The Marvel Avengers franchise is owned by Disney. In recent years, Disney has accrued several successful film franchises. Because Disney movies receive the most attention in the box office, other movies are less likely to earn their keep in money from theaters (courtesy of Walt Disney Company/ Marvel Entertainment).
Disney is an interesting and fun company to think about particularly in the context of the wider entertainment world. As the architect of so very many childhood memories, the House of Mouse has long had a stranglehold on the nostalgia industry and some savvy recent business moves, like their acquisition of 21st Century Fox, have turned the company into an increasingly worrisome juggernaut.
Yes, Disney has a lengthy and esteemed track record of producing quality content, but that isn’t really the issue at hand. As movie studios begin to shift to their fall release slate, the summer box office paints an upsetting picture: the state of the film industry is changing, and everyone’s favorite monopoly is the prime culprit. Disney, wtf?
Five of the top six highest-grossing movies of 2019 are Disney movies, according to Box Office Mojo. The outlier is Sony’s Spider-Man: Far From Home, which was co-produced by Marvel Studios, giving Disney a claim to all six of this year’s most profitable movies. While undeniably an achievement, this feat points to a troubling trend: people aren’t spending money on movies that aren’t produced by the Walt Disney Company anymore. Because of this, major Disney releases have become cultural events rather than just a movie release and making an event of this only serves to further widen the gap between Disney and the rest of the field.
The only way to make a general audience go see a non-franchised, non-Disney movie is to create a cult around the movie by establishing a following well ahead of its release. Some of the year’s other top earners, like Jordan Peele’s Us, are proof of concept for this idea. Peele has established a brand for being one of the most original horror filmmakers in Hollywood right now, and excitement around that identity makes each of his new releases an event. The same goes for Quentin Tarantino and Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood, and while making an event out of a movie isn’t inherently a bad thing, it makes it far more difficult for smaller movies to make waves underneath Disney’s looming presence which means creative voices are being silenced.
By all accounts, the Olivia Wilde-directed film Booksmart is one of the most refreshing, original comedies to be released in years. The Atlantic called the movie “Gen-Z’s coming-of-age classic,” describing it as “blazingly funny” and “destined for instant cult status.” The movie is a contemporary triumph, an utter joy and one would hope that the box office would reward a studio supporting a female-directed original comedy; however, the numbers paint a pretty grim picture. Booksmart ranks 54th on the yearly box office list, which means it made less money than modern classics like The Angry Birds Movie 2 and Alita: Battle Angel. When original ideas aren’t rewarded, studios won’t take chances on them in the future.
Perhaps what is most upsetting is the way Disney seems to be above criticism in the national discourse. Rather than thinking of them as a large, toxic corporate entity the company is often personified as a sort of good-natured caretaker of American cultural nostalgia. This line of thinking detracts from one of the only ways audiences can try to check Disney’s power: if the company is thought of as a friend rather than an enterprise there is no way to hold it accountable. So this fall, make it a point to see a movie or two in a theater that Disney didn’t produce, use your dollars to support original voices and treat the company a little less like it is Mickey Mouse personified.