Disney lost money this quarter for the first time since 2001

Last year, Disney accounted for a third of ALL box office revenue. For obvious reasons, things are a little rougher right now.

This time last year, Disney was riding very high. The company had just bought 20th Century Fox, and Avengers: Endgame and Aladdin absolutely crushing it at the box office to the point where Disney had made more money by July than any other studio had ever made in a year before.

What a difference a year makes. The coronavirus has hit pretty much every industry hard, with companies like Disney particularly vulnerable, since so much of their business depends on movie ticket sales, theme parks, cruises…all things that aren’t really happening during plague time.

Just how badly has Disney been hit? Cartoon Brew has the numbers:

• Disney lost $4.72 billion in April, May and June, with total revenue falling 42%. Last year, it made a profit of $1.43 billion.
• Mind you, the company still made $11.8 billion, which is a whole lot of money, but I guess when you have giant parks and such to maintain there’s a lot of overhead.
• Weirdly, the reopened Walt Disney World has made some money, but not as much as Disney hoped, especially with Florida being a hotspot for COVID.
• The direct-to-consumer and international division was the only one to report a profit. In other words, a lot of people are watching Disney+, along with Hulu and ESPN+. To give you an idea of just how well Disney+ is doing, Disney originally thought they would get 60 to 90 million subscribers by 2024. They already have 57.5 million, and the service hasn’t even been out a year.

Naturally, Disney+ is now the company’s top priority.

So I guess this is why Disney decided to charge $30 to watch the Mulan remake at home?

To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.

Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels

h/t The A.V. Club