Every Disney Movie Of 2023 So Far, Ranked By Box Office
There are many studios making movies these days, but one rises above them all: Disney. Disney has powerhouse name recognition, with movies like the live-action version of "The Little Mermaid" and "Haunted Mansion." But it also has the savvy to own offshoots, such as Marvel, with movies like "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3"; Lucasfilm, with films like "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny"; and Pixar, with flicks like "Elemental." And if that weren't enough, it also acquired Fox, giving it a whole other source of films, with everything from "A Haunting in Venice" and "The Boogeyman" at 20th Century Studios to smaller movies like "Theater Camp" and "Chevalier" from Searchlight Pictures.
That's also why Disney's box office results vary so much, from huge blockbuster films to low-budget gems. We've ranked every theatrical release of Disney's from this past year, and there is quite a range. While the third "Guardians of the Galaxy" is at the top of the heap so far this year, there are many more, like "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" and "The Creator," that have done far worse — even if, like "Quantumania," they're toward the higher end of the ranking. Take a look at this list and see how your favorites did. Here's every Disney movie of 2023 so far, ranked by domestic box office.
11. Chevalier ($3.5 million)
"Chevalier" is a biopic about the little-known violinist and composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (a fantastic Kelvin Harrison Jr.). He was the son of a plantation owner (played by Jim High) and an African slave (played by Ronke Adekoluejo), but instead of neglecting him, his father, realizing that he showed promise with the violin, sent him to a French boarding school. Though he encounters discrimination, he excels at his studies, including music and fencing, and is given the title of chevalier by Marie Antoinette (Lucy Boynton), the queen herself.
The movie shows his life as he revels in French society in the court of the queen and even has an affair with one of the members of the court, Marie-Josephine (Samara Weaving). But it also establishes his growing awareness as a Black man.
Though "Chevalier" was well reviewed, with a 77% critics' ranking on Rotten Tomatoes, it didn't quite crack the top 10 at the box office. Instead, it came in at number 11 and only grossed a total of $3.5 million domestically. But given it was made for the specialty box office, it was never meant to be a huge blockbuster.
10. Theater Camp ($4 million)
"Theater Camp" is a fuzzy, fizzy indie comedy directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman from a screenplay by Gordon, Lieberman, Ben Platt, and Noah Galvin. Even if you know next to nothing about musical theater, at the very least, Ben Platt's name should ring some bells. That's because Platt is known for playing the lead in both the stage and the screen versions of "Dear Evan Hansen." In "Theater Camp," though, he plays a counselor at a camp in upstate New York for kids who are theater nerds just like him.
The story revolves around the camp counselors teaming up with the son of the founder to try to save the camp from financial ruin while also putting on a fabulous show. The dialogue was mostly improvised, and the premise is a crowd-pleaser, which shows in the reviews. For example, Looper's review of "Theater Camp" says the film "has moments of hyper-specific brilliance that perfectly capture the bizarrely insular world of the musical theater enthusiast." And audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it a rare "A." While it made only $4 million at the box office, it did respectably against its budget.
9. The Creator ($14 million and counting)
"The Creator" looks beautiful; nonetheless, it's bound to be an underperformer at the box office. With the movie reaching only third place in its opening weekend, behind "PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie" and "Saw X," it seems destined to disappoint, at least at the domestic box office. It did better at the international box office, though, reaching number one in France, Spain, and Australia. So the movie could make back its money, but even though it was made for less than other sci-fi tentpoles like it, it still may have a tough road to get there.
The story tells the tale of a former soldier (John David Washington) who finds a secret weapon in the war between humans and their AI creations — an AI robot who takes the form of a young child (Madeline Yuna Voyles). Though the story is lacking in substance, it has style in spades, boasting lovely set pieces and a visually stunning spectacle. Still, there doesn't seem to be much of an interest in seeing this movie.
While it has a 68% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes — a perfectly respectable but not spectacular score — audiences, at least in North America, have been lukewarm, deciding they'd prefer to see other movies or just stay home instead of seeing this one on the big screen.
