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Avatar 2 has made Disney more money in 2023 than The Marvels and these 4 flops

By Cody Schultz

(L-R): Ronal, Tonowari, and the Metkayina clan in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved.
(L-R): Ronal, Tonowari, and the Metkayina clan in 20th Century Studios' AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. /
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Every studio has box office flops, but traditionally Disney movies have managed to deliver more wins than losses. For years, movies from Marvel Studios have been sure-fire hits for Disney, raking in billions at the box office since the launch of the MCU back in 2008. The same can be said about Disney’s original animated and live-action features which often are among some of the biggest family films during the summer months and around holidays.

Disney has been an unstoppable force at the box office year after year, but 2023 has been the year of flops for the studio.

Avatar 2, Disney movies
(L-R): Ronal, Tonowari, and the Metkayina clan in 20th Century Studios’ AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER. Photo courtesy of 20th Century Studios. © 2022 20th Century Studios. All Rights Reserved. /

Disney movies haven’t exactly broke big at the box office in 2023

We all know Disney has been riding that struggle bus this year with lower-than-anticipated box office returns. You know the House of Mouse is hitting a rough patch when Avatar 2, which was released in December 2022, has earned the company more money this year than any of its big-budget releases.

That’s right, Avatar: The Way of Water has earned Disney more money at the box office this year than most of the studio’s 2023 blockbusters. Per Variety, Avatar 2 has made $283 million at the domestic box office this year. That puts it ahead of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($214 million), Elemental ($154 million), Haunted Mansion ($67 million), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ($174 million), and The Marvels ($76 million as of November 28).

The fact that a 2022 release has made more money at the box office than five of the biggest releases from Disney this year is absolutely insane. What’s even wilder is the fact that Avatar 2‘s collective domestic box office earning is only $1 million less than the collective domestic box office earnings of all five of Disney’s 2023 flops!

Since December, Avatar 2 has earned Disney $684 million at the domestic box office while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Elemental, Haunted Mansion, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, and The Marvels combined have only earned Disney $685 million this year.

(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, and Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL. /

Which 2023 Disney movies earned the most at the box office in 2023?

Needless to say, Disney hasn’t exactly been having a stellar year thus far. Luckily, the love for James Cameron’s blue people has helped Disney rake in the green; however, as a whole, Disney has taken more losses than wins this year.

Still, there have been some bright spots such as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and The Little Mermaid, which rank among the year’s most successful performers for Disney this year:

  1. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ($359 million)
  2. The Little Mermaid ($298 million)
  3. Avatar: The Way of Water ($283 million)
  4. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($215 million)
  5. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny ($174 million)
  6. Elemental ($154 million)
  7. The Marvels ($76 million and counting)
  8. Haunted Mansion ($67 million)
  9. The Boogeyman ($43 million)
  10. Wish ($31 million and counting)
  11. A Haunting in Venice ($31 million and counting)
  12. The Creator ($14 million and counting)
  13. Theater Camp ($4 million)
  14. Chevalier ($3.5 million)

It’s going to be interesting to see how Disney fares at the box office in 2024, especially considering the studio won’t have an Avatar movie to lean on in the new year. Who knows, maybe the merc with a mouth can save the day and help Disney finally break its losing streak:

Next. Deadpool 3 is Marvel’s only superhero movie in 2024. dark

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