Despite strong reviews (88% critics, 94% audience on Rotten Tomatoes) and a clever mid-campaign rebrand as The New Avengers, the film has grossed just over $328 million worldwide so far. Projections now estimate a domestic finish in the $200–$210 million range, which is solid but far from spectacular.
For Disney, this performance underscores a new reality: general audiences seem less willing to turn out for Marvel titles without clear, recognizable heroes leading the charge. Thunderbolts* is closely tied to Avengers: Doomsday, but the ensemble cast (made up of lesser-known or formerly supporting characters) struggled to generate the kind of excitement that used to come standard with the Marvel brand. It's a cautionary tale for Disney's strategy going forward: name recognition and franchise familiarity may matter more than ever, and not every MCU title can rely on goodwill alone.
Disney's Strong Theatrical Outlook in 2025
Despite the rough start to the year, Disney's upcoming film lineup has the potential to turn 2025 into a huge rebound for the studio. Much of that hope has sprung from Lilo & Stitch, which, after collecting really strong reactions from critics, many praising newcomer Maia Kealoha for stepping into the role of Lilo, has performed outstandingly at the global box office. It grossed over $610 million worldwide in less than two weeks.
Lilo & Stitch's huge success helps make Snow White's failure look more like a blip. It keeps Disney's live-action remake machine alive, so long as the original films resonate with a large enough modern audience and the remake itself lands with viewers.
On the Marvel front, The Fantastic Four: First Steps represents Disney's most promising superhero swing of the year. While Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* stumbled commercially, Fantastic Four has the benefit of being a full franchise reset with massive audience recognition and fresh star power. If anything, Thunderbolts*' positive reception may have primed fans for what's next, giving Fantastic Four a better runway to success in late July.
The real wild cards in the lineup are Elio and Freakier Friday. While Elio, a brand-new Pixar original, faces an uphill battle without an established brand to lean on, Freakier Friday could surprise at the box office. The sequel's appeal to Gen Z and Millennial audiences, especially fans of the 2003 Lindsay Lohan/Jamie Lee Curtis classic, may give Disney an unexpected hit during the late summer window.
Finally, Disney is closing out the year with two sure-fire blockbusters. Zootopia 2 will bring back the beloved animal buddy-cop duo in a Thanksgiving release slot that traditionally delivers for the studio. Then, in December, Avatar: Fire and Ash will return audiences to Pandora in what's expected to be the biggest global release of the year. With these films on the horizon, Disney still has time to turn 2025 around and rewrite the headlines surrounding its theatrical success.
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