Disney’s decision to mine their animated back catalogue for live-action or photo-realistic remakes over the past decade has been a fruitful one, with a report declaring that they have collectively grossed over $7 billion dollars since 2010.
According to Forbes, 2019 blockbusters The Lion King and Aladdin have cemented an incredibly lucrative remake boom, surviving middling reviews to gross a billion dollars each worldwide. Both also look set to become the most successful entries in the Disney remake canon.
Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, released in early 2010, kicked off the Disney remake boom, with successive hits including the Emma Watson-lead Beauty and the Beast, Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book and the Sleeping Beauty origin story Maleficent. Only Burton’s Dumbo, released in March, along with his 2016 Alice in Wonderland sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass, have underperformed.
Forbes has also reported that Disney’s remake success has contributed to their best-ever year at the global box office, with the company already grossing an enormous $7.6 billion thanks to smashes like Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel and Toy Story 4. This will inevitably increase, too, with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and Frozen 2 both awaiting release before the end of 2019.
Disney shows no signs of slowing down on the remake front either, with both the Maleficent sequel Mistress of Evil arriving in October, and a live-action remake of Mulan released in 2020. Cruella, an origin story for the 101 Dalmatians villainess starring Emma Stone, will additionally soon begin filming, as will a live-action remake of The Little Mermaid starring Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy and (allegedly) Harry Styles.
