Media giant The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS) received some positive news regarding its streaming platform, as a Taylor Swift partnership was announced on Monday morning. The company's box office segment didn't fare so well over the weekend with another box office disappointment.
"Tron: Ares" Disappoints
Disney had multiple films that ranked among the most anticipated movies to hit theaters in 2025 heading into the year, including "Tron: Ares."
Instead of excelling at the box office, Disney has had multiple disappointments that could put pressure on theatrical revenue, including its latest film.
"Tron: Ares" grossed $33.5 million domestically in its opening weekend, with another $27.5 million from international markets, as reported by Variety.
Estimates for the film heading into the weekend were for box office revenue of $45 million to $50 million, thanks to the film's built-in audience and showing on premium formats like Imax Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) screens.
Instead, the film fell short of estimates and may struggle to recoup its $180 million production budget and associated marketing costs. The poor opening could also spell the end for the rebooted franchise, which was once a cult classic film.
The last Tron film, "Tron: Legacy,” released in 2010, opened to $47 million at the box office. The film went on to gross $172.1 million domestically and $400.1 million worldwide.
With the newest "Tron: Ares" film still to open in China next weekend, having carryover in premium formats and receiving strong audience scores, there's a chance the film performs well in its second weekend and estimates get reset.
However, the film is currently marked as a disappointment for Disney, which follows a rough 2025 year at the box office.
Disney has experienced several box office disappointments, largely due to underperforming estimates. This includes "Snow White" and three Marvel films released this year. The Marvel films all still achieved decent grosses, but underperformed in comparison to past franchise history.
Despite the underperformance by several Disney films, the company has four of the top ten grossing movies domestically (#2, #6, #8, #10) in 2025 and two of the top 10 grossing films worldwide (#2, #10).
Read Also: Disney Raises Streaming Prices: Is Disney+ Now More Expensive Than Netflix?
Disney Looks To Two Blockbusters To Close 2025, Followed By Strong 2026 Lineup
The good news for Disney and its shareholders is the fact that two of Disney's potential biggest box office hits in 2025 are still to come in the last two months.
Disney is set to release "Zootopia 2" on Nov. 26 and "Avatar: Fire and Ash" on Dec. 19.
The first "Zootopia" film was released in 2016 and grossed $341.3 million domestically and $1.03 billion worldwide.
This marks the third installment in the Avatar franchise. Here are the past results from the other two films:
- "Avatar" (2009): $785.2 million domestic, $2.14 billion international, $2.92 billion worldwide
- "Avatar: The Way of Water: (2022): $688.5 million domestic, $1.65 billion international, $2.34 billion worldwide
The two films rank among the top 10 highest-grossing movies both domestically and worldwide. "Avatar" ranks fourth domestically and first globally for all-time gross, while "Avatar: The Way of Water" ranks seventh domestically and third globally for all-time gross.
This means that despite the box office disappointments so far in 2025, Disney has two of its potential top movies in years coming in the final two months. Both are expected to gross over $1 billion and could provide a nice rebound from the underperformance of several 2025 releases.
Looking past the final two months, Disney is also building quite the 2026 lineup, which currently includes its first theatrical Star Wars film since 2019 with "Mandalorian and Grogu" coming. "Toy Story 5" and a live-action "Moana" also add to the 2026 excitement.
The year could be anchored by "Avengers: Doomsday," which is set to be released in December 2026 and will feature many past Marvel characters. Past Avengers films rank among the highest-grossing films of all time.
Disney Stock Shakes It Off
Disney stock rose 0.7% to $109.95 on Monday, outperforming its 52-week trading range of $80.10 to $124.69, despite the box office disappointment. Disney stock is down 0.8% year-to-date in 2025.
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