Disney's live-action Peter Pan remake, Peter Pan & Wendy, just set a new low for the worst Rotten Tomatoes audience score of any live-action remake in studio history.
Audience scores for Disney's movies have been all over the map in recent years, whether they're MCU movies like Thor: Love and Thunder or Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania or from other divisions under the studio's watch.
Disney has also struggled with some releases from its iconic animation division as well, as 2022's Strange World ("B" CinemaScore) became the first movie in Disney Animation history to receive an audience score lower than an A- from CinemaScore.
Now, the House of Mouse is back in the live-action game with Peter Pan & Wendy as the 1953 classic, Peter Pan, gets a fresh remake.
Peter Pan & Wendy Sets Negative Audience Score Record
Disney's Peter Pan & Wendy, which debuted on Disney+ on April 28, set a new record for the worst audience score for a live-action Disney remake in studio history.
While it earned a moderately respectable 64% "Tomatometer" critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, the audience score came in at a wildly disappointing 13%.
This makes Peter Pan & Wendy one of only two live-action Disney remakes with an audience score of under 45%, the other one being 2022's Pinocchio (28%) starring Tom Hanks and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
A comprehensive list of Disney remakes from the past nine years can be seen below with their listed Audience Scores from Rotten Tomatoes:
- Maleficent (2014): 70%
- Cinderella (2015): 78%
- The Jungle Book (2016): 86%
- Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016): 48%
- Beauty and the Beast (2017): 80%
- Christopher Robin (2018): 82%
- Dumbo (2019): 48%
- Aladdin (2019): 94%
- The Lion King (2019): 88%
- Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019): 95%
- Lady and the Tramp (2019): 50%
- Mulan (2020): 47%
- Cruella (2021): 97%
- Pinocchio (2022): 28%
- Peter Pan & Wendy (2023): 13%
This also comes after the new movie was hit with review-bombing the day of its release, including some legitimate criticism about a few of the plot/character choices made.
Are Disney's Live-Action Remakes in Trouble?
Even though Disney has found massive success in recent years with Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book, Will Smith's Aladdin, and Emma Stone's Cruella, the last couple of years have not been kind on the live-action remake front.
While it's likely a coincidence that both of these last two movies were meant for Disney+ streaming releases, it's still discouraging to see fans' disappointment with these films, especially with Disney not planning on slowing down with these remakes.
The end of May will bring Halle Bailey's take on The Little Mermaid, which has thankfully already gotten high praise from early critics following its world premiere, even considering a couple of controversial decisions made from a VFX standpoint.
Additionally, Dwayne Johnson announced plans for a live-action Moana retelling in the next few years while Disney also has plans for a Lilo & Stitch adaptation - both of which have seen fan complaints for varying reasons.
Hopefully, with both of those movies still early in development and with The Little Mermaid already seeing positive reviews, the studio can avoid any more major disappointments with remakes like it had with Peter Pan & Wendy.
Peter Pan & Wendy is now streaming on Disney+.
