Recently, an online commentator of the entertainment industry claimed that Disney is struggling to attract interest from the Chinese market for one of its newest films. Reports claim that Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” has had shockingly low pre-sales and could allegedly be the worst opening ever for a Hollywood film in China.
“The Little Mermaid” began pre-sales at the Chinese box office last Friday. However, the sales are looking dismal so far. According to Luiz Fernando, a respected commentator on the entertainment industry, “Meanwhile in #China’s #BoxOffice, ticket pre-sales for show no signs of reaction. #Disney liveaction finished SUN with a scary $13k total after 3 days of pre-sales, for the whole MAY 25-28 period. Could be the worst opening ever for Hollywood tentpole in China.”
Meanwhile in #China’s #BoxOffice, ticket pre-sales for #TheLittleMermaid show no signs of reaction.#Disney liveaction finished SUN with a scary $13k total after 3 days of pre-sales, for the whole MAY 25-28 period.
Could be the worst opening ever for Hollywood tentpole in China. pic.twitter.com/EMCDjyDFYP— Luiz Fernando (@Luiz_Fernando_J) May 21, 2023
One Twitter user said in the comments section, “People need to realize that china is not America.” Someone else added, “Let’s be real here. What parents would want to bring their kids to watch a HALF-NAKED teenage girl swimming in the sea? Cartoon is one thing, but live-action is a whole other thing. They wouldn’t want their kids to get any “suggestive” ideas before they reach the right age.”
Another user commented, “Who would’ve thought a classic movie where they race swapped the mc, made her crab friend horrifying, and had such bad CGI the whole underwater portion of the movie looks it was put through a bland instagram filter, is doing poorly in presales. Who could’ve thunk it…”
China has also been known to promote domestic films with a nationalistic message over Western movies in some cases. Breitbart reported:
Pre-sales of The Little Mermaid tickets began on Friday at China’s box office, but it seems that it will be an uphill push to get anyone interested in what is potentially the biggest market in the world. China notoriously disadvantages Hollywood movies in its theaters, instead pressuring audiences to spend their money on homemade “patriotic” communist propaganda on the supposed greatness of the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army.
Disney has suffered many other box office woes where the company lost hundreds of millions in 2022 from underperforming movies. Many blame Disney’s insistence on incorporating political messaging into their stories. The American Tribune reported:
After veering sharply to the left and engaging in some of the most contentious culture wars of the day, Disney has seen their share price plummet and any remaining goodwill for the company evaporate.
The woke company has most famously lost its sovereignty after Florida governor Ron DeSantis revoked their special privileges after taking a very public stance against his education bill that prevented public school teachers from discussing issues of sex and gender with students in grade kindergarten through 3rd grade.
But there’s another developing story, this one also affecting the company’s bottom line. Three of their latest animated features have gone woke – and cost the company hundreds of millions of dollars.
Furthermore, reports earlier this year showed that Disney couldn’t break the top 15 most-watched shows last year, despite having some of the biggest franchises in history, like Star Wars and the Marvel franchise. As we see time and time again: go woke, go broke.
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