8. A Haunting in Venice ($31 million and counting)
This is the third movie Kenneth Branagh has adapted from Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot books, following the better-known stories "Murder on the Orient Express" and "Death on the Nile." "A Haunting in Venice," on the other hand, is loosely based on Christie's "Hallowe'en Party," with Branagh both directing the film and starring in it as the Belgian detective. This time, though, Poirot is retired and living in Venice when his friend Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey as a stand-in for Christie) convinces him to come to a seance so he can discredit the medium (Michelle Yeoh). Before he can solve the case, however, he must contend with all manner of strange occurrences, including some that he — at least at first — can't explain.
The movie has a critics' rating of 76% on Rotten Tomatoes, but ultimately, they seem split. Some say it's Branagh's best Christie adaptation yet, while others claim "A Haunting in Venice" is the weakest of the bunch. It seems that your mileage will vary based on how much you enjoy the actors and the Venice setting. Either way, this movie is the weakest release at the box office in Branagh's series, making it hard to know if there will be another.
7. The Boogeyman ($43 million)
"The Boogeyman" was originally supposed to be released on Hulu but tested so well that the producers decided to release it in theaters. And it's a good thing they did, because the movie did reasonably well. It might not have been a blockbuster, but movies in the horror genre don't have to be. It made back its money and then some and did reasonably well with critics and even better with general audiences.
The movie centers on the Harper family. Teenager Sadie (Sophie Thatcher) and her little sister, Sawyer (Vivien Lyra Blair), are still reeling from their mother's untimely death when a presence in their house starts plaguing them. But their therapist father (Chris Messina) is so locked in his own grief that he can barely pay attention. The plot is based on a short story from 1973 by Stephen King, and director Rob Savage said they got the thumbs up for the theatrical release from King himself, making it even more of a given that the movie would come to cinemas.
6. Haunted Mansion ($67 million)
"Haunted Mansion" is another take on a movie version of the Disney theme park ride of the same name. While the first version, from 2003, starred Eddie Murphy, it didn't capitalize on the ride; this version stars several comic actors, including Owen Wilson, Tiffany Haddish, and Danny DeVito, and pays homage to the ride. But while those who loved the ride liked the movie, perhaps there weren't enough of those people to make the movie a success.
The story centers around a group of mediums, priests, and historians who are hired by a single mother (Rosario Dawson) to get rid of the malevolent presence in her (very familiar-looking) new home. Though grieving Ben (LaKeith Stanfield) doesn't take the situation seriously, he decides to take advantage of the woman's generosity and use the camera he's invented to take pictures of ghosts to prove there are none in her home, until he realizes he may have been too hasty.
At 37%, "Haunted Mansion" is the lowest critically rated Disney movie on Rotten Tomatoes so far this year, but it's had substantially more success with audiences, who have ranked it at 84%. Still, that love from audiences didn't translate to ticket sales. "Haunted Mansion" didn't sell enough entries to earn its budget back.
5. Elemental ($154 million)
At first, "Elemental," this year's Pixar box office entry, was a disappointment. However, this was a rare example of a movie that took a while to build. When it did, though, it was profitable. With the possibilities of an animated feature, "Elemental" has the most unique story of this year's Disney movies as well.
The movie takes place in Element City, a place where the elements of wind, fire, water, and earth all live together. The story centers on Ember (Leah Lewis), a young woman whose parents were two of the first fire elements to land in the city. While the fire people mostly stick to themselves, Wade (Mamoudou Athie) ends up in Ember's father's (Ronnie Del Carmen) shop, where Ember works, by accident, and the two of them fall in love.
The plot may be more familiar than other Pixar films, but the story is told with style, grace, and visual flare. While many people were only slightly interested in it at first, word of mouth helped spread the idea that this was a movie worth seeing.
4. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ($174 million)
"Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" is the fifth movie in the "Indiana Jones" franchise, which started in 1981. That's 42 years running, and Harrison Ford has been the lead in every one of them. Though he's older now, he barely misses a beat with the action in this film. Still, it's a long way from his heyday in the role. That said, at least "Dial of Destiny," the first directed by James Mangold, is better than the fourth movie in the series, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
This time, Indy races against time to find an ancient artifact that can change the course of history while confronting everyone from his goddaughter, Helena (Phoebe Waller-Bridge), to the former Nazi Dr. Voller (Mads Mikkelson). It's a rip-snorting adventure, but it is also considered a box office bomb.
That's at least partially because "Dial of Destiny" came out on June 30, 2023. It came in first at the box office the weekend it was released, but amidst a crush of other films, including "Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning: Part One" and "Barbie," it fell out of favor quickly. The lukewarm premise may have been better than "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," but it wasn't enough to continue to attract moviegoers beyond week one.
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($215 million)
Ant-Man (Paul Rudd) has never been the premier superhero of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but even so, he, along with the Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) in the last two outings, got his own trilogy. That's where it will most likely stay, though, as "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," the third outing in the series, lost a lot of money at the box office. Yes, despite that big $215 million domestic haul, it seems that the movie needed $600 million worldwide to break even, and it fell far short of that.
The story had a lot to do with that. After being pulled into the Quantum Realm, a place with fascinating creatures and people, Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne team up with her parents, Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer), and Scott's daughter, Cassie (Kathryn Newton), to bring down Kang (Jonathan Majors), the leader of the realm. The movie has a lot going on, but despite all the bombast, it didn't amount to much. Instead, the film underwhelmed viewers, and critics rejected it. That led to the box office collapse.
"Quantumania" was number one in its first week of release, making $106 million domestically. In fact, it was the best opening of the "Ant-Man" series. But the celebration didn't last. The film's box office dropped precipitously after that, making it the rare Marvel movie to gross less than $500 million at the worldwide box office.
2. The Little Mermaid ($298 million)
Like "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," "The Little Mermaid" was a disappointment at the box office. Despite the impressive-looking domestic take of $298 million, the movie failed to perform to expectations.
"The Little Mermaid" is a remake of the original animated version from 1989. It centers on Ariel (Halle Bailey), a mermaid and the youngest daughter of King Triton (Javier Bardem), going to the sea witch Ursula (Melissa McCarthy) for human legs so she can experience life on land and perhaps make Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), the man she saved from drowning, fall in love with her. But evil Ursula has other plans for both Ariel and her father.
It's a reasonably faithful retelling, but there are some big differences. Namely, Ariel is Black, which some people had a problem with, and the picture had a substantial racist #NotMyAriel campaign against Bailey in the title role. There were also more acceptable complaints. For example, some felt the CGI for characters like Sebastian (Daveed Diggs) and Scuttle (Awkwafina) was unsettling. Plus, the movie underperformed in several international territories. In the end, it all added up to a box office flop. That said, critics seemed to like it. With a score of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, critics enjoyed the film overall, and especially Halle Bailey's work in the title role.
1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($359 million)
Another threequel and another Marvel movie, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" — unlike "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" — has made back its money. It made $359 million domestically and $487 million internationally for a global total of $846 million. That's not quite good enough for it to catch up with "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2"'s total, but it does surpass the first movie in the trilogy.
In this one, Rocket's (Bradley Cooper) past comes back to haunt all the Guardians, including Peter Quill (Chris Pratt), Drax (Dave Bautista), Mantis (Pom Klementieff), and Groot (Vin Diesel), when Rocket is hurt and they must seek out the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), his creator, to save Rocket's life. The movie contains a lot of cute and crazy animals, including Rocket as a little raccoon, that make the movie especially endearing. While the story is busy, there's enough to the movie that it seems people went more than once and rallied their friends to go too.
In fact, the movie holds an 82% critics' rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 398 reviews — not too bad for the third in a trilogy and a superhero flick. But the Guardians have never been your average superheroes. They're a strange crew, and that makes them all the more attractive to fans and critics alike, which shows with their impressive box office performance.